Just something to think about

Okay I was thinking about this today as I was out walking and I noticed a blue heron by the pond on my farm. And I was wondering just how many predators everyone can think of in their area. Or atleast a basic list and I came up with alot here. The reason this crossed my mind was because I saw that blue heron and it reminded me of a small dilute calico I had named Callie. And she was swept away by a fish crane. And I never saw her again. My dad saw the fish crane get her. I used to allow my cats outside but not after that. So now I want everyone to think about how many wild animals your pets come into contact. And then think about cars, neighborhood dogs, kids, and idiots your pets come into contact if you have them outside and they are not in an enclosure.
coyotes
wolves, rescently introduced by the government
bobcats
snakes
foxes
raccons
possums
weasles
skunks
hawks
blue herons
and that's just to name a few, I just wanted to get everyone thinking.

Don't forget bears and other flying predators......

We have big huge black bears out here and Mt Lions.

I'm positive there are raccoons behind me, and probably possums and such, but since I just have a little wooded area in the middle of a city behind me, I'm not sure what all lives back there. I know there are plenty of mosquitos (heartworm s and West Nile ) and I saw a really big snake (over a foot long and an inch in diameter) the other day.

Okay another thing to consider some people choose to get rid of mice and rats by using rat poison and if your cat likes to hunt and gets a mouse with rat poison in him then that could kill your cat. And also if your cats like to hunt they might decide to take on a rat and rats are much bigger and much more dangerous then mice are and some rats can even cause deadly wounds to cats. And owls sometimes swipe cats. If you think about it the average cat isn't much bigger than a rabbit. And lots of predators that wouldn't nessacarily want to eat a cat might compete with a cat for its food. Such as raccons. And I live on a farm and I have seen what raccons can do as well as possums.

My DH actually was the one that told me that Possum's could be vicious. I had never actually seen one alive until about a year ago. And I thought, ohhh how cute...took some pictures...DH told me to not go near it cause they can be very mean.

So very good point.