Birds (it always comes back to birds)

I've seen a few stories recently about feral cats.

fe·ral (feer al) adj. 1. wild, untamed. 2. in a wild state after escape from captivity.

It seems that they're becoming a bit of a nuisance in some places. For example, they're being blamed for a decline in songbirds in The Land of Cheese.

But what's really getting the press is one of the proposed solutions to this so-called problem: ¡hunting!

No, not bunting — hunting, as in killing them with a knife, arrow, sling-shot, or gun without trapping them first.

Aside #1: Why don't hunters consider feeders to be a sort of trap?

Mind you, there seems to be plenty of bunting at the press conferences at which the various sides present their respective positions, so you're forgiven for the grammarian... grammastic... grammerical... for the missteak.

For your continued reading, here are a couple of links:

• Feral Friends
• Cats In The News (a blogspot blog spot)

I wanted to include a link from a pro-hunt site, but couldn't find one in 5 seconds.

But I would like to add a new proposal to the debate: have the National Guard do the hunt as a training exercise!

No, not with M16s and tanks, though that might be fun. Instead, I'm proposing that they use .22LR rifles, preferably single shot, though small magazine bolt-action rifles would be okay. The point is that they should be working on their marksmanship on moving targets. This skill could be very usephul in places like Iraq and Aphghanistan. It would be like killing two... er... birds... with one stone.