Fun fact: I once saw a cat trying to enter someone's home, standing outside the door and meowing and trying to reach the handle, and I knocked on the door to tell the homeowner that their cat wanted in.
Then the home owner came and told me that they never saw this cat before a day in their lives.
Well, most languages read vowels somewhat similarly. It’s English that differs from the norm and therefore often has „weird“ spellings, especially for onomatopoeia.
Yeah English teachers in my country start the first lesson by telling you that in English you don’t pronounce words exactly as written. Because in Estonian, each letter has exactly one sound. Grammatical context can change the length of the sound, but not really the sound itself.
I've seen it spelt both meow and miaow in the UK. My old Little Oxford dictionary (1986 edition) only has the miaow spelling, with mew as the variation. Meow isn't even in it.
It's definitely that bad if you know how bad it is and still do it.
We all know what happens when people feel persecuted for ignorance though, they just make that thing part of their identity. Hell, without even checking I bet there's already a cat owner subculture that glorifies letting cats out in full knowledge of the harm.
Eh, it's honestly not as bad as what most people make it out to be. The idea that non-feral cats are blood thirsty extinction machines is largely the product of people not being very good at interpreting scientific studies.
The majority of studies about cats being killing tens of billions of birds a year is based on data extrapolated from a few studies of feral cats or the introduction of cats to islands. Introducing any new species of plant or animal can be devastating to island habitats, so that data shouldn't be utilized when applied to the norm. And the studies of birds being killed on the mainland confirm that the majority of birds are being killed by feral cats, who have a much much greater predatory drive than the normal house cat.
If we take away any understanding from these studies it should be that if we want to save more birds, people should try and domesticate feral cats, or at least feed them to minimize their predation of birds.
Oh for sure, it's definitely better for the cats and the environment to keep them inside. I just don't think perfect should be the enemy of good.
I've just met some people who are militant to the point where they want to euthanize all outdoor cats. When in reality we could make a ton of progress by just feeding strays and getting them spayed and neutered.
I have about half a dozen of the neighborhood ferals that I've gotten spayed and neutered. They won't ever be lovey dovy indoor cats, but they are fed, lazy, and completely uninterested in our bird feeders anymore.
That's a great thing you're doing for them and the local environment. I heartily applaud it.
My aunt is a stray cat fancier, but she does it with the misguided goal of someday winning their love. I think she finds the remoteness of their affection enthralling, and I can't tell if it's toxoplasmosis or emotional immaturity.
I like your approach better. Live and let live, I say.
Couldn't agree more. Make sure you pickup your dogs shit but it's fine for fluffy to kill all the local wildlife and turn the flowerbox into its litterbox.
Good thing the cat didn't get shot.
I guess it was a white cat, idk?
Mein purrer
A pure catian purrer.
Dang that was good. 👍
Ze cat needs more lebensraum.
Most fucking underrated comment on this site, OMG...
I, what?
Man charged with murder after Houston 'ding dong ditch' shooting https://share.google/IKyimiktwydw5XBqt
Jesus fucking christ I hate this stupid ass country
Gun nuts are a particularly bad breed.
Fun fact: I once saw a cat trying to enter someone's home, standing outside the door and meowing and trying to reach the handle, and I knocked on the door to tell the homeowner that their cat wanted in.
Then the home owner came and told me that they never saw this cat before a day in their lives.
Their cat now, the distribution system deems it so
My neighbors kept yelling at me to let the cat in. It wasn't my cat.
He's sleeping next to me now.
your cat had future sight
A friend told me "There is no greater love than that between a man and the cat he didn't want."
2 quests completed simultaneously.
Who the hell spells meowing like that?
Very normal in Romania at least (miau). Not as weird as what we write for dog barks (ham).
Ham? Is it pronounced differently?
You can definitely pronounce ham in a way that it kind of sounds like a dog barking if you try hard enough. Right? Or is that just me?
The A is a bit more open than in English, kinda like the A in father, but otherwise no.
Other countries spell it differently, it's neat
Most of Latin America writes "miau"
Huh, we also spell it like that in Germany. Surely this is the same for entirely normal reasons...
Well, most languages read vowels somewhat similarly. It’s English that differs from the norm and therefore often has „weird“ spellings, especially for onomatopoeia.
See Great Vowel Shift
Yeah English teachers in my country start the first lesson by telling you that in English you don’t pronounce words exactly as written. Because in Estonian, each letter has exactly one sound. Grammatical context can change the length of the sound, but not really the sound itself.
Also it’s spelled mjäu.
In Spain too.
I've seen it spelt both meow and miaow in the UK. My old Little Oxford dictionary (1986 edition) only has the miaow spelling, with mew as the variation. Meow isn't even in it.
English spelling is trash, but in fairness, if it's "meow", then "meowing" does seem logical.
Still, utter trash.
Spelling Bees are English telling on itself.
Kind regards, A terrible, but unashamedly so, first-language English speller.
If you let your cat outside your an inconsiderate awful human being
They destroy local fauna and people's properties
Keep your cat inside
Depends on the cat tbh, ours just lay in the sun and basically never move.
It's definitely that bad if you know how bad it is and still do it.
We all know what happens when people feel persecuted for ignorance though, they just make that thing part of their identity. Hell, without even checking I bet there's already a cat owner subculture that glorifies letting cats out in full knowledge of the harm.
...Humans are so fucking annoying, aren't they?
Eh, it's honestly not as bad as what most people make it out to be. The idea that non-feral cats are blood thirsty extinction machines is largely the product of people not being very good at interpreting scientific studies.
The majority of studies about cats being killing tens of billions of birds a year is based on data extrapolated from a few studies of feral cats or the introduction of cats to islands. Introducing any new species of plant or animal can be devastating to island habitats, so that data shouldn't be utilized when applied to the norm. And the studies of birds being killed on the mainland confirm that the majority of birds are being killed by feral cats, who have a much much greater predatory drive than the normal house cat.
If we take away any understanding from these studies it should be that if we want to save more birds, people should try and domesticate feral cats, or at least feed them to minimize their predation of birds.
I'm open to nuance here, but isn't there also pretty solid evidence that indoor cats are themselves healthier and safer?
Oh for sure, it's definitely better for the cats and the environment to keep them inside. I just don't think perfect should be the enemy of good.
I've just met some people who are militant to the point where they want to euthanize all outdoor cats. When in reality we could make a ton of progress by just feeding strays and getting them spayed and neutered.
I have about half a dozen of the neighborhood ferals that I've gotten spayed and neutered. They won't ever be lovey dovy indoor cats, but they are fed, lazy, and completely uninterested in our bird feeders anymore.
That's a great thing you're doing for them and the local environment. I heartily applaud it.
My aunt is a stray cat fancier, but she does it with the misguided goal of someday winning their love. I think she finds the remoteness of their affection enthralling, and I can't tell if it's toxoplasmosis or emotional immaturity.
I like your approach better. Live and let live, I say.
Generally live longer too.
Very true but I raise you crows and magpies when they see one
Couldn't agree more. Make sure you pickup your dogs shit but it's fine for fluffy to kill all the local wildlife and turn the flowerbox into its litterbox.
Are you sure it's not foxes because they donthat too.
Unfortunately yes it was cats as confirmed by the cameras but TIL about foxes doing it also.
We only live in this world to serve our cat overlords.
I'm not sure if I would think that the cat is a genius or if it's possessed 😆
Cat.