Sunday, March 8, 2009

Warriors #1: Into the Wild - Erin Hunter

Into the Wild is a novel about cats. A house cat named Rusty decides to live on the wild side and join a clan of wild cats. Rusty joins the Thunderclan and becomes Firepaw. This is a great story for young readers. There's no sex, no bad language, and while there is violence it's cats and not humans. I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more novels in the series. My grandkids will be getting some of Hunter's books as presents. Highly recommended.

That said, the problem of feral cats is an epidemic in this country. Feral cats are not a natural predator. As this story makes clear, they kill and eat rabbits, squirrels, birds, and other animals that aren't prepared for this ferocious predator. Barn cats that keep the rodent population of farms under control are fine, but anyone who allows their cats to go outdoors is being irresponsible. Anyone who feeds feral cats and encourages their breeding is dooming the rabbit, squirrel, and ground dwelling bird population in their area. I serve two cats that live in (rule) my house and never go outside. However, when I'm hunting and see feral cats they are shot on site.

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