House Cats are Killing Machines

[Cardinal]

He calculates that cats can have four-to-10 times the impact of a wild predator. Native predators, like jungle cats, also kill a lot of small animals, but their impact is spread out over a larger area.

"The big concern is where we have an overlap of people and cats with native species that are small and vulnerable," Kays said.

One study estimates that house cats, both domestic and feral, kill billions of birds every year.

"The simplest thing to do is to keep your cat indoors," he said.

For those who refuse to keep their cat inside, there are potential options.

St. Lawrence University associate professor Susan Willson went looking for one when she rescued a cat known as "the Gorilla." He was fighting with her other cats, but when she let him outdoors, he brought home dead birds.

"I'm a bird biologist, so that's just horrifying," she said.

Note of caution: Article has image of cat with dead bird.
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/18/8209...life-than-wild-preda?utm_source=pocket-newtab

 

[Scott]

A sad but worthy reminder. Thanks for posting!

 

[GaleriaGila]

Yes, please keep cats indoors. It's the right thing to do, for kitty, for birds, for the world.

 

[Flboy]

So very true! I get into so much trouble on this topic! I used to have many hummingbirds in my yard! We had a cardinal that greeted us for years!
How do you handle any other destructive, out of control predator?

 

[noodles123]

Yup-- I could rant about this ALL DAY. I don't have a problem with cats as pets, but the way people let them run all over creation in town is dangerous and problematic for wildlife...plus it spreads diseases etc. I don't know how buying a pet and letting it run all over everyone else's property is tolerated by society when if I did the same thing with snakes, rats, rabbits, or dogs, people would have a REAL problem with it.
Plus, if I had a bunch of rats that I allowed to run the neighborhood, people would kill them without remorse, yet most cat owners would be livid if their cat was killed by a human...and as a human, while I wouldn't kill a cat, I just hate having to watch them terrorize the wildlife and poop in my garden etc.

 

[Cardinal]

Yup-- I could rant about this ALL DAY. I don't have a problem with cats as pets, but the way people let them run all over creation in town is dangerous and problematic for wildlife...plus it spreads diseases etc. I don't know how buying a pet and letting it run all over everyone else's property is tolerated by society when if I did the same thing with snakes, rats, rabbits, or dogs, people would have a REAL problem with it.
Plus, if I had a bunch of rats that I allowed to run the neighborhood, people would kill them without remorse, yet most cat owners would be livid if their cat was killed by a human...and as a human, while I wouldn't kill a cat, I just hate having to watch them terrorize the wildlife and poop in my garden etc.

Noodles! Sadly what you say is very true. Cats are treated with soft gloves compared to rats, feral dogs etc.
Here is a passage from the book Rat Island

Americans have been slow to concern themselves with these figures, certainly if stray cats are any measure. In 2008, in Galveston, Texas, a man who shot one feral cat as it was chasing a rare shorebird was arrested and faced up to two years in jail and a sixty-thousand-dollar fine before the charges were overturned.

Stolzenburg, William. Rat Island: Predators in Paradise and the Worlds Greatest Wildlife Rescue . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

 

[Snapdragon]

As a lifelong cat lady who volunteers heavily in cat rescue and has many times witnessed the consequences of allowing cats to roam freely...


KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS!
and
SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR CATS!


There is a REASON why my cats live a minimum of fifteen years each, and why people meeting my cats for the first time assume my two 15-year-olds are four years old at most.