Unwanted Gophers And Unwelcome Feline Aggression
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Unwanted Gophers And Unwelcome Feline Aggression MR. SAM LITZINGER
12:17:35
Welcome back to "The Animal House." I'm Sam Litzinger with Dr. Gary Weitzman of the San Diego Humane Society. Dr. Weitzman will answer your animal-related questions because that's one of his many jobs, 877-610-3647. That's 877-610-3647. You can also email your questions to animalhouse@wamu.org. Visit our "Animal House" Facebook page to see animal news, videos, our Animal of the Day. You can get schedules, event information and updates by following "The Animal House" on Twitter if you'd like to do that. What I would like to do, I think, is take a telephone call first. This is Sahi (sp?). Sahi, glad you have you with us in "The Animal House." Question for Dr. Gary?
SAHI
12:18:15
Yes. Thank you for taking my call. I live in Germantown, Md. and I live in a small family home with a lot backing onto a forestry area and we have lived here for 17 years. We have a cedar deck behind the house which is about maybe a foot high and about five years ago we discovered, to our horror, a great big animal living underneath that deck.
DR. GARY WEITZMAN
12:18:37
Oh. Okay.
LITZINGER
12:18:37
What kind of great big animal was it and how big are we talking, Sahi?
WEITZMAN
12:18:40
This is intriguing.
SAHI
12:18:41
Yeah. And I think that animal is a gopher. Obviously we haven't seen the hole, because it's under the deck and we can't get underneath the deck. Anyway we went rushing out, we got ourselves a cage and we caught this animal using cabbage leaves.
WEITZMAN
12:18:58
Oh, really, okay.
SAHI
12:18:58
And got rid of him. But...
WEITZMAN
12:19:00
You thought.
SAHI
12:19:01
Yeah, we thought.
WEITZMAN
12:19:02
Ah, okay. All right. Knew that was coming. Okay.
SAHI
12:19:04
Well, we did get rid of him. We got rid of him -- yeah. We released him quite far away in some other area. Thing is he's come back and now this guy -- there's a family associated with him and we managed to catch one of the kids.
WEITZMAN
12:19:16
Right.
SAHI
12:19:18
And got rid of the kid and the next day we saw them all hovering around this cage and we haven't seen him for about a week or two, or his family. So we're hoping he's gone away, but we're not sure. So my...
WEITZMAN
12:19:32
Okay. So you've -- who did you see hovering around the trap, the rest of the gopher family, or...
SAHI
12:19:38
Yeah. The rest of the gopher family.
WEITZMAN
12:19:39
Okay.
SAHI
12:19:39
A father, a mother and a bunch small young ones, one of which...
WEITZMAN
12:19:43
Okay.
SAHI
12:19:44
...we had already got rid of.
LITZINGER
12:19:46
Visiting gophers from other states. I mean, the gophers are coming everywhere to be under your porch.
WEITZMAN
12:19:51
Oh, apparently.
LITZINGER
12:19:53
So what do we do here, Gary?
WEITZMAN
12:19:53
You know, this is -- well, you know, this is just a really good case example of the way we've, you know, infiltrated wildlife's, you know, environments. And, you know, Germantown is a very pastural, you know, area of metropolitan Washington, and it's amazing how much wildlife is out there. Skunks, gophers, deer, everything.
SAHI
12:20:11
Rats.
WEITZMAN
12:20:12
And a ton of birds. So, you know, my first question whenever anybody has an issue with wildlife is, how much of a problem is it? So if it's not a problem and in this case, Sahi, it sounds like it is a problem, because you've got an entire colony underneath your house, but if it's not a problem, you know, we just assume people leave everything alone and, you know, everybody can coexist to the point that, you know, it's still a healthy environment for animal and human alike. But in this case, it sounds like you've got at least four gophers underneath your house.
SAHI
12:20:40
Right.
WEITZMAN
12:20:41
And that's probably not something that is going to be sustainable for you or them for a long time. However, I would caution you, do not start trapping them yourself because it's not the solution. They'll find their way back. Sam's right, they are very good with GPS and if you disrupt the family unit then you may be, you know, hurting the young that are underneath there.
WEITZMAN
12:21:02
Instead, I would say go with a humane wildlife solution person and actually there's a website called Humane Wildlife Solutions. It's on the Humane Society of the United States website, HSUS.org, and it'll be right in there, the wildlife experts that can actually tell you what the solution is for this particular problem, or any wildlife encroachment. And when I say encroachment, it's our encroachment on them...
SAHI
12:21:27
Right.
