Any bird that congregates together can be called a flock at the time of congregation.

All right Michigan

They should make those bags out of cardboard boxes so cats want to sit in them.

Tulip festival and Art museum? I will look it up, thank you for the recommendation

Ecology and conservation student - In reality we know fuck all about a lot of interspecies relationships. Sometimes a byproduct or the knock on effects of a species existing in an area is the reason the rest of the animals in that area are flourishing (and are called keystone species), if that animal is removed the ecosystem falls apart and is forced to find some new functional equilibrium.

(This bit is off memory and it was a while ago we covered this unit - specifics like species may be off but the sentiments are right) A scientist called Bob Paine discovered keystone species in I want to say the 80s by walking down to a particular rock on a beach and tossing all the starfish into the water and monitoring the other species. As time went on, without the starfish the species they predated upon became populous and overbred and overconsumed the species below them leading to the local extinction (on that rock) of both themselves and their prey animal pretty much leaving only animals like barnacles (which subsist off of food particles in the water), their predators, and photosynising organisms were left on the rock.

In short the starfish correctly managed the species beneath them and stopped them becoming an issue without overpopulating themselves; in their absence the next highest predator took advantage and overindulged leading to the exctinction of 3 species on that rock rather than the seemingly insignificant 1. The keystone species isn't always the highest predator though, it can be one further down the food chain.

Video on the starfish rock that I am unable to watch where I currently am. https://youtu.be/hRGg5it5FMI

Detroit and Grand Rapids both have vibrant downtowns with nightlife and cultural amenities. Traverse City and Marquette are great for the small lakefront tourism town vibe. Check out Sleeping Bear Dunes, Pictured Rocks, Mackinac Island.. and grab some legal weed before you head home.

The breeding program just started in June last year, and they're already having twenty pups and thinking about releasing some of them back into the wild. Doesn't really sound like "difficult", it's just the first time because noone ever tried breeding them before.

"in mice" unfortunately

Marquette is a lovely city. Definitely worth a visit.

I don't have any ideas or advice. I just wanted to say that it is really sweet how much you obviously care about the cat. This is really difficult. I hate that we can't just talk to them and ask what they want. I had to make a similar decision years ago, and I still wonder if made the right choice.

Good luck.

Sad Stuart Little noises

They're wonderful, I smile every time I look at them

A little bit of everything here in Michigan. Got the top rated campground and art museum in the country. Tulip festival is nice

Good for you. 😌 it must be fun having them.

My cat is a barn cat (kinda somewhere between a house cat and a feral cat, I found him outdoors as a young cat and despite being neutered still doesn't get along with other cats, but is also super sweet and cuddly to me and other humans he likes) and I still struggle to keep him indoors. I've only recently started keeping him indoors 24/7 (and I've had him for 2 years now), and there's even rats in the basement for him to catch and eat, and he still isn't happy with it. I'm worried for him because I'm about to move into a one bedroom apartment that's no more than 600 square ft, and right next to a busy road, so even with his leash I am not sure if I'll be able to take him outdoors.

If you've got any tips on how to keep a previously outdoor cat happy inside, I'm all for it. He doesn't like playing with cat toys, lasers, strings, moving toys, really nothing that isn't alive can keep his attention which makes it difficult.

Realistically I know he'd be happiest as a barn cat keeping critters away from food, but he also has separation anxiety and needs to check on me every few hours, so I don't know that he'd be any happier if I gave him away.

I think I will spend one of my small vacation funds in Michigan this year.

I am in Wisconsin and am planning on two short but close little vacations, one in spring and one in fall.

It's not entirely true that feral cats can't be acclimated to living indoors or with other cats, but it's not easy to do. My in-laws adopted a feral cat (didn't realize it was feral when they got it), which promptly ran away. However, it stayed in the neighborhood, so they started leaving food out for it, and slowly moved the food closer to the door until the cat would come inside to get fed. Then the cat started to at least occasionally hang out inside, at first when they and their dogs were out, and eventually even with them around. This winter it's been really cold and rainy, and the feral cat is getting older, so it more or less decided to become a mostly indoor cat, and seems fine around them, their dogs, and their other (indoor only) cat. It would probably throw a fit if it couldn't go out on demand; it still runs off when strangers come to visit, especially strange dogs; and it's definitely not a cuddly, pettable sort of cat. However, it does spend a lot more time indoors by the fire than I thought a feral cat ever would!

>feral cats

Feral cats are cats that can no longer be tamed. If a cat is not socialized during kittenhood they have little chance of being friendly towards humans/other cats later on. The only other option besides leaving them outdoors to do their thing is to put them to sleep. This is why TNR operations are so important, and if you ever see any stray cat, report it to a local rescue and check if it's ear is clipped. A clipped ear means it has already been fixed and re-released.

Also, cats can get pregnant as early as 3-4 months old, so it's important to get them spayed/neutered asap (which usually can't happen until about 6 months old I believe) and to not let cats back outdoors if you know they are not fixed (for instance if you happen to see a momma cat with kittens out in the "wild," catching them and turning them into a rescue (or fostering them yourself) is crucial to preventing more feral cats)

I have five pet mice, they're very cute.

Yeah cat people are weird about this.

Keep your fucking cats inside. It's good for the cats and SUPER good for the local fauna. If you insist on letting them out, get a leash or a backpack or build a catio. Birds and rodents and reptiles shouldn't suffer because you think your special baby deserves murder playtime.

Signed, a lifelong cat owner with a veterinarian spouse, with two cats now, a catio we built them to safely go outside, and an enclosed backpack that I use to take one of them on walkies because he is my special baby and likes to see new places but is not allowed to kill birds. If I can wrestle an 18lb Bengal mix into a backpack and lug his ass around mountains you can put fluffy in a bag too.

Specially cats. Thanks fucking MORONS that let your cat out of the house

Just throw those fuckers into my walls and you’ll have a million in no time. Won’t be able to throw em to the hawks fast enough.

100% it’ll be the babies 😂 if you’re keeping a pet mouse or hamster or something and she’s pregnant, it’s common to hear the babies before you see them. They don’t like people disturbing the nest. So hearing the squeaks is something people breeding say about it, meaning babies are alive in the nest.

My brother in law was just diagnosed with acute leukemia. It would be nice if this hit human trials very soon.