Birds

» Jennifer W. Miner - feral cats kill birds

THis is a massive, massive problem here in SoCal, where it never gets cold enough to entice feral cats (and semi-wild ones) into a warm place. Unfortunately, there are also as many warm-hearted but misguided people around as there are cats - or so it seems - who vote down plans for trap-and-release sterilization. It's really upsetting to those of us who see the big picture. thank you, Rosemary!

» Rosemary Drisdelle - feral cats kill birds

In response to feral cats kill birds posted by JenniferMiner:

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for your comments. Attitudes can change but it happens slowly. I'm afraid this is a case of trying to close the barn door after the horses have already left - I wonder if the birds have enough time to wait for us all to come to our senses.

» desertblue - feral cats kill birds

In response to feral cats kill birds posted by rdrisdelle:

this is one of those topics most people don't see clearly. I think the educating part is a long haul...and in the meantime, cats have more litters.

-- posted by desertblue

» Rosemary Drisdelle - feral cats kill birds

In response to feral cats kill birds posted by desertblue:

Even without the bird issue, it's a puzzle to me why people don't support trap and release sterilization for the sake of the cats themselves. Do they really believe that a population of wild (feral) cats suffering from hunger and disease is a good thing? I met very few feral cats, but the ones I've come across weren't cuddly...

» BirdAdvocate - feral cats kill birds

In response to feral cats kill birds posted by rdrisdelle:

Exactly what is our priority here? Do we enjoy watching cats suffer in the wild while they decimate our wildlife? Do we want to visit our parks to see the colonies of deserted cats lounging around?
That is what trap, neuter, and abandon accomplishes, perpetuation of the status quo, while our bird numbers continue to dwindle. We have to stop, cease, and desist pandering to the kitty crowd. No more enabling the cute feral kitties. There is no place for them in our ecology!
Lobby Congress to enforce the laws we have in place to protect our vanishing wildlife. Demand they make stronger laws against abandoning destructive pests that kill billions of birds and animals each year.
A zero tolerance policy is the only hope we have at this late date, there are too many millions of cats killing birds to perpetuate it with trap, neuter, abandon.

-- posted by BirdAdvocate

» fatbirder - Feral Cats

A number of correspondence are critiscising well meaning people for not supporting the trap-neuter-reurn policy for feral cats. I'm sorry to say this is very mis-guided. These correspondents are very well meaning but returning feral cats to the wild still means death for countless small mammals, reptiles and millions of songbirds birds. The ONLY humane solution is to trap and re-home and, where this is not possible, trap and put to sleep. If well meaning cat lovers cannot accept this then they must keep the feral cats in compounds and pay for their keep etc. Until people wake up to this reality our environment will continue to be impoverished

-- posted by fatbirder

» Rosemary Drisdelle - Feral Cats

In response to Feral Cats posted by fatbirder:

I don't think we are at cross purposes here - the literature I've read indicates that trap-neuter-release works better to reduce the numbers of feral cats because it prevents the "overflowing bathtub" situation where more cats just pour over into an eradicated area, breed unchecked and restore the former numbers. I would be most interested to read any solid documentation that refutes this. Eradication has only worked on islands where new arrivals can be prevented. I don't think it's reasonable to suggest that we can eradicate hundreds of millions of feral cats overnight - how would this be accomplished? For the moment, isn't a 50% reduction (see my recent article http://birds.suite101.com/article.cfm/fe... in feral cats better than no reduction, given that North American society as a whole is - so far - not with the program?

» BirdAdvocate - Feral Cats

In response to Feral Cats posted by rdrisdelle:

I would suggest we get behind the National Audubon Society and The Wildlife Society in opposing any abandonment of ferals into the wild.

-- posted by BirdAdvocate

» Rosemary Drisdelle - Feral Cats

In response to Feral Cats posted by BirdAdvocate:

Many thanks for that sensible comment. For anyone who's interested, the National Audubon Society's resolution regarding feral cats (1998) can be found at http://www.audubon.org/local/cn/98march/...

It's important that we realize what we're up against. On Ascension Island, an isolated island with an area of about 91 sq mi (35 sq km), an eradication program required more than three years, over a million dollars, and the complete cooperation of the island residents. There were an estimated 600-800 feral cats on the island. This example clearly illustrates that we face a challenge of staggering proportions in North America. Eradication is even more probematic in such a large area for reasons already stated.

In my area, I'd support an eradication program (provided the eradication area was inclusive and the design included public education and incentive for domestic cat owners to have their pets neutered and registered), but if a trap, neuter, release program was the attainable compromise, I certainly wouldn't oppose it.

» Alan Sorum - feral cats kill birds

In response to feral cats kill birds posted by JenniferMiner:
I don't see the problem with reducing the number of feral cats. It is pretty clear they have a major impact on bird populations. Alaska has had similiar problems with ground nesting birds on islands that accidently receive rats. After a few years, the birds are gone.