WEITZMAN
12:21:27
...not usually the other way around. Yeah. I'm not a gopher expert, or someone that can actually tell you step by step what to do about these animals, but someone will need to trap them, or make it less interesting for them to live underneath your house and I think that's kind of important because they can, you know, chew things up down there, the noise down there, you really don't want to have them, you know, going to the bathroom down there, although generally if they're living there, that's -- they're going to do that somewhere else, but, Sahi, I'd say you need to get an expert in. You've got more than one animal down there, so it's not a simple solution.
SAHI
12:21:57
Mm-hmm.
WEITZMAN
12:21:57
And what they'll probably do is trap the whole colony and hopefully that's four animals or so and bring them somewhere suitable for them. Because if you bring them to the wrong place, they are just going to come back if they can find their way back, because they're going to seek the right habitat for themselves.
SAHI
12:22:11
Or they'll go to somebody else's house.
LITZINGER
12:22:13
(laugh) Well, yes, I was just going to say...
WEITZMAN
12:22:14
Well, yes.
LITZINGER
12:22:15
...they might go next door where things are more interesting over there.
WEITZMAN
12:22:17
I know. I know. Well, that -- there's always the chance but, you know, on the other hand, yeah, there's a likelihood that since these gophers liked your house, another family is going to like it just as much.
LITZINGER
12:22:28
And so, Gary, that information you said is on the….
WEITZMAN
12:22:28
And that's when the wildlife people will help.
LITZINGER
12:22:29
That information is on the...
WEITZMAN
12:22:31
Yeah.
LITZINGER
12:22:31
…Humane Society website?
WEITZMAN
12:22:32
HSUS website. Yeah. Hsus.org and I think it's called Humane Wildlife Solutions.
SAHI
12:22:38
Okay.
WEITZMAN
12:22:38
And, you know, at the very least, they're just fantastic with giving really good positive and humane, again, you know, alternatives to taking care of this kind of an issue. And actually, you know, we may want to get one of them on the show one of these days.
LITZINGER
12:22:53
That's sounds like a good idea, too, because I'm sure they're doing this a lot all around the country.
WEITZMAN
12:22:57
A lot. Every city.
LITZINGER
12:22:58
So try that, Sahi. Yeah, everywhere. Try that if you would, Sahi, and report back to us after, I hope, you've had some success with that as well. By the way, Gary, do we have to take these gophers to Canada? I mean, is there any idea how far we have to take them from...
WEITZMAN
12:23:09
I know. I know. Well, you know, there's been tracking studies done and they can actually move quite a distance.
LITZINGER
12:23:15
Yeah.
WEITZMAN
12:23:15
So I don't know that you have to go to Canada from Maryland necessarily, but definitely want to find them a better alternative than underneath Sahi's house.
LITZINGER
12:23:23
How about San Diego? That might be far enough.
WEITZMAN
12:23:24
Hey, there you go. I think we've got them.
LITZINGER
12:23:26
Yeah. Our telephone number is 877-610-3647. That's 877-610-3647. You can email your questions to animalhouse@wamu.org. Let's take a telephone call from Karen. Karen, glad to have you with us in "The Animal House." Question for Dr. Gary?
KAREN
12:23:42
Yes, I have a question. I have a large gray Tabby, 15 pounds. He's a six-years-old, kitty cat.
WEITZMAN
12:23:50
Okay.
LITZINGER
12:23:51
And what's his name, by the way?
KAREN
12:23:52
He's -- Felix. He's aggressively biting my visitors.
WEITZMAN
12:23:56
Oh, he's not like Felix at all. Okay.
LITZINGER
12:23:58
No. He's angry Felix.
KAREN
12:24:00
Yeah.
WEITZMAN
12:24:01
Yes.
KAREN
12:24:01
(unintelligible) surprised when we're not present. He started this when he was like two years old or so.
WEITZMAN
12:24:09
Oh, okay.
KAREN
12:24:10
And it was -- I had moved to another house and I don't know if he's seeing other cats in the neighborhood. We've got like a park in the back and he sees….
WEITZMAN
12:24:19
Right.
KAREN
12:24:20
...other cats back there. He's not -- he's a house cat, you know. We don't -- we...
WEITZMAN
12:24:24
He doesn't go outside.
KAREN
12:24:26
Well, we put him on a leash and, you know, take him out to go walking.
WEITZMAN
12:24:28
Oh, good. Good for you. Okay.
KAREN
12:24:30
And he's, you know, he's a good kitty, except when visitors come. Like last time we went on vacation and, you know, he bit the person who was -- our friend who was feeding him.
LITZINGER
12:24:41
Is he biting you?
KAREN
12:24:42
He nips at us a little bit...
