Bird lovers who hate cats, debate

[resqchick]

Originally Posted by Ducman69

Cats are an invasive species in some ecosystems, such as North America, and many pets will kill just for fun, its instinct. Its well known for example that the best mousers are well fed and cared for cats, as they just have that much more energy to hunt and hunt regardless of hunger, for the same reason that Wesley and Buttercup get so very excited when I pull out their fake mouse toy or da bird to chase.

When population levels for almost any animal are very high and near out of control, they can begin to be viewed as pests. Considering the population size of cats, its actually quite surprising that they are not considered pests by most, and I think its just because they are so much cuter than most other animals so humans have a natural soft spot for em. If the cats looked like possums or racoons or vultures in those numbers, I think the response in general would be more harsh.

Regarding "playing God", cats are not a native species, they were brought over by man, and if you feed feral cats, provide them shelter, or let your cats outdoors to hunt all day then that is as much "playing God", and if its near a bird sanctuary then I can understand the concern to protect endangered animals from an invasive "pest species" on the part of the bird lovers. So I keep Wesley and Buttercup indoors where they eat non-endangered chicken, beef, lamb, and the like and can watch the birds safely. There is a neighbor a few houses down though that has several cats that roam the neighborhood all day and only come in for feeding and at night, and another woman at my office that feels sorry for the cats and kittens that hang near the food court and dumpster and constantly feeds them on paper plates with no plan to TNR. Good intentions, but it clearly results in a great population of predators that when combined with human's destruction of endangered bird habitat does negatively impact certain wildlife.

As seen in Australia though, nature does not "balance itself out" without first causing loss of species and destruction of habitat, as the rabbit and cat population is out of control and has even turned once fertile land into desert. Nature takes time to adapt to change, and that can be thousands of years, not a few hundred.

As a compromise, I believe it would be wise to implement leash laws as we have for all other pets except cats, and capture, neuter, and relocate cats that are caught near bird sanctuaries. Just as the practice of feeding pigeons has been made illegal in parts of Europe due to their overpopulation, it would also be wise to ban that here if not done as part of a TNR program.

You just reminded me of something that cracked me up several weeks ago. We have a neighbor, that has 7 outdoor cats. She's a great cat mom, all of them are spayed/neutered, have all their vaccinations and are plump and healthy. There is one great big black boy that has adopted my family. He knows we have treats, and unending cuddles and love for him, not to mention a nice inside porch he can come into if it's cold or wet. His name is "Fernando" and he's probably about 15 pounds of purring goodness.

Well, apparently Fernando hasn't gotten the message that he's a cat, and should be chasing birds around and catching mice. I caught him snoozing on my porch, on my lawn chair, and a chipmunk (we have thousands of them!!) was sitting on the back of the chair, just frozen with fear that he had wound up almost face to face with a cat. He must have made a noise, and Fernando opened his eyes, looked at the little terrified chipmunk, and every hair on his body stood on end, and he ran away. The chipmunk must have gone home with a swagger that night and told his story to disbelieving chipmunk children.

Poor Fernando came out from under the porch when the HUGE, predatory chipmunk with the terrifying chipmunk teeth had run off.

He's such a good hearted boy.