Ah... predators.
Allowing Smudge (the stray cat) to become a part of our little homestead has inevitably brought consequences. In a post from the beginning of this blog I wrote that I didn't want cats. That they upset the balance of a small garden easily and their poo is toxic. To clarify, cat poo isn't harmful once it breaks down. It can however be a vector for some nasty bugs so it has to be handled with care. Currently the amount of cat poo that is being dumped into the SF Bay and surrounding waters is infecting sea mammals with weird worms and diseases. But I digress. Our resident cat is here and I have had to deal with the issues surrounding predators. There are many.
Una asked what Smudge brings to the land. Well, she brings what any predators brings. Her poo, which is high in nitrogen, and her control of other animal populations. She may not be native to this place (but neither am I) yet she does perform a function that has been lost or at least very much diminished. One of the many reasons Blue Oaks are not regenerating is due to the rodent populations. And these get very high certain years because there are less and less predators to keep them in check. They do still have population booms and busts due to acorn crop failure or disease but overall their population is much larger than it once was with a more diverse ecosystem.
Since putting in our swale, we have had a large number of ground squirrels, gophers, moles, voles and mice move closer to the house. They appreciate the gourmet plant buffet that is the ground cover for the swale: the peas, and beans, radishes, cilantro, clover, grass, vetch, and subsequent insect bonanza. This may prove challenging for our fruit trees come summer. But honestly there is not much we can do about it. They live here too. And there is no way we could trap them in enough numbers to make much of a dent. But one little cat eats roughly two rodents a day. If she gets a large gopher maybe one. So this is an overall benefit. Then comes the trickier bit.
This morning Smudge caught and ate a meadowlark. This was hard for me. I have a soft spot for birds. And there is nothing more magical than the calls of meadowlarks. Meadowlarks eat mostly insects which I feel is a definite benefit to our garden. They are one of the key species that keep devastation grasshoppers in check. Last year there simply were too many grasshoppers. Smudge had spent the morning in the garden stalking holes. The meadowlarks don't have much to fear on the ground during the day. Until now. She ate the whole bird, head first. She only left one wing which has little meat and the two feet. Amazing to watch. Such beautiful birds.
Meadowlarks are big birds as far as song birds go. I didn't think she could eat the whole thing. I was wrong. Often, when a cat in the suburbs or town kills a birds they leave most of it behind. Not so when they kill for food. And she always brings the kill back to our blue door. I came outside once accidentally interrupting a feeding and she growled. I praised her and quickly shut the door. It was so primal. I wasn't scared although I warned the children to stay away from her when she was eating but I wondered why if she is concerned I will take her food, she brings the prey back to us. The mind of a predator is a strange thing.
I don't pretend that Smudge's presence is without cost. But someday, just as she has taken animals from the land for her own sustenance, an animal will take her. This is also hard. In the morning when I call her and she doesn't come I wonder... is today the day she will not return? She is part of the web of life out here, more than we are. And her predation has taught me a lesson in not putting my own value judgments on life, ie, she can eat this but not that. I would not however allow her to eat our new chickens just as I would not allow coyotes to eat all our sheep if we got sheep. We have to make our own way. Smudge is making her own way. And here in lies the reason humans and true predators have come into conflict. They eat what we want to protect, either eat ourselves, or use for another purpose. Seems I have talked myself into a philosophical conundrum. Ah... predators. They don't make the contemplation of life and death so easy to delay. All from a little cat named Smudge.
Una asked what Smudge brings to the land. Well, she brings what any predators brings. Her poo, which is high in nitrogen, and her control of other animal populations. She may not be native to this place (but neither am I) yet she does perform a function that has been lost or at least very much diminished. One of the many reasons Blue Oaks are not regenerating is due to the rodent populations. And these get very high certain years because there are less and less predators to keep them in check. They do still have population booms and busts due to acorn crop failure or disease but overall their population is much larger than it once was with a more diverse ecosystem.
Since putting in our swale, we have had a large number of ground squirrels, gophers, moles, voles and mice move closer to the house. They appreciate the gourmet plant buffet that is the ground cover for the swale: the peas, and beans, radishes, cilantro, clover, grass, vetch, and subsequent insect bonanza. This may prove challenging for our fruit trees come summer. But honestly there is not much we can do about it. They live here too. And there is no way we could trap them in enough numbers to make much of a dent. But one little cat eats roughly two rodents a day. If she gets a large gopher maybe one. So this is an overall benefit. Then comes the trickier bit.
This morning Smudge caught and ate a meadowlark. This was hard for me. I have a soft spot for birds. And there is nothing more magical than the calls of meadowlarks. Meadowlarks eat mostly insects which I feel is a definite benefit to our garden. They are one of the key species that keep devastation grasshoppers in check. Last year there simply were too many grasshoppers. Smudge had spent the morning in the garden stalking holes. The meadowlarks don't have much to fear on the ground during the day. Until now. She ate the whole bird, head first. She only left one wing which has little meat and the two feet. Amazing to watch. Such beautiful birds.
Meadowlarks are big birds as far as song birds go. I didn't think she could eat the whole thing. I was wrong. Often, when a cat in the suburbs or town kills a birds they leave most of it behind. Not so when they kill for food. And she always brings the kill back to our blue door. I came outside once accidentally interrupting a feeding and she growled. I praised her and quickly shut the door. It was so primal. I wasn't scared although I warned the children to stay away from her when she was eating but I wondered why if she is concerned I will take her food, she brings the prey back to us. The mind of a predator is a strange thing.
I don't pretend that Smudge's presence is without cost. But someday, just as she has taken animals from the land for her own sustenance, an animal will take her. This is also hard. In the morning when I call her and she doesn't come I wonder... is today the day she will not return? She is part of the web of life out here, more than we are. And her predation has taught me a lesson in not putting my own value judgments on life, ie, she can eat this but not that. I would not however allow her to eat our new chickens just as I would not allow coyotes to eat all our sheep if we got sheep. We have to make our own way. Smudge is making her own way. And here in lies the reason humans and true predators have come into conflict. They eat what we want to protect, either eat ourselves, or use for another purpose. Seems I have talked myself into a philosophical conundrum. Ah... predators. They don't make the contemplation of life and death so easy to delay. All from a little cat named Smudge.
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