What happens to homeless people, animals, wildlife, in a big freeze like this?

[Skip Intro]

My motivation for asking is because there is a big feral cat colony about two miles from me. I started wondering what they do, can they survive this kind of cold (supposed to be low 20s tonight, mid teens tomorrow night, and I know it is much colder elsewhere).

This got me to wondering about wildlife. The birds, the deer, squirrels, etc.

Then I thought, how can I ask about the animals without asking about the homeless people. I mean, will people die in the US tonight for lack of shelter?

Especially in areas that aren't used to this kind of cold.

Yes, I care for the homeless people, and hope deeply no human life ends tonight simply because of exposure to the cold.

But I can't get those poor cats out of my mind. And the scenario must be being played out a million times over nationwide. What happens to these poor creatures, and others like them, on a night like tonight?


edit: grammar

[LostinVA]

1. Get a few bales of hay and loosen them up some for the kitties

Some may still die, but if they are out of the wind and can cuddle together inside a little nest, most will probably live. Water is also hard for strays at this time of year, because puddles, etc. are frozen.

[Bicoastal]

2. Most animals find a way, although some that are too young or too old don't make it...

...sadly, humans are more likely to freeze than any native or domesticated animal.

[Mari333]

3. well, a couple weeks ago

my friend found 6 kittens under her porch. she has 5, I have one now. hes hiding behind my desk in my living room, but hes warm and fed. i cannot imagine what would have happened to the little guy otherwise.
hes a cutie. i named him mohammed.

[ColbertWatcher]

6. Any pics?

Or does he get mad when you try to depict his face in photographs?

[Mari333]

10. here he is

my friend got a pic of him before he came here..hes still shy

[drmeow]

14. What a BEAUTY!

He'll eventually get over his shyness.

[ColbertWatcher]

18. He is a good lookin' boy! n/t

[K Gardner]

33. What a gorgeous kitty !!

[ColbertWatcher]

4. The GOP-controlled media pretends it's not happening. n/t

[John Q. Citizen]

5. We have an adopted stray who is an outdoor cat. We feed her and give her water

but she survives and it was -20 below zero for a couple of days a few weeks ago.

At the low 20s i would think they will do fine.

[Subdivisions]

7. The kitties will have hopefully found somewhere

to bundle up together. Cats are very resourceful. I understand and share your concern.

I join you in hoping there will be no homeless deaths. I fear, though, that we may be disapointed.

Good luck to all creatures as this cold snap progressess eastward.

It's currently 22° here on the Virginia coast.

[dysfunctional press]

8. well...they seem to have survived as species so far. and this isn't the first time it's been cold.

they mostly find a way. and some of them don't.

i just wish my lab weren't so badgering about going outside to play in the snow ALL THE TIME.

[drmeow]

9. Unlike homeless people

feral cats have a few things which help protect them. First, cats do not have as many nerve endings in their skin as humans do so they are not as affected by extremes of temperature. That's why, for example, a cat can curl up in the sun or in front of a roaring fire despite all that fur. The same applies to cold. Second, a large colony means that the cats can curl up together, thereby sharing body heat. There must be a place where they seek shelter from the elements. My guess is that they will all gather in that location and cuddle together to share warmth. They can also burrow to a certain extent - covering up even with leaves or dirt or even hiding under a shrub (as long as its not the shrub we love to hate) can help keep body temp up in the cold.

The feral cat colony at the house next door to me survived 2 or three nights of 18 degree weather (I'm in Phoenix so you can imagine how different THAT temp was) a few years ago. They do have a partially closed off carport they inhabit but I also find feral cats on the deck chairs under their cover, etc. Curling up also reduces the area expose to the worst of the cold.

I can't talk about other animals but I imagine they have adaptive mechanisms, too.

[cynthia]

20. They seem to burrow their heads into whatever they can find

My cat always comes home dirty after getting stuck outside in the cold, not his whole body, just his head up to and including his ears. I'm thinking he is getting into leaves or other "nesting" material. We are especially careful to keep him away from the door when it dips down into the -16 range like today.