WEITZMAN
12:24:44
Okay.
KAREN
12:24:44
...but not like he does our visitors. I mean, he really bites hard to visitors.
WEITZMAN
12:24:48
Really? All right.
KAREN
12:24:48
If he doesn't get his way with us he'll, like, nip a little bit.
WEITZMAN
12:24:52
You've been dealing with this for about four years with him, right?
KAREN
12:24:55
Yeah.
WEITZMAN
12:24:56
Okay. It's not going to change. And unfortunately, you know, we can't convince cats, unless there's the -- the reason that they're doing is something that we can alter. I mean, for instance they're stressed, over stimulated by, you're possibly right, whatever's happening outside, stressed by another cat in the house, by situations that are not great for them, you know, in their own minds, too many animals, too much competition, looking -- you know, vying for attention.
WEITZMAN
12:25:22
Unless we can alter any of those issues for the cat, there's not really a way to instill in him, or inject in him a different personality. I would say it just -- it's just reality. You're just -- you're going to have to live with it. Felix is going to have to be like this and probably separated from guests...
KAREN
12:25:38
Right.
WEITZMAN
12:25:39
...so that when you have visitors in, there's no way, even if he's a cute, you know, wonderful, you know, really adorable gray Tabby, you can't let your visitors or especially kids, you know, interact with him because he can't be trusted. Hey, listen, I've got a dog like that. I love him to death and he's not a terrible boy, but I know I'm not going to have people come in and just get, you know, interact with my dog without, you know, intervening. So, I've got to control that situation. Unfortunately, you've got to do the same thing with Felix.
KAREN
12:26:09
Okay.
WEITZMAN
12:26:09
Now, Karen, if there's a reason you think that he's frustrated or anxious or stressed, that you could work on, but probably for four years if he's an otherwise healthy acting and normal acting cat, this unfortunately is just his personality.
KAREN
12:26:24
Okay. Do you think there...
WEITZMAN
12:26:25
He's a danger to society. (laugh)
LITZINGER
12:26:28
He's a menace. That cat's a menace, Karen.
WEITZMAN
12:26:28
And a lot of us have those animals. (laugh) Yeah.
KAREN
12:26:33
Yeah. But do you think -- do you think if we got another kitty cat, maybe if there's another cat that he could play with or something like that?
WEITZMAN
12:26:38
Oh. You know, that's always my favorite solution. I think everybody should have multiple animals. I mean, don't go above a certain threshold, but it's nice to have animals together. But I don't think another cat is going to do anything but make this worse. Now, I will retract that comment if you tell me that he's incredibly gregarious and you've experienced him with other cats and he really plays with them and seems to have a good time. I'll happily retract that comment. But I don't think for this guy, another cat's gonna be the solution.
KAREN
12:27:09
Okay.
WEITZMAN
12:27:10
And honestly, lots more activity for him.
LITZINGER
12:27:12
Yeah.
WEITZMAN
12:27:12
If you can do it, Karen, do everything you can to exhaust this boy and, you know….
LITZINGER
12:27:15
Cat Disneyland as Gary likes to say from time to time.
WEITZMAN
12:27:16
...decrease the threshold. Yeah.
LITZINGER
12:27:18
Thank you, Karen. By the way, I'm just getting my cat chops back in order, my cat care chops, Gary, because the Kabul, Afghanistan refugee cats have arrived.
WEITZMAN
12:27:25
I know.
LITZINGER
12:27:26
So I'm just...
WEITZMAN
12:27:27
You terrorists.
LITZINGER
12:27:27
...I'm relearning all my -- I'm relearning all my little cat tricks in here, but it was the same sort of thing I'm sure with Karen. You can stroke them and then you count the tail twitches and when to get to about six or seven tail twitches, you want to stop stroking them, because they've just about had enough. And, Felix...
WEITZMAN
12:27:41
Yes. And of course, I'm only saying terrorists because you've already described them that way.
LITZINGER
12:27:46
Yeah. Felix and the other cats may have their limits and just have to figure out where they are. Our telephone number is 877-610-3647. Our email address is animalhouse@wamu.org. Let's take a telephone call from Amy. Amy glad to have you with us in "The Animal House." Question for Dr. Gary?
AMY
12:28:03
Yes. I have a 14-year-old daughter who would like to get her own dog.
WEITZMAN
12:28:08
Oh, good, okay.
AMY
12:28:08
We lost our dog in May. Tessa was 17 and she lived a long and healthy life.
LITZINGER
12:28:14
Oh, good.
WEITZMAN
12:28:14
Oh, okay. Seventeen's terrific. That's great.
