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Why not?
This was done for a full year on a island full of feral cats, and is a popular stopover for many migrating birds.
The Smithsonian and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cat study wasn't supported evidence. These studies used inflated estimates it was their assumption that up to70 percent of owned cats are allowed to go outdoors 24/7.
When in fact, surveys suggest that approximately 60 percent of these cats are indoor-only, and that those allowed outdoors are outside for no more than three hours each day.
After checking the data thoroughly it was found that that worms and insects caught by cats were counted as wildlife.
So when you see some overblown "study" dictating that cats ruin wildlife, the wildlife was overwhelmingly bugs.
The 1.4–3.7 billion annual moralities reported by these researchers represent an astonishing 28.5–75.5 percent of the estimated 4.7 billion birds in all of North America.
If these figures were even remotely accurate, North America would have been devoid of birds long ago.
Thanks for bringing some much-needed balance to this conversation.
The cat haters would love to make this thread their own afternoon at the park.
Who are the cat haters? I love my two cats.
I love them enough to keep them indoors where they can't be run over by cars, killed by animals or creepy people and where they won't bother my neighbors.
Who are the cat haters? I love my two cats.
I love them enough to keep them indoors where they can't be run over by cars, killed by animals or creepy people and where they won't bother my neighbors.
I have had cats that were content to be, and were, indoor cats. I have had cats that wanted to go out and did go out and weren't killers. They enjoyed the sunshine and being outside, but they weren't hunters.
The cat I have now was born a feral cat and she demands to get outside. She loves to hunt. As far as I have seen, she stays right around our house, not in any neighbors' yards. When I go looking for her she's never far, usually under a bush beside or behind the house.
She does kill. I have only seen ONE bird that she has killed and she left it on the porch for me, as she usually does when she kills something. Mostly she just kills mice. I had no idea there were so many mice running around outside till she started killing them. I have seen two rabbits that she has killed, and I hate that. We have an abundance of squirrels, and I have never seen her kill a squirrel. I have had other cats who liked to go out, but none that DEMANDED to be out like she does. I think it's because she was feral and it's in her blood, but I don't know.
Who are the cat haters? I love my two cats.
I love them enough to keep them indoors where they can't be run over by cars, killed by animals or creepy people and where they won't bother my neighbors.
Besides cats, hawks, snakes, and cars , I've read that windfarm/windmills kill a lot of birds. Birds also get killed in storms, and by boys with BB guns. All this gets me to thinking that it must be tough to be a bird. Next time I see a pretty songbird such as a cardinal, I will enjoy the sight even more.
If you catch the cat in a live trap, I would think twice about taking it to the pound as the owner will just get it, and then it will come back, but it will never fall for the live trap again. what you do with the cat after trapping it is up to you, but if you dump it it will come back unless it is taking 40 miles away or so.
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