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Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
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A new neighbor that moved here (from NY) about 3/4 mile from my place, just found out that house cats don't last very long when left outside unaccompanied by a human.
He said he let the cat out the front door about half hour after sun up and went back out about 30 minutes later to let the cat back in the house.
Here is what he saw in the front yard about 5 feet from a ornamental Bird Bath that is 34 inches in height.........
A Golden Eagle as tall as the Bird Bath, with his cat in the eagle's talons and at that moment, taking off .....for never to be seen again.
Ok, mother nature can be cruel, however, look at it this way:.......How many more of our wonderful wild Gamble Quail chicks will grow up to adulthood and help keep the grasshopper numbers in check in late August........plus the young baby Eaglets will have some nourishing high protein meat for several meals.
Hi Griz, that's an awful story! Poor neighbor. But I'll bet he learned not to let a cat out unsupervised, or at all. We have a pair of Goldens making their daily rounds over our property in North Idaho. They are spectacular! But we have a small dog now that we've adopted, a little stray Chihuahua mix, and we worry about him and the Goldens. Our bigger dog can fend for herself, but not our Little Guy. I've seen online that they make a raptor-proof coat for small dogs. Maybe it's worth the price! We never leave him outside by himself, but things can happen in a split second.
And it's not just the Goldens. Friends of ours had a cat taken from their front yard by a Great Horned Owl. A very sweet cat, too. It got out at night by mistake.
IMO you would have to be nuts to let a cat roam free. I live in suburbia in south east CT.
We have bald eagles wintering here, we're on a migratory flyway- hawks by the tons. Bobcats, bears around, coy-wolves over running us. I have a pair of great horned owls hooting happily out the back yard.
If you want your cats out,a strongly fenced catio is a must. I think this is true most anywhere in the country. Maybe semi-feral barn cats who have a huge dairy- horse barn to hide out in, may have a slightly longer life.
I have 2 cats I let out into the small fenced portion of my backyard (right outside the kitchen where I can watch them)' however, I never let them out of my sight. We have Cooper's hawks, bald eagles, and Red-tailed hawks that are already attracted by my bird feeders - they don't need to get a kitty snack as well!
When I ranched only six miles from a town (way too close!), the people there would occasionally dump litters of kittens on the place where I worked. My kids got attached to each and every one.
I taught them from the start that "outdoor cats live short, exciting lives."
I have 2 cats I let out into the small fenced portion of my backyard (right outside the kitchen where I can watch them)' however, I never let them out of my sight. We have Cooper's hawks, bald eagles, and Red-tailed hawks that are already attracted by my bird feeders - they don't need to get a kitty snack as well!
But how will a fence keep a hawk or eagle away? They could be scooped up as you watch, since you don't let them out of your sight. And you would be heartbroken.
OP, that was a horrible story, and I'm appalled at the at the end. Pretty sick.
Eagles snatching cats is far from a common occurrence. But nature is nature; any predator will go after unwary game.
A cat is no different from an eagle in this regard. That kitty could have just as easily preyed on the eaglets as become lunch for them.
Don't feel sorry for the cat, nor hate the bird. The cat hung around with humans because it was in its own advantage to do so. Cats and birds can both feel affection for the humans who take care of them, but neither needs that affection to survive; both are quite capable of survival on nature's terms, not ours.
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It got out at night by mistake.
