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Cat Forum / General Topics / August 2005Feral, stray, etc., what's the difference?
Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between feral and stray, the two terms I come across now and then? > Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between > feral and stray, the two terms I come across now and then? A true feral is one that has reverted to the wild. Ivor Yes, and one that is very afraid of people and has not been socialized. Gail >> Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between >> feral and stray, the two terms I come across now and then? > > A true feral is one that has reverted to the wild. > > Ivor Of course, a cat that has been abused & dumped out into the street is also afraid of people!!!!! I think that the term 'feral' is getting a little worn--particularly in urban areas where all street cats have some contacts with us humans but most have learned to steer clear of us! > Yes, and one that is very afraid of people and has not been socialized. > Gail [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> >> Ivor > Of course, a cat that has been abused & dumped out into > the street is also afraid of people!!!!! I think that > the term 'feral' is getting a little worn--particularly > in urban areas where all street cats have some contacts > with us humans but most have learned to steer clear of > us! Grr.. can we stop the top posting please, it's impossible to follow the thread..! The true definition of "feral" is a cat that was once domesticated but has returned to a wild state. Strictly speaking it doesn't apply to a cat born wild, although most people use it to mean this. Ivor Top posting is how I learned to post. If you aren't egocentric it's easier to read a thread. Simply start at the top and go down. Some, like me don't have the option to bottom post anyway.  SignatureIf a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked? > >> Of course, a cat that has been abused & dumped out into [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Ivor Per nightshade: >Top posting is how I learned to post. If you aren't egocentric it's easier >to read a thread. Simply start at the top and go down. Some, like me don't >have the option to bottom post anyway. I definitely prefer top posting to those who quote 85 lines and reply with one. SignaturePeteCresswell > Per nightshade: > > Top posting is how I learned to post. If you aren't [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > I definitely prefer top posting to those who quote 85 > lines and reply with one. It just takes a little effort to snip the unwanted text. I don't understand how you can't have the option to bottom post, simply trim the unwanted text and move the cursor there..! Ivor bottom posting is a pain in the arse for those of us with small screens who have to continually scroll down to read the next persons post... we"ve read the first post already.... Top posting makes more sense. Thanks, Jade. >> Per nightshade: >> > Top posting is how I learned to post. If you aren't [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Ivor > bottom posting is a pain in the arse for those of us with > small screens who have to continually scroll down to read > the next persons post... we"ve read the first post > already.... Top posting makes more sense. Thanks, > Jade. Only if you're 100% up to date with the thread. Otherwise if you're trying to catch up it's a pain. Ivor SignatureA: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet and in e-mail? It would no more disrupt the order of the text than bottom posting would if everyone top posted. Jade. > Ivor > It would no more disrupt the order of the text than bottom posting would if > everyone top posted. > Jade. > > > Ivor But it's a great thing that very few do. SignatureWeb site: http://www.slywy.com/ Message board: http://www.slywy.com/phpBB2/ Journal: http://slywy.diaryland.com/ : Per nightshade: : >Top posting is how I learned to post. If you aren't egocentric it's easier : >to read a thread. Simply start at the top and go down. Some, like me don't : >have the option to bottom post anyway. : : I definitely prefer top posting to those who quote 85 lines and reply with one. AOL :-) Same here, but it would help if people snipped more and only quoted what's important for the reply. Everybody can look up the original message if needed. carola : Top posting is how I learned to post. If you aren't egocentric it's easier : to read a thread. Simply start at the top and go down. Some, like me don't : have the option to bottom post anyway. Out of interest: What do you mean you don't have the option ... doesn't everybody? carola > Top posting is how I learned to post. If you aren't egocentric it's easier > to read a thread. Simply start at the top and go down. Some, like me don't > have the option to bottom post anyway. You're correct; top-posting makes reading a *thread* easier, but not all of us want to go back 9-10 posts and start reading there every freakin' day. Top-posting makes reading a single post much more difficult. Choosing a poor newsreader or being too lazy to page down is no excuse. pat Or do what I do, press Ctrl and A and hit enter/return key and the whole message deletes and all you will have is your reply. > Or do what I do, press Ctrl and A and hit enter/return > key and the whole message deletes and all you will have > is your reply. Which is more irritating than top posting..! Without seeing what you are replying to, your reply is totally without context. All it takes is a little effort, I can do it, if I can, anybody can..! Ivor > Or do what I do, press Ctrl and A and hit enter/return key and the whole > message deletes and all you will have is your reply. It is much better to retain a small portion of the original post -- enough so the reader can easily follow the subject but so much that a person has