Need to vent!! I thought it was an accident....

Hi all,

I am honestly feeling a bit sick, and so angry and just need to vent some serious annoyance at what I can only consider to be a sadistic act.

My in-laws went away for the weekend and I was put in charge of feeding the animals. They have house cats, but when they go away, they are put in a large outdoor cage, that forms part of an old chook pen.

I went in to feed the cats to find one and then a second native Satin bowerbird. They were either female or younger males, as they were green, not the satin blue that most would recognise (the vet later confirmed one was male and the other female), but I knew they were bowerbirds by the amazing blue eyes they have.

Unfortunately the cats seemed to have had a go at them. I managed to catch them and rushed to my local vets before they closed (it was late evening on a Friday). In Australia, vets will take in wild animals and generally treat them free of charge (as I understand it), and we have volunteer groups set up to care for and rehabilitate native animals if possible.

Unfortunately one bird did not make it, and the other bird had lost all it's tail feathers, so could not fly properly. I rang the vets this morning and ended up taking the bird home to care for it over the weekend and to find a qualified carer (as the vet was closed midday Saturday).

Having parrots of my own, I had a spare cage (which will now need to be thoroughly cleaned), and set up a quarantine area in our garage which is separate from the house. I spent a bit of time trying to find out which organization could help in my area, and was eventually called back by a lady who was trained and able to rehabilitate this bird (having no tail feathers it will need to be cared for until it molts, before it can be released).

Here is a picture of this beautiful creature, the eyes are amazing (the photo doesn't do it justice).



OK so here is the point were I should be thinking, what a tragic accident (I can't really blame the cats for doing what comes naturally to them, and my inlaws had tried to protect the native birds by keeping the cats locked in the pen), I assumed the birds had found a way in, and had been using the pen as a roosting spot, with the cats not being in the pen most of the year this had not been a problem. I felt sad for the one that didn't make it, but thankful I had managed to save the other and hopefully it would eventually be released back into the wild.

I knew someone else had been asked to look after the cats too, and although I was fairly sure there were no other birds in the cat pen and that I had found the way they got in and blocked it, I decided to call the other person (who I have known for a long time, and who seems to love animals as much as I do), to warn them to keep an eye out for birds just in case.

The response I got made me sick "Oh were they still alive....I caught them in with the chickens, stealing the feed, and stuck them in for the cats to play with and finish off".

My response was met with laughter as he told me I would never make a good farmer, "those birds steal the fruit off the tree". Firstly my inlaws, yes have a few acres, but they and he do not sell any fruit or do farming, nor does any neighbor within miles (they are all what you would call Hobby farms), so you couldn't even put it down to someone sick of loosing income. And even if they could justify it based on a need to control losses, who other than someone with a sadistic nature would put birds in with cats to allow them to unfortunately do what they inevitably will (by nature), kill the birds, and most likely slowly and painfully.

I know the world is filled with idiots, but I really thought I knew this person. Such a sickening feeling!!!

Good morning and thank you for doing what you can for these birds. To be honest I think fright kills off birds in these situations. They are beautiful birds to have as a native species. What will your in-laws reaction be to this behaviour by this so called neighbour? What perturbs me is what else is this person doing? Your sense of disappointment must be huge, as you never think this type of thing belongs to anyone you know. Hope the little bird makes it.

Such a sad thing to find out about your neighbours or your inlaws neighbours. Im glad one of the birds made it and hopefully when it is released it will stay well away from the neighbours for its own safety...in the back of my mind Im thinking a good pen for those neighbours and a couple of T-Rex hunting in it, I bet their idea of preditor and prey would change then ...anyway you gave a new way of looking at things and a window into a more humane world to them and maybe somewhere deep down your kindness and concern for the birds planted a seed in their hearts that will one day blossom in the flower of kindness to the native birds and creatures that live around them. Thank you for rescueing and caring for this Beautiful bird . The world is not changed by major events but by one heart at a time and one tiny deed at a time . Well Done and Thank you for sharing that beautiful pic with us.

Sorry to hear that.


I have a family member that likes to constantly joke that my birds are cat or dog snacks or food, and how they would just love to get into the bird room for a little treat... said family member thinks they're funny. It's not.

Especially not after losing my first bird while under her care due to a cat knocking the cage down, it falling apart, and the cat going after the first bird she could catch.