That Cuddly Kitty Is Deadlier Than You Think

[trottigy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/science/that-cuddly-kitty-of-yours-is-a-killer.html?_r=0 Fascinating:

The estimated kill rates are two to four times higher than mortality figures previously bandied about' date=' and position the domestic cat as one of the single greatest human-linked threats to wildlife in the nation. More birds and mammals die at the mouths of cats, the report said, than from automobile strikes, pesticides and poisons, collisions with skyscrapers and windmills and other so-called anthropogenic causes. [/quote']

The Washington Humane Society and many other animal welfare organizations support the use of increasingly popular trap-neuter-return programs' date=' in which unowned cats are caught, vaccinated, spayed and, if no home can be found for them, returned to the outdoor colony from which they came. Proponents see this approach as a humane alternative to large-scale euthanasia, and they insist that a colony of neutered cats can’t reproduce and thus will eventually disappear. Conservationists say that, far from diminishing the population of unowned cats, trap and release programs may be making it worse, by encouraging people to abandon their pets to outdoor colonies that volunteers often keep lovingly fed. “The number of free roaming cats is definitively growing,” Dr. Fenwick of the bird conservancy said. “It’s estimated that there are now more than 500 TNR colonies in Austin alone.” They are colonies of subsidized predators, he said, able to survive in far greater concentrations than do wild carnivores by dint of their people-pleasing appeal. “They’re not like coyotes, having to make their way in the world,” he said. Yet even fed cats are profoundly tuned to the hunt, and when they see something flutter, they can’t help but move in for the kill. [/quote'] I think I taw a putty tat.

[Qapla]

The fact that cats kill rodents, insects, snakes and even pesky birds is exactly why we have 8-15 cats outside at any given time.

[retroHelen]

That's why I have a kid's water-pistol. If next-door's cats are stalking birds or get into our trees and try to interfere with or pull birds' nests down, they get a squirt! I can do it from my kitchen window. The cat's scuttle off and no one get's hurt. Rats and mice they can have, but not our garden birds if I can help it!

We help with the 'Big Gardenwatch' National bird count in our garden every last weekend in January for the UK bird charity RSPB http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/. They also report how rare certain garden birds are getting. Internationally, habitats of hedges around fields getting dug up by farmers for bigger fields or woodland trees removed for farming or papermaking have not helped. Gardening has changed from trees and hedges to fancy fencing and decking - this is also a factor in lowering our hedgehog population too. The practice of net-trapping thousands of migrating small birds as delicacies - because there is not much food value in sparrows - on the hills of Countries like Italy and Malta is another factor. Extreme weather is causing bird starvation in many countries. Cats are just one of the many enemies of our little birds.

The cats in our garden seem to know that I mean no harm when I squirt them because if I go into the garden they are rubbing all round my legs, such as when I get the chance between all the rain here to hang some washing/laundry on the line. My husband reckons they aren't purring when they are doing this - they are actually saying: " We are so cute, go on let us have a few birds why don't you?":upset::shifty:

[pinkpopcorn]

Helen they are marking you as belonging to them! They rub their scent against you. Cats are gods. We just serve them, so they think!

[retroHelen]

We just serve them' date=' so they think! [/quote'] Lol -so true. I'm OK with cats, but my husband's view of cats is less accommodating:

[Joey]

Here's my killer kitty....just took this as she is here laying on me....I've caught her torturing some of her little mouse victims,she is heartless.

She likes torturing him the most.He is so clueless.He just bounces along,happy go lucky and she jumps him from some hidden spot repeatedly throughout the day, he yelps in pain, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. I think she looks so devious and he looks like pure innocence.