Hunting? No, thanks.
Felix, a three year old neutered male, was adopted out of the barn cat program but soon made it clear "he had no interest in catching mice," says Bouderau. "He decided to move onto their couch." Felix is currently waiting at the SPCA for an owner who will give him a non-strenous life.
Posted: Wednesday, February 13, 2013
A study published in the journal Nature Communications, sampling
three suburban Washington, DC neighborhoods’ catbird populations, was
recently used to extrapolate that domestic cats kill over 3 billion
birds a year. The study, of fewer than 70 catbirds, found domestic cats
responsible for 47% of deaths of catbird nestlings caused by predators.
Peter Marra, one of the authors of the study, was quoted in the NY Times
saying that domestic cats are “an invasive species like kudzu” and
cause “major ecological disruption.” The study’s authors noted that
catbirds didn’t seem to select nest sites based on the prevalence of
predators (rats and crows are also significant predators).
Frankly, I would have ignored the whole controversy. Cats eat birds? Old news. However, two scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology felt moved to email me their views last week. Ken Rosenberg, a conservation scientist and John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab, sent the following comments. Rosenberg:
“The people involved in this study are of the highest scientific integrity and they went into this very objectively. The science is very clear and unequivocal on this topic, and it is time for action. It’s time for all the groups to sit down and come up with some solutions.”
“The bulk of the killing is being done by feral, non-owned cats. The incredible proliferation of trap-neuter-return programs has produced cat colonies on public lands, fed by volunteers and sanctioned by municipalities. Instead of the animals dying off, people are dropping off more cats and the colonies are ballooning.”
Fitzpatrick: “Outdoor cats kill birds – it's their instinct. Please stop any and all support for feral cat colonies. These are subsidized recreational killers, and we now have a clear understanding of the scale of carnage they bring to our wild bird communities.”
Bruce Kornreich, Associate Director for Education and Outreach at the Feline Health Center of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, provided a more measure point of view:
“The impact of both owned and un-owned domestic cats on wildlife is an important ecologic issue … The results of this study highlight the importance of educating the public about responsible cat ownership. Given the impact of owned cats on wildlife, educating owners about the importance of keeping their cats indoors is crucial.”
Alley Cat Allies and other pro-cat groups attacked the study for “promoting junk science” and encouraging a mentality that “will lead to killing cats.” They criticize the study for extrapolating so much from such a small sample, but mostly for promoting an image of the domestic cat as a killer.
This brings us back to feral cat colonies. Around here, feral cat colonies are created by people abandoning their cats, or dropping them off in what looks like a nice country home: somebody’s barn if the cat is lucky, or an empty old building or lonely country road if it’s not. Few cats can actually survive on hunting but the idea that cats can survive in the wild persists. Alarmists like to cite cat’s amazing fertility to tell you that one pair of cats can produce another 400,000 in two years, but that’s just not true. Feral cats simply do not remain healthy long enough to reproduce at such a rate; kittens born outdoors die in great numbers from respiratory diseases, parasites, and predation. Feral cat colonies commonly become infected with feline leukemia virus or other diseases that limit mortality of the cats. Cat colonies are located near sources of food – such as dairy barns or industrial dumpsters- and scavenging provides the bulk of their diet.
Cat advocates promote the practice of managing feral cat colonies, both for the sake of the public health and because it’s humane. Killing cats is not only cruel, they say, it simply doesn’t work.
SPCA Director Jim Bouderau weighed in on the fracas: “My comment is we believe in the success of the trap-neuter-return programs. If there’s a place cats like to live, there will be a colony. TNR makes it so that instead of increasing, the numbers stabilize. Without that management, the colony has the potential for population explosion.”
“We would definitely prefer that all of the cats that are adopted be indoor cats,” says Bouderau. However, while feral kittens can be tamed and domesticated if caught early enough, adult feral cats generally remain shy and fearful of human beings and are likely to view indoor life as hell and look on their well-meaning human caregivers as giant jailers.
In that case, spaying the cats and returning them to the outdoors seems kindest. “We can place them with our barn cat program and save their lives,” says Boudreau.
