If you are a cardinal, wren or ground-loving sparrow, this could be the last face you ever see. Scary.
I have bonded with several cats over the years, but this is perhaps not going to sit well with my cat-loving friends but the simple fact is that outdoor cats kill many birds. Lots of them! Millions!
The American Bird Conservancy estimates that outdoor cats kill roughly 500,000,000 birds (that's half a billion) in this country every year. Half are killed by pet tabbies allowed to patrol outside and half by feral cats roaming wild. Species that are most often killed are obviously the small ones that are close to the ground.
Solution: do not feed feral cats; you are helping to sustain an ever-growing population of wild cats. And keep your own pet felines inside.
House cats kept indoors live longer. Outdoor cats can get hit by cars, attacked by dogs, other cats, coyotes or raccoons. They can also contract fatal diseases, such as rabies, feline distemper or feline immunodeficiency virus; or get lost, stolen or poisoned. They also suffer during severe weather conditions.
Postscript: As Rikki pointed out in the comments, Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks, lice, parasites and other natural causes kill their share of birds, millions as well no doubt.
And although 500 million dead birds is a lot, cats are not the number one human-related killer of birds in North America. Human-caused habitat loss is the top of birds. And after that, it's windows. It's estimated that between 97 and 976 million birds die annually after they fly into windows. Here's a complete list: Bird mortality.
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I have bonded with several cats over the years, but this is perhaps not going to sit well with my cat-loving friends but the simple fact is that outdoor cats kill many birds. Lots of them! Millions!
The American Bird Conservancy estimates that outdoor cats kill roughly 500,000,000 birds (that's half a billion) in this country every year. Half are killed by pet tabbies allowed to patrol outside and half by feral cats roaming wild. Species that are most often killed are obviously the small ones that are close to the ground.
Solution: do not feed feral cats; you are helping to sustain an ever-growing population of wild cats. And keep your own pet felines inside.
House cats kept indoors live longer. Outdoor cats can get hit by cars, attacked by dogs, other cats, coyotes or raccoons. They can also contract fatal diseases, such as rabies, feline distemper or feline immunodeficiency virus; or get lost, stolen or poisoned. They also suffer during severe weather conditions.
Postscript: As Rikki pointed out in the comments, Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks, lice, parasites and other natural causes kill their share of birds, millions as well no doubt.
And although 500 million dead birds is a lot, cats are not the number one human-related killer of birds in North America. Human-caused habitat loss is the top of birds. And after that, it's windows. It's estimated that between 97 and 976 million birds die annually after they fly into windows. Here's a complete list: Bird mortality.
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Windows? Windows kill more birds than Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks? More birds than blue jays, cowbirds, starlings and house sparrows? More birds than lice and parasites? More birds than windshields?
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