AMY
12:28:18
But we're -- we're having a difference of opinion on what's a dog and what's a pony.
WEITZMAN
12:28:23
Oh, okay.
LITZINGER
12:28:25
Somebody wants a Great Dane?
AMY
12:28:27
Well, she's been looking at things like Bernese Mountain Dogs, Huskies. We've got a couple of slightly geriatric cats and I'm looking for a breed that isn't going to be, like, a sight hound and chasing down my cats and...
WEITZMAN
12:28:44
Mm-hmm.
AMY
12:28:44
...maybe not over 50 pounds.
WEITZMAN
12:28:47
Okay. Yeah. There's a lot of dogs qualify for all of that, and by the way, not all sight hounds are inappropriate with cats. I had Greyhounds for years and years. Love that breed. And they were fine with cats. We actually had a clinic Greyhound, and two clinic cats, and everybody curled up on a bed and slept together. So I think it's not necessarily a breed. But Amy, you've got every right to put limits on the size of the animal that you're bringing in for your daughter and I think you should put some parameters around that.
WEITZMAN
12:29:20
At the Washington Animal Rescue League we used Meet Your Match and that's a great way to actually pair up a family's needs or requirements with the animals that are in stock, so to speak, in the shelter and a lot of other shelters have that as well. We're going to be bringing it in here to San Diego and I think it's a really great way to have a wonderful conversation with your daughter, with your family about what are you actually looking for? Do you want a dog that wants to play all the time? Do you want a dog that would happy, you know, curled up on the couch? Do you want to do a lot of hiking? Do you have another animal?
WEITZMAN
12:29:51
I mean, goals go in there and really, it's a good estimation of what the appropriate animal is for. Now, having said all that, I, of course, think, you know, you should go to your local shelter or a rescue group to get...
LITZINGER
12:30:03
By the way, Amy, where are you calling from?
AMY
12:30:05
Well, I was in Herndon, Va. and we just arrived back in Omaha, Ne.
LITZINGER
12:30:10
Oh, you're in Omaha now, okay.
WEITZMAN
12:30:12
Okay. Yeah.
LITZINGER
12:30:12
Presumably, Gary, there's a great shelter in Omaha as well...
WEITZMAN
12:30:15
Yeah.
LITZINGER
12:30:15
...where you can do something like this?
WEITZMAN
12:30:16
Yeah, absolutely. And I would start there and see what kind of a process they have for matching you with an animal. There's also petfinder.com and that you can see literally every animal that's almost in every single shelter in your area and even nationally and see what's out there. But, you know, there's really no reason in my estimation to look anywhere else but a shelter, because you can get everything you're looking for.
AMY
12:30:41
Okay.
WEITZMAN
12:30:41
And if you want a dog that'll get along with your cats, tons of them are cat tested and we always do too before we send a dog home to a family with a cat, because we don't want the cat to ask the family to return the dog. (laugh)
LITZINGER
12:30:53
Which could happen.
WEITZMAN
12:30:53
We try to avoid that. It would.
LITZINGER
12:30:55
Amy, report back to us after you've made your decision, will you? We'd like to know what you ended up with.
AMY
12:30:59
I will let you know.
WEITZMAN
12:31:00
Thank you.
LITZINGER
12:31:01
Thank you very much. Dr. Gary Weitzman will return to answer more questions later in the program.
MS. KAREN MUNSON
12:31:08
I'm Karen Munson, and this is "The Animal House" Dateline. The Peninsula Clarion reports that Dustin Klepacki was floating in the Kenai River with his father and their friend last weekend when they came upon a bear cub drowning in a whirlpool.
MS. KAREN MUNSON
12:31:23
The current brought the boat up against the bear and Dustin's father was able to nudge the bear to slower moving water.
MS. KAREN MUNSON
12:31:32
The bear safely swam to shore. A bull that was driven by instinct damaged an Arkansas Sheriff's Patrol Car when it tried to mount a man who was leading the animal across the yard. Authorities said Wednesday that a Faulkner County Sheriff's Deputy was responding to a call about a bull running loose. As the patrol car drew near, the animal reared up and pinned the man against the vehicle. According to the Deputy's report, the bull then tried to mate with him. Fortunately the bull lost interest, and was safely returned to its pen.
MS. KAREN MUNSON
12:32:05
And that's the voice of an African Elephant. It's deepest calls can thunder up to six miles away. Now, researchers have learned for the first time how the massive animals produce these sounds. It turns out they do it in the same way that humans talk, pushing air through their vocal chords to make them vibrate. Elephants can go much lower than humans, however, because their vocal chords are eight times longer. More information about these stories is at wamuanimalhouse.org.
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