to scroll down through excessive verbiage just to read the new reply. MaryL I guess my memory is better than some. And if by chance I cant remember, I just go to the original post. I had a penpal who didnt like me answering email the way you guys answer on here. Thus, the reason why I sometimes delete...........you cant please every body.. > I guess my memory is better than some. And if by chance I cant remember, I > just go to the original post. The problem is, some threads get exceedingly long and convoluted. It is sometimes difficult to know exactly *what* the person is responding to without a small snippet of the thread to use as a guide. On the other hand, it usually isn't necessary (or even appropriate) to include extremely long segments. For example, some people might not have read the particular segment that generated this response. The title of the thread ("Feral, stray, etc....") would not explain our discussion, and some servers drop messages after only a few days -- thus making it difficult for a reader to backtrack. MaryL MaryL >Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between feral and stray, >the two terms I come across now and then? In my understanding of the terms, a stray cat is one that has lost its home for some reason - strays find new homes, die, or go feral; feral cats are living on their own as wild animals. There is an in-between state that doesn't have a name that I know of, except "barn cats" - cats that are pretty wild but have people who feed and them and let them use existing shelter. Sometimes, barn cat kittens make good pets, but not all that often. SignatureT.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) SPAM filter: Messages to this address *must* contain "T.E.D." somewhere in the body or they will be automatically rejected. > There is an in-between state that doesn't have a name that I know of, > except "barn cats" - cats that are pretty wild but have people who > feed and them and let them use existing shelter. Sometimes, barn > cat kittens make good pets, but not all that often. I foster for the local shelter. I had a feral cat once.. one who would just as soon take my hand off then let me touch her. Her kittens while fearful at first, ended up being quite socialized. A friend of mine adopted one and she is quite a confident cat. The problem is the lack of socialization before 8 to 12 weeks of age. If a cat does not get it, they are fearful and there for feral. If they do get it then they aren't. >> There is an in-between state that doesn't have a name that I know of, >> except "barn cats" - cats that are pretty wild but have people who [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >before 8 to 12 weeks of age. If a cat does not get it, they are fearful and >there for feral. If they do get it then they aren't. My Ozy and Millie were barn kittens, about 10 weeks old, I think, when we caught them - at least one had never been handled, but all the cats were used to having humans around for their daily supplimental feeding. I took a third kitten as well. Ozy and Millie tamed right down and became lap and bed cats - the third was never really tame, and eventually went feral (or got himself killed). Ozy and Millie like to eat watermelon and corn on the cob. SignatureT.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) SPAM filter: Messages to this address *must* contain "T.E.D." somewhere in the body or they will be automatically rejected. Per Newbie: >Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between feral and stray, >the two terms I come across now and then? I don't claim to know, but there should be some term that identifies a cat that was never habituated to people as a kitten. SignaturePeteCresswell > Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between feral and stray, > the two terms I come across now and then? A feral is a cat that has reverted to the wild state due to the lack of human contact, or has been born to a feral queen, and has not been socialized to humans. There are varying degrees of feral. A stray is a former pet cat that got lost or was abandoned. Sometimes its very difficult to distinguish a frightened stray from a feral. > > Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between feral and stray, > > the two terms I come across now and then? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Sometimes its very difficult to distinguish a frightened stray from a feral. I agree. So does my semi-feral cat. Semi-feral because she won't let me touch her, but she likes to taunt me by sitting at the bathroom door or otherwise a foot away, but she knows I'm not fast enough to catch her. And if I do happen to catch her, she stays tense, but she no longer tries to take my face off. But she wuvs my epileptic cat. I must say, the affection is not particularly returned. > > > Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between feral and stray, > > > the two terms I come across now and then? [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > take my face off. But she wuvs my epileptic cat. I must say, the affection > is not particularly returned. I shudder at the thought of the thousands of frightened strays that have been killed because the trappers mistook them for ferals. > Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between feral and stray, > the two terms I come across now and then? My first cat was feral. He had never had any contact with people, and would not let anyone near him. A neighbor and I trapped him (approximate age 8 months), and I started the slow process of socializing him. He eventually became a wonderful companion, but it took at least 2 years before I felt that he had really "bonded" with me. That is very different from a "stray" cat that may have had human companionship in the past but had either wandered off or been abandoned. MaryL |
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