Phil Sharpe's Thoughts On Cats

[Sixgun]

Yea, I know this "cat thing" is gettin' old. I am in the middle of reading Phil Sharpe's book on "The Rifle in America" which was printed in 1938. Its about a million pages long so I am just reading a chapter here and there. For those who don't know who Phil Sharpe is, well, he was "the man" when it came to rifles and loading for them from about the 1920's until his death in 1961. An expert in every facet of the game.

Check this out, start reading where it says, "one suggestion",

[rjohns94]

LOL, Great post Sixgun. This should get the posts flowing

[Swampman]

Feral cats and dogs need to be taken care of.

[Sixgun]

LOL, Great post Sixgun. This should get the posts flowing

Mike, I know. Hey, what good is life without a mess of laughs?--------------Sixgun

[rjohns94]

Just the reason to carry one or two of those 1851's in the field this fall!!!

For those far off, I will have one of two sharps.

[Ysabel Kid]

I love cats, but absolutely agree 100% with the passage. The reason I love cats is that they are so barely tamed - just a half-step away from being the perfect little predators they were designed to be. They revert to feral status quickly, and just as quickly wipe out a lot of small game.

If someone is hunting them - and does so like any other game animal, taking them with humane shots, I don't see a problem with this. Same with feral dogs - perhaps even more so. as feral dogs often hunt in packs and can be quite dangerous to larger game and humans.

If someone is thinking about blasting a pet, that's just sick. But I know for as much as folks here love to kid, none of us are that bad!

[sore shoulder]

We had some serious feral dog problems up here for awhile, took a few years to thin em out, and I haven't seen or heard of one in a couple years. I can always tell when a feral cat shows up because I usually find baby rabbits with their heads ripped off laying around. So, I set up a blind and put out the canned cat food. Always amazes me though, as my mother in law and her sister who both live nearby always get mad at me, even though they are constantly complaining about all the critters and birds the cats kill. Must be how old Joab felt back in the day.

[Noah Zark]

Slightly off-topic, but in the late 80s I was fortunate to stop at a used bookshop that happened to have a number of firearms books out of Phil Sharpe's personal library. They are still in my personal library.

One title is "Hatcher's Notebook" with the margins annotated in red pencil by Sharpe. He takes Julian Hatcher to task in some of the annotations for making errors, with one comment ending in "Shame, Julian! You of all people should know better!!!"

Noah

[JimT]

Back in the late 70's and early 80's we had dog packs roaming the mountains around Oracle, AZ, north of Tucson. I have gotten into pack consisting of more than 20 dogs. This was in the mountains many miles from the nearest house.

Interesting enough, once you started shooting them the pack would disappear into the rocks like ghosts and you would never hear a sound from them again, not even when some of them came for you.

We have shot them off us at distances of less than 8 feet as they came silently out of the brush at us. They did not fear the horses or the dogs we sometimes had with us. Once you started shooting however they were gone.

One summer between May and the end of August I killed over 30 myself. I am not sure how many my partner killed. I am not sure we wiped them out, but the deer and rabbit populations increased in the next few years and the ranchers had less cattle hamstrung.

[Jayhawker]

Sixgun,
That page ends with "a word to the wise". What's the caution on the next page?

[Modoc ED]

It's unfortunate but I shoot two or three cats a month on my place. The neighbor has cats and refuses to have any of them fixed so they procreate a bunch. Then they stray and lay their scat wherever. Told the neighbor to hold them in check but to no avail. So, I started shooting them when they came on my place -- 12ga Shotgun, #4 shot. Kills em deader than dead. The neighbor called the Sheriff but when the Deputy came out he said, "Shoot em"!!! Not exactly what the neighbor wanted to hear but if an animal is being a nuisance on your property, you have the legal right to kill em -- domestic or feral. At least that's the law here. They are especially bad if they get into a wood shed and then pi$$ all over the wood. Ever smelled wood burning in a wood stove that has cat pi$$ on it? Awful -- bloody awful!! I try to keep about 8 to 10 cords of wood on hand and I'm danged if I'll let cats nest in my wood shed.

Of course I wouldn't shoot a domestic (pet) dog but we do have feral dog problems here now-and-then. Dang city flolk come out here and dump their dogs and then the dogs turn feral. Had a woman here about three months ago out walking and a pack of about 8 or 9 feral dogs threatened her. She pulled out her trusty Colt Govt 1911 and killed two of em before the rest would break off. Yes, we have CCW here and lots of women are armed 24/7/365.

[Old Ironsights]

Shoot/No Shoot

Feral: Human adverse/violent cat that is difficult to capture. Generally born wild or a Stray that ha gone more than a year without Hman Intervention. Shoot.

