Cats!

I decided to be content with just an exclamation point, but I’d rather title this section “Darn Cats” (or stronger). I didn’t grow up feeling this way, having had cats as pets in my childhood.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m focusing on the impact of free-roaming cats on birds and other creatures, but as the Pennsylvania Task Force report points out, there are dangers for people as well such as rabies, toxoplasmosis, and others!

Catbird victim

CatBIRD … or cat FOOD?

I was so sad to see one of my favorite birds killed for cat sport.

Catbird mourning

Then I noticed this adult catbird sitting quietly for quite a while, staring at where the dead catbird was. Its baby? Probably, since they were feeding babies in our yard.

I know cats can be good companions for people, BUT I WISH PEOPLE WOULD KEEP THEM INSIDE (or at least in their own yards)! People are required to keep dogs on a leash and under control, so why not cats?

Of course it’s easier for cat owners to just let cats roam, but it’s not fair to birds or other small creatures, and it’s not fair to people like myself and many of my neighbors who don’t want cats in their yard, often using their gardens as their bathroom and a grocery store … or really just a “toy” store as they often don’t even eat the prey they kill for sport.

Cat in our yard

Roaming isn’t safe for the cats either. I would have been heartbroken as a child if one of my pet cats had been killed by a car!

Consider:

Seeing cats near their nests is stressful for bird parents!

And, sadly, this particular wren whose babies had just fledged was taken by a cat. The babies weren’t able to feed themselves, so the cat in effect killed six birds at once! After watching our wren work so hard for months (raising two broods), we never saw it again.

Wren squawking at a cat near its nest box
  • No, it isn’t just “part of nature.” Domesticated cats are NOT native to North America, and so native birds and other native creatures haven’t evolved defenses against them as they have with native predators.
  • Cats invade our yard, preying on the creatures we’re working hard to provide habitat for.
  • A large feral cat population — getting its food by killing birds and other small creatures — has an enormous impact. And this un-spayed population leads to a larger and larger population. Simply unsustainable and not good for anyone, not even the cats.

Yes, even Fluffy

All that remains of a bird killed by a cat

I’m always amazed when people claim their little “Fluffy” never kills birds.

Statistics show that cats kill hundreds of millions of birds, in addition to small native creatures, such as chipmunks.

Even cats with bells kill birds. Even well-fed cats kill birds. Chances are that Fluffy IS one of the ones participating in this carnage unbeknownst to its owner.

And no, creatures who appear to escape their cat attacks generally don’t recover.

Yes, it’s just a cat’s nature to hunt. It’s not the cats I blame!

Solutions?

There’s not much a non-cat owner like myself can do. Our back yard is fenced. This slows them down a bit, but it doesn’t keep them out. Why not leash laws for cats as there are for dogs?

Coffee can cat chaser

My technique (though not a true solution):
I keep an old metal can filled with a few nuts and bolts by the door. When I see a cat, I run after them, shaking my coffee can and making a horrible racket (an amusing sight for onlookers, I’m sure.) Effective only when I see them, and it isn’t a long-term deterrence, just a temporary inconvenience for the cats.

I hope it makes cats think twice before coming into my back yard. Of course, I’m not monitoring the front yard, but I know they’re sometimes out there, sitting in prime bird areas, waiting to kill birds and other creatures I’m providing habitat for.

Catios

A catio

A “catio” can be a solution for a cat-owner. Catios give cats a chance to be outside safely — for themselves and for other creatures.

There are as many different styles as there are cat owners. Some are free-standing in the yard, with space for both cat and its owner. Some enclose a kitty door in the house so the cat can go in and out at will.

Check out the NY Times article in the Resources section for lots of great ideas! Or just google “catio” to find ones to purchase or for DIY instructions.

Having pets

We’re enjoying the creatures in our yard — without the vet bills or responsibility that pets entail.

More philosophically, I think that in our country, we may focus our affections so much on our companion animals that it may diminish our connection with creatures in nature. This doesn’t happen with everyone, of course. It’s certainly possible to enjoy both wild creatures and companion pets. And pets can indeed provide companionship in a sometimes-unfriendly world.

BUT that doesn’t mean we should have to have other people’s pets in our yard. AND it doesn’t mean it’s ethical to let them prey on wild creatures.

And if you feel a connection only to creatures who are your pets, you miss out on the enrichment a connection to wild creatures can bring.

Resources

Reflections

Did St. Francis preach to the birds? Whatever for? If he really liked birds he would have done better to preach to the cats.
~ Rebecca West, English writer, 1892-1983

The predation by cats on fledgling catbirds made suburban areas ecological traps for nesting birds. The habitats looked suitable for breeding birds with lots of shrubs for nesting and feeding, but the presence of cats, a relatively recent phenomenon, isn’t a cue birds use when deciding where to nest.
~ Smithsonian research findings