[drmeow]

26. It could be that the head is

where they are most vulnerable. It would make sense - especially their nose and mouth (I can't imagine their little noses freezing - they're already cold and wet :))

[Marrah_G]

11. My town has made the high school into a shelter

The local homeless advocates have managed to contact all but one of the town's known homeless citizens.

More towns should do this I think.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2009/01/15/attleboro/4239107.txt


ATTLEBORO - With winter about to unleash a dangerous, icy blast, local officials are laying the groundwork to open shelters if disaster strikes.

Mayor Kevin Dumas said the city's high school will be available to house people if needed during the frigid weather, which forecasters at the National Weather Service in Taunton expect to grip the area with temperatures as low as zero and windchills as low as minus-15 from Thursday through Saturday night.

"We're preparing to open up a shelter if we run into an issue," Dumas said Tuesday. "Just in case."

<clip>

Local members of the Bristol-Norfolk Reserve Medical Corps are on standby to staff a shelter if one is opened, city health nurse Jacquie O'Brien said.

Meanwhile arrangements have been made to shelter all homeless residents, Health Agent Jim Mooney said.

The city's homeless coalition has contacted all but one of the city's known homeless and offered them shelter when the weather is at its worst.

[PRETZEL]

29. Here, we issue "Code Blue" alerts,

it's county wide. Local authorities will be on the lookout and will take them to shelters. Our agency is one of the agencies who pay shelters for the extra people.

[Mari333]

12. I think the real cruelty is anyone who has their dog on a chain outside

this woman devotes her life to ending that

http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/reps.html

[sohndrsmith]

13. They suffer - if we are of the mindset "not my problem" or

if we blame them for not taking responsibility for pulling themselves up by the bootstraps - even if - as our soon-to-be president said - they don't even have bootstraps.

They suffer - if we refuse to acknowledge a sense of community responsibility, if we only look out for ourselves, others be damned.

They can survive, even heal and rebuild if we treat them with dignity and respect instead of blame. The idea that people "choose" poverty and dire circumstances is absurd. I'm sure some people may do so, it takes all kinds in this world... but I think that, at best, this is such a small minority that numbers wouldn't even register in any tangible way.

People don't enjoy suffering and hardship in general, but the most dangerous risk all those in dire situations face more than ever before is that it has become close to impossible to get out of the downward cycle. The American dream that anyone who worked hard, however humbly, could provide for a family, contribute to society and make progress. That is no longer the case. Doors have been closed more solidly than ever before, it seems to me...

[Marrah_G]

15. The worst amount of homelessness I've ever seen was within a mile of the White house

I wonder what our new President will do for the MANY homeless sleeping on benches, grates and doorways within view of his new home?

I am far more hopeful that perhaps he or Michelle will try to do something then I have been about any of the WH's former residents.

Anyone driving into DC (say for an anti-war rally) early in the morning knows what I cam talking about.

[Mari333]

16. today i read that they are putting the homeless in DC in shelters during the inauguration

or at least trying to.

more here

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jpEKgKMwgi2kKPTWkSBuiQoLmXwQD95NP74G0

[Marrah_G]

22. They need more permanent shelters

Instead of temporary ones to get the embarrassments out of sight............

[bobbolink]

34. He will do NOTHING unless he is pushed by US!

Just "hoping" he or Michelle will do "something" is going to let the situation get worse.

Campaign for badly needed Low-Income Housing!

And, read this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4844491

[Jamastiene]

17. I wish this post was an OP. So, I could K&R it.

:thumbsup:

[sohndrsmith]

31. thank you ... n/t

[grilled onions]

19. As Far The Birdies

We try to keep sacks of thistle full and ears of corn as well. Planning ahead one can purchase or make bird houses in the warm months so several families of birds will have shelter in the wicked months ahead.
Check tracks in the snow to see where they lead and what kind of critter is responsible. I have seen rabbit tracks where bunnies have used small evergreens for shelter. If I sprinkled rabbit chow around it would they eat it?????? Here it's very cold--below zero and enough snow that there is little for them to eat.