Domestic Stray: An unattached outdoor cat that likes people and can be captured/rescued/re-homed. No-Shoot.

The cat will let you know which is which.

[FWiedner]

Stray and feral cats are no less vermin than rats or cockroaches.

Stray or feral dogs are a pest animal and are dangerous besides.

All of them should be ushered on to their next life, IMO. Using some discretion, of course.

SSS.

[Modoc ED]

Shoot/No Shoot

Feral: Human adverse/violent cat that is difficult to capture. Generally born wild or a Stray that ha gone more than a year without Hman Intervention. Shoot.

Domestic Stray: An unattached outdoor cat that likes people and can be captured/rescued/re-homed. No-Shoot.

The cat will let you know which is which.

You get a cat pi$$ing in your wood shed and I'll bet you'll shoot it -- domestic or not -- pet or not!!!

The cats I described in my post aren't pets per-sey. They are kept as barn cats and never let into the house. The only human contact they have is the food that the neighbor puts out for them on occasion. Mostly, the neighbor leaves them to find their own food.

[Old Ironsights]

You get a cat pi$$ing in your wood shed and I'll bet you'll shoot it -- domestic or not -- pet or not!!!

You bet I would... after I trapped it. If it's in the shed, it's likely trappable. If it's a Pet, then it gets returned to the owner - with a bill for damages. If it shows up again, then it's not really a pet.

The cats I described in my post aren't pets per-sey. They are kept as barn cats and never let into the house. The only human contact they have is the food that the neighbor puts out for them on occasion. Mostly, the neighbor leaves them to find their own food.

Barn cats are almost feral.

I actually shoot a fair number of cats myself... but I rescue almost as many. It's not the Housecat's fault their moron owners gave them the boot. If they are socalized/socializable then there's no point in killing them.

OTOH there are a heckova lot of unsocializable Ferals out there. Traps and CB Caps.

[sore shoulder]

Shoot/No Shoot

Feral: Human adverse/violent cat that is difficult to capture. Generally born wild or a Stray that ha gone more than a year without Hman Intervention. Shoot.

Domestic Stray: An unattached outdoor cat that likes people and can be captured/rescued/re-homed. No-Shoot.

The cat will let you know which is which.

You get a cat pi$$ing in your wood shed and I'll bet you'll shoot it -- domestic or not -- pet or not!!!

The cats I described in my post aren't pets per-sey. They are kept as barn cats and never let into the house. The only human contact they have is the food that the neighbor puts out for them on occasion. Mostly, the neighbor leaves them to find their own food.

Yep, a tresspassing cat is still a tresspasser. Some folks dont get that, but you can be sure if my dog was taking stuff in their yard they would take a different view. And domestic cats do just as much damage to the wildlife as ferals, and a domestic can and will go feral very quickly. Often once let outdoors there is very little if any difference. Letting your cat roam into others yards and stuff in their gardens and kill wildlife is rude and irresponsible, and some of us are fortunate to live in areas with some sanity where we are given the freedom to deal with it.

[pharmseller]

I too love cats. A couple of strips of bacon, tinfoil, maybe some new potatoes, capers, white wine, preheat oven to 325...

Quinn

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I too love cats. A couple of strips of bacon, tinfoil, maybe some new potatoes, capers, white wine, preheat oven to 325...

Quinn

Take cover everyone ... once a recipe has been given the line has been crossed.

[Old Ironsights]

I too love cats. A couple of strips of bacon, tinfoil, maybe some new potatoes, capers, white wine, preheat oven to 325...

Quinn

Take cover everyone ... once a recipe has been given the line has been crossed.

Click below... and turn up the volume.

Click above... and turn up the volume

[rjohns94]

Now here it goes. LOL

[gamekeeper]

Phil Sharpe was correct about how big feral cats get. I had to shoot quite a few in my gamekeeping days and some of them grew very heavy after feeding on a diet of Pheasants and Rabbits. Something else about feral cats, they would scare Pheasants away from the woods far more than any Fox!

[FWiedner]

Just in case you wonder where the sweet spot is.

[Old Ironsights]

I've whapped her there a few times...

But she hasn't been outside of a house in 10 years.

[Swampman]

I trapped 41 cats in the backyard of my old house. I gave them all a ride to an upscale neighborhood about 10 miles away.

[Modoc ED]

In reply to "Old Ironsights'" cat food tune "Garfield on the Fork":

I met and married my first wife in Scotland. Her Father absolutely refused to eat in the Chinese restaurant in town because he swore that some of the meat in their dishes was cat and rat food. Who knows????!!!!!!!

[Sixgun]

Sixgun,
That page ends with "a word to the wise". What's the caution on the next page?

