Pets
Related: About this forumHow to Stop a Bird-Murdering Cat
Heres an alarming but little-known figurestray cats and pet cats allowed outdoors kill 3.6 million birds every day on average in the United States, for a total of at least 1.3 billion birds per year. Thats most likely a sizable chunk out of the U.S. land-bird population, which the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center estimates is around 10-20 billion. While habitat loss and climate change pose long-term dangers to birds in this country, recent research shows that outdoor cats currently kill more of them than any other threat caused by humans.
Its not just a problem in the U.S. A 2011 study found that domestic cats have directly contributed to extinctions of 22 bird species on islands around the world, and threatened dozens more. Researchers in the United Kingdom estimated that 55 million birds fall prey to domestic cats there each year; in Australia, threats to endangered species led government officials to announce plans for euthanizing 2 million feral cats.
Cat predation of wildlife, in other words, is a worldwide issue. But heres something else that stretches across borders: People love cats. In the U.S., there are about 84 million pet cats, and around 46 million of them are allowed to roam outside. An estimated 30-80 million more live as strays. Thats a lot of cats, and many spend their days doing what theyve done since the first cats were domesticated more than 9,000 years ago: hunting small animals. Humans originally used domesticated cats as efficient predators, protecting stores of food from vermin. But theres little need for working cats anymore; these days, most people just think of them as gentle companions and Internet memes. But their instincts havent caught up to our evolving needscats are still highly effective stealth hunters. And our having them around in such numbers means trouble for birds.
Some cat owners arent aware of the problem; some are, but feel that the companionship they receive from their pet outweighs their small contribution to a broader issue. But some cat lovers are also bird lovers. Two of them, a birdwatcher named Nancy Brennan and a bird biologist named Susan Willson, have developed what they believe is a solution.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/12/accessories-for-your-murderous-pet/419601/
https://www.birdsbesafe.com/
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)A particular post said tough beans if cats kill your birds. Thats what cats do.
Thanks. I doubt our neighbor will comply but I will suggest it.
We have no legal recourse for people who turn out feral cats like crops.
LongtimeAZDem
(4,494 posts)Last edited Fri Dec 7, 2018, 04:49 PM - Edit history (2)
Soxfan58
(3,479 posts)brewens
(13,586 posts)One day I could see him coming from quite a ways away packing something. It was just after harvest. He had an adult hen pheasant! That was the biggest one I saw him get.
I have kept them indoors my entire adult life.
Thyla
(791 posts)But slightly disturbing watch which will likely give a perspective most don't know or agree with.
I'm guessing you already know if you want to see this or not, pro tip if you have doubts after reading the blurb then don't.
https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/8xp8qk/shooting-cats-inside-australias-violent-war-on-feral-cats
brush
(53,778 posts)they're much bigger than their cat, otherwise...
Duppers
(28,120 posts)From Amazon
Or you could just tie strips of iridescent fabric on kitty's collar.
ginnyinWI
(17,276 posts)Our village has an ordinance against letting any pets roam. If mine go out, it's on a harness and leash. There are many dangers out there, including coyotes, cars, and parasites. They are happy being indoors.
Rhiannon12866
(205,359 posts)Cars, predators, poisons, bad weather. My last two cats I rescued from outdoors, one was left behind when a neighbor moved (she was 12 ) and my Felix, who I have now, I found as a kitten in a supermarket parking lot where they were doing construction. He's adjusted just fine.
Judi Lynn
(160,530 posts)One becomes the guardian of the little critter, and has a responsibility to protect the cat, by giving it a safe home, instead of leaving it to the whims of birds of prey, large dogs, and yes, they DO kill cats, I am very sorry to say, having seen it happen when I was a little girl, a trauma for me, not to mention the cat, which will be with me forever, not to mention non-domesticated critters.
They actually do have a responsibility to protect the other life forms on the planet from their cats, and provide their own cat friends with food and water and a place to use a cat potty, so the cat has NO NEED to go outside for maintenance.
Turning a predatory animal loose on other small critters, or allowing it to be vulnerable to larger predatory animals, not to mention cars, and vicious children, or grown cat-haters is a moral crime on the spiritual level, and a real crime in a lot of towns which insist people do NOT let the world look after the animals they are required to protect.
Thank you for posting this material, douglas9.