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Index of Subjects This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0054_01CF7403.A33D2110 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Andy, amen. A reminder that cats are not on top of the urban/suburban food = chain. Good for the nesting birds, amphibians, reptiles, and small = mammals in the area.... Dusan Soudek From: Andrew Horn=20 Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 7:43 AM To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 Subject: Re: [NatureNS] disappearing outside cats in Halifax's South End Hi Dusan,=20 A raven snatching a kitten seems pretty likely; there=92s ravens on the = prowl all the time around here, and they=92re awfully good generalist = predators. A grown cat would be a tall order for a raven, though, and I = would think any big raptor prowling the south end would be noticed, so I = suspect that incident=92s unrelated to the reported rash of cat = disappearances in that (my) neighborhood. I don=92t know the facts about the disappearances, only rumor. The = rumored rate of six cats in six weeks that I=92ve heard doesn=92t fit = the disappearances I=92ve heard about (1 within the last couple weeks, 2 = around that blizzard in late March, and another run over by a car months = ago) =97 but again, I=92m just going on hearsay. The possible coyote sighting in the park might well be the source of = another neighborhood rumor, that a coyote might have snatched the cats. = But no coyotes or coyote scat have been sighted in the neighborhood, as = far as I know. The up side of all this of course is that people are keeping their cats = indoors, as they should everywhere. Cheers, Andy On May 19, 2014, at 7:09 PM, Dusan Soudek <soudekd@ns.sympatico.ca> = wrote: Recently there were two letters to the editor and one column = devoted to the rash of cat disappearances in a fairly compact area of = Halifax=92s South End. On May 17 a letter writer reports a =93very large = black bird=94 taking off, with a probable kitten in its talons. Any = speculation about what species the predator might have belonged to? A = raven? A turkey vulture? A melanistic bald eagle? Incidentally, there is = a warning in nearby Point Pleasant Park about a recent probable coyote = sighting. Dusan Soudek =20 ------=_NextPart_000_0054_01CF7403.A33D2110 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3DWindows-1252" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type></HEAD> <BODY=20 style=3D"WORD-WRAP: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space"=20 dir=3Dltr> <DIV dir=3Dltr> <DIV style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <DIV>Andy,</DIV> <DIV> amen. A reminder that cats are not on top of the=20 urban/suburban food chain. Good for the nesting birds, amphibians, = reptiles, and=20 small mammals in the area....</DIV> <DIV> Dusan Soudek</DIV> <DIV=20 style=3D"FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; = COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: = none"> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt tahoma"> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV style=3D"BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5"> <DIV style=3D"font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=3Daghorn@dal.ca=20 href=3D"mailto:aghorn@dal.ca">Andrew Horn</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, May 20, 2014 7:43 AM</DIV> <DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=3Dnaturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 href=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</A> = </DIV> <DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [NatureNS] disappearing outside cats in = Halifax's South=20 End</DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV=20 style=3D"FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; = COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: = none">Hi=20 Dusan,=20 <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A raven snatching a kitten seems pretty likely; there=92s ravens on = the prowl=20 all the time around here, and they=92re awfully good generalist = predators. A grown=20 cat would be a tall order for a raven, though, and I would think any big = raptor=20 prowling the south end would be noticed, so I suspect that incident=92s = unrelated=20 to the reported rash of cat disappearances in that (my) = neighborhood.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I don=92t know the facts about the disappearances, only rumor. The = rumored=20 rate of six cats in six weeks that I=92ve heard doesn=92t fit the = disappearances=20 I=92ve heard about (1 within the last couple weeks, 2 around that = blizzard in late=20 March, and another run over by a car months ago) =97 but again, I=92m = just going on=20 hearsay.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The possible coyote sighting in the park might well be the source = of=20 another neighborhood rumor, that a coyote might have snatched the cats. = But no=20 coyotes or coyote scat have been sighted in the neighborhood, as far as = I=20 know.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The up side of all this of course is that people are keeping their = cats=20 indoors, as they should everywhere.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV> <DIV>Andy</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>On May 19, 2014, at 7:09 PM, Dusan Soudek <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:soudekd@ns.sympatico.ca">soudekd@ns.sympatico.ca</A>>=20 wrote:</DIV><BR class=3DApple-interchange-newline> <BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"> <DIV dir=3Dltr> <DIV dir=3Dltr> <DIV style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: calibri; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <DIV> Recently there were two letters to the editor and = one column=20 devoted to the rash of cat disappearances in a fairly compact area of=20 Halifax=92s South End. On May 17 a letter writer reports a =93very = large black=20 bird=94 taking off, with a probable kitten in its talons. Any = speculation about=20 what species the predator might have belonged to? A raven? A turkey = vulture? A=20 melanistic bald eagle? Incidentally, there is a warning in nearby = Point=20 Pleasant Park about a recent probable coyote sighting.</DIV> <DIV> Dusan Soudek = </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_0054_01CF7403.A33D2110--