Jayhawker,
Thats the last sentence in the chapter. It end right there. Yea, a little strange.--------Sixgun

[Sixgun]

Now here it goes. LOL

Mike, yep! I tell 'ya, this board can really get a man laughing. Old Ironsights had me rolling on the floor. Pharmseller did too!

[Modoc ED]

Sixgun,
That page ends with "a word to the wise". What's the caution on the next page?

Jayhawker,
Thats the last sentence in the chapter. It end right there. Yea, a little strange.--------Sixgun

Usually the way the last line is written in this particular passage "A word to the wise--." with the punctuation used, it refers to the information stated above the line -- kind of like saying, pay attention to what I have said. In other words, the author of the passage could have started that part of his story out with, "Here is a word to the wise." but in this case by using the wording and punctuation he did as the last line, he accomplished the same thing.

[Dirty Dan]

Weidner- you're just bad. LOL I've had to dispatch a few wild cats and one wild German Shepherd. I don't take any pleasure in it, yet I know it is the correct thing to do. I agree that the cat or dog will give an indication if they can be rehabilitated. If they run at the sight of a human, usually not going to happen.

[Sixgun]

Modoc Ed---Thanx! I learn something new everyday. I just wish I could remember what I learned.----Sixgun

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

So many cats but so few recipes!

[tube_ee]

One of the best cats I've ever owned was Oliver (as in Twist), a young stray that I fed one evening, and who decided that living with us was a better deal than sleeping under cars in the parking lot. He was a wonderful pet. Affectionate to a fault, litter-box trained in one day (I assume by watching our older cat do his thing)... great cat. Until the coyotes got him.

And yet, if you've ever watched your favorite Felus Domesticus stalk a bird in the back yard...

You'll quickly realize how incredibly lethal they are. Not to mention being so humbled as a hunter that you might never go afield again. It's astonishing.

Of course, being the sick-o that I am, my first thought was, "Man, if I could just get him to hold point..."

The common domestic housecat is a near-perfect killing machine. That's part of why I like 'em so much. But, left unchecked, they can absolutely devastate the bird and small mammal population... look at Hawaii. Something like 80% of the native bird species have been wiped out by feral cats.

--Shannon

[Old Ironsights]

One of the best cats I've ever owned was Oliver (as in Twist), a young stray that I fed one evening, and who decided that living with us was a better deal than sleeping under cars in the parking lot. He was a wonderful pet. Affectionate to a fault, litter-box trained in one day ...

That's essentially how Tom moved in. e followed me around the yard literally nipping at my heels like a schnauser until I came out through my basement window to put catfood in the cat trap under our deck.

Tom came in the window right past my head and went straight for the litterbox, claimed it for his own, and has been here since... even after I had him cut.

And yet, if you've ever watched your favorite Felus Domesticus stalk a bird in the back yard...

You'll quickly realize how incredibly lethal they are. Not to mention being so humbled as a hunter that you might never go afield again. It's astonishing.

Of course, being the sick-o that I am, my first thought was, "Man, if I could just get him to hold point..."

I dunno about holding point, but Tom Heels, Retrieves and catches (small) frisbees in the air like a Retriever. I'm thinking about putting him on lead and taking him squirrel hunting...

The common domestic housecat is a near-perfect killing machine. That's part of why I like 'em so much...

Did I mention that he guards the door and attacks unknown people too?

Scary weird cat. Thinks he's a Retriever/Cougar cross.

[Modoc ED]

He's a cool cat.

[Old Ironsights]

He's a cool cat.

I think so... especially since he picked me & not the wife...who brought home the other two couch potatoes

[Bruce Scott]

Here's an old favourite...

Siamese Cat

a pair of young fleshy game cats, jointed
onions
peanut butter
chilli sauce
fresh ginger
fresh garlic
peanut oil
salt and pepper

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season the cat pieces well with salt and pepper.

Pre-heat your pan on high heat and add enough peanut oil to cover the bottom to a depth of about 5mm.

Add the cat pieces and two to three roughly chopped onions. Cook until the meat is well browned, tender and any juice produced has just evaporated away.

Turn off the heat, stir the meat one last time and leave the meat in the pan.

In a small bowl, place a cup of crunchy peanut butter add a good dash of Thai chilli sauce, a handful of chopped fresh Thai chillies or dried chilli flakes. Grate in at least a tablespoon of fresh ginger and add several finely chopped garlic cloves. Blend the ingredients together.

Add the peanut butter mixture to the still hot chicken and stir to spread the flavor thoroughly. Cook for about ten minutes on low heat.

Serve with steamed rice, stir-fried vegetables and ice cold Singha beer.

[Old Ironsights]

Probably as good as raccoon, but not as stringy as dog.