What the experts all seem to agree on is that cats have a significant effect on bird populations, and responsible cat ownership is the solution. We’re lucky to have a no-kill shelter here in Tompkins, so there’s no excuse for abandoning unwanted cats or kittens into the wild, where they’re prey to disease, exposure and starvation. And if you have a cat that likes to go outdoors, and has the skills to actually catch something once in a while (mine doesn’t), there’s an age-old solution: put a bell on it.
source
Frankly, I would have ignored the whole controversy. Cats eat birds? Old news. However, two scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology felt moved to email me their views last week. Ken Rosenberg, a conservation scientist and John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab, sent the following comments. Rosenberg:
“The people involved in this study are of the highest scientific integrity and they went into this very objectively. The science is very clear and unequivocal on this topic, and it is time for action. It’s time for all the groups to sit down and come up with some solutions.”
“The bulk of the killing is being done by feral, non-owned cats. The incredible proliferation of trap-neuter-return programs has produced cat colonies on public lands, fed by volunteers and sanctioned by municipalities. Instead of the animals dying off, people are dropping off more cats and the colonies are ballooning.”
Fitzpatrick: “Outdoor cats kill birds – it's their instinct. Please stop any and all support for feral cat colonies. These are subsidized recreational killers, and we now have a clear understanding of the scale of carnage they bring to our wild bird communities.”
Bruce Kornreich, Associate Director for Education and Outreach at the Feline Health Center of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, provided a more measure point of view:
“The impact of both owned and un-owned domestic cats on wildlife is an important ecologic issue … The results of this study highlight the importance of educating the public about responsible cat ownership. Given the impact of owned cats on wildlife, educating owners about the importance of keeping their cats indoors is crucial.”
Alley Cat Allies and other pro-cat groups attacked the study for “promoting junk science” and encouraging a mentality that “will lead to killing cats.” They criticize the study for extrapolating so much from such a small sample, but mostly for promoting an image of the domestic cat as a killer.
This brings us back to feral cat colonies. Around here, feral cat colonies are created by people abandoning their cats, or dropping them off in what looks like a nice country home: somebody’s barn if the cat is lucky, or an empty old building or lonely country road if it’s not. Few cats can actually survive on hunting but the idea that cats can survive in the wild persists. Alarmists like to cite cat’s amazing fertility to tell you that one pair of cats can produce another 400,000 in two years, but that’s just not true. Feral cats simply do not remain healthy long enough to reproduce at such a rate; kittens born outdoors die in great numbers from respiratory diseases, parasites, and predation. Feral cat colonies commonly become infected with feline leukemia virus or other diseases that limit mortality of the cats. Cat colonies are located near sources of food – such as dairy barns or industrial dumpsters- and scavenging provides the bulk of their diet.
Cat advocates promote the practice of managing feral cat colonies, both for the sake of the public health and because it’s humane. Killing cats is not only cruel, they say, it simply doesn’t work.
SPCA Director Jim Bouderau weighed in on the fracas: “My comment is we believe in the success of the trap-neuter-return programs. If there’s a place cats like to live, there will be a colony. TNR makes it so that instead of increasing, the numbers stabilize. Without that management, the colony has the potential for population explosion.”
“We would definitely prefer that all of the cats that are adopted be indoor cats,” says Bouderau. However, while feral kittens can be tamed and domesticated if caught early enough, adult feral cats generally remain shy and fearful of human beings and are likely to view indoor life as hell and look on their well-meaning human caregivers as giant jailers.
In that case, spaying the cats and returning them to the outdoors seems kindest. “We can place them with our barn cat program and save their lives,” says Boudreau.
What the experts all seem to agree on is that cats have a significant effect on bird populations, and responsible cat ownership is the solution. We’re lucky to have a no-kill shelter here in Tompkins, so there’s no excuse for abandoning unwanted cats or kittens into the wild, where they’re prey to disease, exposure and starvation. And if you have a cat that likes to go outdoors, and has the skills to actually catch something once in a while (mine doesn’t), there’s an age-old solution: put a bell on it.
source
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