Suburban Survival Hazards - Don't Feed Wild Animals

from Stealth Survival by noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker)

Coyote

With a habitat that is quickly disappearing due to the increase of suburban expansion, many wild animals are quickly losing their fear of humans causing new threats to your survival. These threats can be real for you, your children and your pets.

Many suburban areas are being overrun by everything from coyotes and alligators to skunks, possums and raccoons. Many suburban areas are also being plagued by large deer populations that are destroying yards and gardens while creating traffic hazards as well. More remote suburban areas have additional hazards from even larger predators that may include wolves, bears and mountain lions depending upon the area.

Striped Skunk

Just remember that many of these animals are predators by instinct and will view you, small children and your pets as little more than their next meal. Coyotes in recent years have become especially bad about this in many areas as they have started hunting for food and prey in suburban areas. They are quite often infected with rabies creating an additional hazard.
You can read about the numerous coyote attacks on people and children here:
Coyote Attacks

Drawn by food scraps in open dumpsters, uncovered trash bins and feed dishes for pets left out with easy access, these wild predators are taking advantage of easy meals provided unknowingly by many suburban homesteaders. In the absence of an easy meal, they are also viewing small pets and even small children as a new food source.

While smaller animals such as skunks and raccoons can be quite attractive to young children, they can also carry rabies and other diseases that can be a very real hazard to you and your pets. The treatment for rabies can be a painful experience and a hard lesson for anyone, including a young child, to learn.

One of the best things you can do is to notify animal control officers or a good pest control service in your area of any sightings. They normally monitor activities of this nature and are usually more aware of increasing populations of wild animals in suburban areas and the proper way to rid yourself of this type of hazard. You can also make sure not to leave pet foods out with easy access for wild animals, keep dumpsters closed and trash bins covered.

Got wild suburban predators? Don't become their next meal!

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

pets

If anyone is not getting my e-mail, I apologize. It seems a lot of e-mail undeliverables are clogging my in box. Enjoy today's post, see you tomorrow.
SURVIVAL PETS
Much ado has been made about dogs and their role after a collapse. They are much more reliable than an electronic detection system. They can eat from commercial food stored in galvanized trash cans for a time then survive off the waste products of hunting/herding/butchering as they have done through the ages. I do not dispute that dogs are a needed tool. Probably the only argument would be what breeds are best for certain tasks.

I don’t much care for dogs before the Apocalypse however. They are dependable and faithful and big pains in the ass. Granted, they are more reliable than a spouse. But they demand about as much attention. Oh, look at me. I love you. Play with me. Pet me. Devote all your attention to me. And the dog is no better. Another thing I dislike about dogs is that they are not good indoor pets. Oh, they’ll adapt to circumstances. But without other dogs to interact with and without room to roam and dirt to dig in and whatever else dogs do to pass the time, they just don’t turn out right. They become dysfunctional.

If you are going to have a dog, get more than one. And make sure they have an area to play in. Dogs act stupid, but they have a great life. You eat, sleep, crap under the rug and get petted by the entire household. What could be better? The only thing you have to do in return is occasionally growl at a stranger walking by on the sidewalk to let everyone know you are on the J-O-B. They aren’t stupid enough to want to be human. That is too hard of a life. Don’t treat them like they are one of us. Give them a fellow dog to play with, give them room to run outdoors, act like their pack leader and not their buddy.

Keep the dogs outdoors where they can soil themselves instead of the rug and actually chew on someone trying to break in. When you have more than one you increase your chances that one will survive an attack and foil the attempt to invade your domicile. For indoors, get a couple of cats. You need them more than they need you. Make sure that your pantry and food storage are accessible to your feline friends so they can make short work of any rodent problem. And the cats don’t even need to be hungry to kill mice or rats. They love to kill things. So don’t de-claw your cat or pull its teeth. Not only is it cruel but it lessens the effectiveness of your hunter.

Look, as your dog is sitting outside awaiting any break in your storage food is sitting inside providing a meal to fury little bastards. Oh, you moan, I hate cats. They are mean and ignore me! Get a friggin friend at work or a girlfriend. A cat is not there to like you. They will only grudgingly accept your presence and only if the mood strikes them, and that is only after years of you feeding it and changing its litter box. Cats will allow you to stay in your own home if you are lucky.

Besides providing a needed service, cats are also great companions. You need to be reminded on a daily basis that you are nothing special. A cat will do that. This will keep you humble and then you won’t get into trouble with an inflated ego or an exaggerated sense of importance. With a dog you might make the mistake thinking others will actually listen to you like the dog does. And cats clean themselves. They can cuddle you on a cold night and you won’t catch anything. A dog is interested in only cleaning two things, its crotch and bunghole. Then they want to lick your face immediately after.

For any pet food I would dust with food grade diatomaceous earth to control insects and store in a metal can. At least a years worth, pet food really is quite cheap. Then rotate. And make plans now on how you are going to feed your pet after it runs out. If meat is going to be scarce you and your pet will be in direct competition for that meat. A cat can usually fend for itself but may not stay at your house to do it. That is what you are really doing is bribing it to stay and be a mouser. Even if you have all your grains stored in metal, after the collapse you will be harvesting foods that won’t have proper protection. Then you really need the cat around.
Another question is going to be should you fix your cat? I always do as a cat in heat is a rude irritating unstoppable idiot. Which is fine for now. But consider you will want a reproducing herd after TSHTF so there will always be some around to fight rodents. END

Original: http://bisonsurvivalblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/pets.html