[OJ]

Charley likes cats - thinks they taste a lot like rabbit -



And, as can be seen, nothing is left of that tiger but skin -



Ignore that guy in the T-shirt promoting machine guns - he's harmless

[mescalero1]

I had a cat I got on the res.
She would bowfish with me and retrieve carp out of the Del Rio Drain.
Used to scare the indigenous people out of thier wits!

[Jaguarundi]

Here's an old favourite...

Siamese Cat

a pair of young fleshy game cats, jointed
onions
peanut butter
chilli sauce
fresh ginger
fresh garlic
peanut oil
salt and pepper

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season the cat pieces well with salt and pepper.

Pre-heat your pan on high heat and add enough peanut oil to cover the bottom to a depth of about 5mm.

Add the cat pieces and two to three roughly chopped onions. Cook until the meat is well browned, tender and any juice produced has just evaporated away.

Turn off the heat, stir the meat one last time and leave the meat in the pan.

In a small bowl, place a cup of crunchy peanut butter add a good dash of Thai chilli sauce, a handful of chopped fresh Thai chillies or dried chilli flakes. Grate in at least a tablespoon of fresh ginger and add several finely chopped garlic cloves. Blend the ingredients together.

Add the peanut butter mixture to the still hot chicken(CAT) and stir to spread the flavor thoroughly. Cook for about ten minutes on low heat.

Serve with steamed rice, stir-fried vegetables and ice cold Singha beer.

+1! My former wife was Thai.She would cook'up a Batch of padi every now and then.I prefer felix in thai red curry.

[sore shoulder]

Ignore that guy in the T-shirt promoting machine guns - he's harmless

Why? Thats the best part! Should be more of that going on.

[Hobie]

Charley likes cats - thinks they taste a lot like rabbit -



And, as can be seen, nothing is left of that tiger but skin -



Ignore that guy in the T-shirt promoting machine guns - he's harmless

Nice little lap dog you have there.

[sore shoulder]

Those are English Mastiffs right? As I recall the Brits used those during WWI to clear trenches.

[Modoc ED]

He's a cool cat.

I think so... especially since he picked me & not the wife...who brought home the other two couch potatoes

I know just what you mean. I had a dog named "Scruffy" that passed away a year and a half ago. I rescued him from the streets of San Diego, CA when he was six months old. Took him to the vet had him checked out, brought him home and he was with us for 15-years. We called him our dog BUT make no mistake -- he was MY dog. The wife loved him too and he loved her but when push came to shove, he was my dog.

[Joe Reilly]

Is that cat from India?

[Jaguarundi]

Is that cat from India?

Yup, fix'n to experience "NERV"ana by 22 Thunderbolt.

[OJ]

Those are English Mastiffs right? As I recall the Brits used those during WWI to clear trenches.

Yes, they are. Dunno about war use but they were originally used as gamekeeper's dogs to guard against poaching game on the estates of the nobility in early England. Poaching was a capital crime and the poachers didn't get executed any more dead if they killed the gamekeeper also when caught. The Mastiffs would just find a poacher and corner and hold him - making the Mastiffs too gentle to suit the gamekeepers. The Mastiff was cross bred to the then large English Bulldog - producing Bullmastiffs which were faster and more ferocious then - now have temperaments much like Mastiffs.

In the dog world, Mastiffs are known as "the gentle giants" - we've had them nearly three decades and did show them in the past.





And lap dogs -

[horsesoldier03]

Looks like he doesnt realize he isnt a PUPPY anymore huh! Nice pups!

[OJ]

[

Nice little lap dog you have there. [/quote]

Thanks - hard as it is to believe, he was considered the runt of the litter. Actually, he's just not very aggressive and there were 10 pups in the litter and only 8 nipples. He's now the largest at 202# - his "little sister" is only 199# and she lives up to her "B" word title but, he just bides his time and, in the end - gets even. He's smarter and that bugs her.

She was registered as "Farpoint's Fallon In Charge" and dominated the litter. He, on the other hand, wasn't even registered and was called Danny Di Vito. We paid show quality price for her but he was a give-away free-be. We have subsequently prevailed on the breeder to accept payment for him - we couldn't live with him and not do that since he's turned into such a magnificent specimen. He's "Farpoint's Charley O'King"



Also, a football fan -

[Jason_W]

I never cared for cats until the fiancee talked me into going along with her bringing one home. She's a pain sometimes, but does cute, entertaining things to make up for it (that goes for the cat too).

Additionally, no mouse that makes it inside gets more than a step or two toward the cupboard.

That being said, I don't understand how anyone who actually cares about their pet cat could just let it roam free. There are som amny things lurking about that will make a meal of a kitty. We have coyotes, fisher cats, hawks, owls, foxes, dogs, and cars. And contrary to what a lot of cat owners think, they are not smart animals.