[cyberswede]

21. I found a dead bird today

It's so cold here, they canceled school for today and tomorrow (it was -20 this morning, with wind chill of -45).

I found a dead bird in my mailbox - I presume he flew in there to get warm, couldn't get out, and froze to death. Poor thing. :(

I did also have many many live birds at my feeders literally all day long. They're all puffed up to keep warm, and it's too cold for the usually-present squirrels to hog all the bird seed, so there's one good thing, I guess.

[Warpy]

23. Careful when you start the car in the morning

because feral kitties have been known to curl up to a warm engine block in the evening and sack out for the night.

[emilyg]

24. I have 2 sets of cat families I

feed daily. The babies usually don't do well. The older cats have made it through 5 winters. I provide blankets for them. Couple of boxes, too. When it's very cold I feed them canned food for extra calories.

[Tindalos]

25. They've opened extra shelters this winter

in drop-in centres and church basements. Groups have been going around, letting people know which shelters still have room. It doesn't usually get very cold here, so a lot of people are concerned like you are.

[Howler]

27. Mr Howler and I.........

Have a made a big wooden box for the stray cats that sits on our front porch that is big enough for an insulated dog house inside as well as two kennel heaters and a 75 watt light bulb to keep it warm. We have a heated water dish out for them too.
We also have two bowls over flowing with dry food but during the bitter cold days we put out wet food twice a day under the assumption that the little guys need the extra protein to help generate body heat.

We also have a heated bird bath in the back yard. It takes four gallons of seed to fill all our bird feeders daily. Then we have several squirrel feeders including one for nuts that we fill everyday.

I enjoy being able to participate in making the animals existence a little easier and consider it one of my lifes missions.

Here in Southpark in Dayton Ohio I am not the only one that helps out the wildlife and stray cats.
There are several houses that have feeders,cat shelters,ect..... I really love my community.

But I still worry about my critters when it gets this cold for two nights in a row the tempts have sunk down to 10 below zero here with wind chill at 20 below.

[northernlights]

28. feral cats

have a life span of only a couple years, to be honest. Wildlife have thick, thick coats. The very old, the very young, the sick die of hypothermia. Squirrels, mice and such burrow down in their nests. I saw a mouse gathering food or bedding in my barn 2 days ago, so I guess it knew what was coming. It's strictly Darwin; survival of the fittest. Last year in Maine we had a major die off of deer, not due to the cold but the depth of the snow. They just couldn't dig through such deep snow to the grasses underneath.

For people, they announced on the news that in Portland the homeless shelters were driving vans around the streets every half hour looking for anyone who needs help, to ensure everybody gets in out of the cold. They were headed to ~9 below last night. I'm further north and probably was down to ~15 below.

My barn cat came out of her nest in the hay yesterday morning for breakfast w/ hot water and I could see she was starting to shiver a bit (it was ~2-3 below) and picking her feet up and down. I've been monitoring her carefully, she was clearly at her limit and knowing what was coming, she came into the house for the next couple days.

My horses are double-blanketed and I deepened their bedding for extra insulation if they choose to lie down. Livestock people also know to "stoke the stoves" by feeding more hay than usual at night. Digestion of hay/fiber has been proven to warm them from the inside out. I carry them hot water from the kitchen, and I feed them a hot, very wet mash twice/day to ensure they stay hydrated. It's hard when it is this cold to stay hydrated -- you step outside and can feel your skin instantly freeze-drying.

[deaniac21]

30. I'll bet that colony wreaks devastation on the local avifauna.

[ellie]

32. I don't know of

any stray cats or dogs here (I live in the city). I have been putting out piles of seed for the squirrels in both my back and front yard. The squirrel in the back sat there all day and ate. I don't see any birds here though at all.