Feral animals Feral animals ADVERTISING Cats and pigs It’s OK to shoot pigs from helicopters but it’s a felony to eradicate feral cats? The Department of Land and Natural Resources doesn’t care about the Big Island’s law banning aerial hunting,
Feral animals
Cats and pigs
It’s OK to shoot pigs from helicopters but it’s a felony to eradicate feral cats?
The Department of Land and Natural Resources doesn’t care about the Big Island’s law banning aerial hunting, saying pigs are bad news for the environment, and besides, the feds have spoken.
I think toxiplasmosis in cat feces is bad news, don’t you? Apart from risks to pregnant women, it’s linked to encephalitis, brain cancer, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder and as reported recently in this paper, schizophrenia.
But it’s kitty-cats we’re talking about. They’re so cute. I’m going to KTA to buy the biggest bag of cat food and take it down to the beach parks right now. Maybe once a week. Maybe every day.
What a loaded topic. Groups like advoCATS put countless hours, dollars and effort into stabilizing the feral cat population: thousands caught, neutered, dosed and released. But some wonder if it’s enough, or even appropriate. When the sun hits the beach park in the morning, it still smells like a litter box. Meanwhile, the wild cat population continues to grow, defying the best laid plans.
Did someone say “wild”? Sorry, what’s “wild” about tribes of cats sustained regularly by Meow-Mix or Whiskas?
This is beginning to sound like foreign aid programs. Just dump some food, smile big, then get in your SUV and return to the sanity of your own home. Heck, you might even cage up a pesky bird-killing cat at your place and relocate her down at the beach park.
It is hard to know what camping families and visitors can do. It’s hard to know what any of us can do about our island cat problem.
I think the hard truth helps. It’s our problem, whether you like the critters or not.
I wonder how the Department of Land and Natural Resources would deal with it.
Michael Foley
Hawi
Energy
A geothermal solution
Everything we do depends on energy in some form. Prosperity depends on economical, dependable energy.
We are blessed with many options, but when it comes to renewable, economical and reliable power, geothermal stands alone. Sure, solar and wind make us feel good, but they are not dependable. They need something else running all the time to make up for the moments when the sun or wind is suddenly not available.
Unfortunately, there is no economical, efficient way to store large amounts of electricity.
Everyone who wants to continue paying 40 cents (or more) per kilowatt hour, protest geothermal. Everyone who wants to see our rates come down should demand it.
Ken Obenski
Kaohe
