I am thankful that I have a group that hunts. I live in the rurals and would be totally overrun with vermin if not for the cats. I have seen houses that have become uninhabitable because of mice infestations. We have "Richardsons ground squirrels" which we call gophers, in abundance.
Richardson's ground squirrel - Wikipedia
These guys make big mounds and form colonies. They will totally destroy gardens and yards and even farm fields. They burrow through irrigation embankments and make tunnels for the water to go through which can then erode and entire embankment and cost thousands to repair. Anyway my cats love them, for snacks that is. They have eliminated all of them in my area. They also prevent tree squirrels from being around (I found the feet and tail of one of those) and small rabbits, which everything eats. But they rarely bother any birds. I have nesting birds in my trees and the cats don't mess with them. But there are things that consider the cats to be fair game also. Last year I lost 2 of my smaller cats. They just disappeared without a trace. I think they got caught by a hawk. They were both under 7 lbs so about the size of a rabbit. The bigger guys are never bothered.
Anyway, working cats can be really good to have around. It is way better than having to put out poison bait or traps or shooting things to try and keep them under control. And in all fairness the vermin actually do stand a chance of survival, they just need to be smart about things.
Richardson's ground squirrel - Wikipedia
These guys make big mounds and form colonies. They will totally destroy gardens and yards and even farm fields. They burrow through irrigation embankments and make tunnels for the water to go through which can then erode and entire embankment and cost thousands to repair. Anyway my cats love them, for snacks that is. They have eliminated all of them in my area. They also prevent tree squirrels from being around (I found the feet and tail of one of those) and small rabbits, which everything eats. But they rarely bother any birds. I have nesting birds in my trees and the cats don't mess with them. But there are things that consider the cats to be fair game also. Last year I lost 2 of my smaller cats. They just disappeared without a trace. I think they got caught by a hawk. They were both under 7 lbs so about the size of a rabbit. The bigger guys are never bothered.
Anyway, working cats can be really good to have around. It is way better than having to put out poison bait or traps or shooting things to try and keep them under control. And in all fairness the vermin actually do stand a chance of survival, they just need to be smart about things.