Keep Your Cat Indoors, For Natures Sake

[TheCount]

In a report that scaled up local surveys and pilot studies to national dimensions, scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that domestic cats in the United States — both the pet Fluffies that spend part of the day outdoors and the unnamed strays and ferals that never leave it — kill a median of 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion mammals a year, most of them native mammals like shrews, chipmunks and voles rather than introduced pests like the Norway rat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/science/that-cuddly-kitty-of-yours-is-a-killer.html?_r=0

Yet another reason why "outdoor" cat "owners" that somehow insist their cat be the worlds problem should reconsider.

 

[Lonestar94]

Wow. Cats are hunters. I just realized that.

Pardon me while I let my cat out.

 

[arglebargle]

I don't think we have shrews, voles and chipmunks here. I just wish the cats would keep the mice, bugs, and skunks under control. And keep from losing all their lunch money to the raccoons in those overnight poker games....

 

[Hopeuhavechange]

I have solved my ongoing battles with cats on my property since this guy showed up recently (ignore my camera's timestamp/I'll get around to fixing that one day) He comes for the White Winged Doves who pig out and loiter about..they are not my favorite. Anyway, the cats are terrified of him while my resident Mockingbird and crew of Blue Jays torment him and blow his cover more often than not. But those wandering cats want no part of him and scatter like roaches when they see his approaching profile in the sky. Just look at those talons. It may be hard to fully appreciate their lethality from this shot. On this day he bathed and drank for some 20 minutes. And this is a Cooper's Hawk.

http://i1297.***BLOCKED***/albums/ag33/Pinname/Red-shoulderedHawk7-31-20106-24-03PM_zps8b8808ef.jpg

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

Cats killing nuisance vermin??? Shameful! I just got my cat a cool trucker hat that say "Been Shrewing". He wears it all the time while he's out getting his vole on.

 

[speedkilz88]

Cats help keep pests and varmint populations under control? We need more cats!

 

[Hopeuhavechange]

Cats help keep pests and varmint populations under control? We need more cats!

Roaming cats ARE pests.

 

[TheCount]

lol, Cat owners. You guys are selective of hearing if nothing else.

 

[burmafrd]

Billions? They kill billions? Excuse me while I show serious doubt of that number. Considering the number of cats that are strictly indoor or poor hunters or live in areas that do not have a lot of prey, that would mean all the rest of the cats are killing something every day or so. Color me skeptical.

 

[speedkilz88]

lol, Cat owners. You guys are selective of hearing if nothing else.

I wouldn't call myself a cat person. I just call this a stupid argument.

 

[TheCount]

I wouldn't call myself a cat person. I just call this a stupid argument.

Of course, it's stupid if you refuse to read it. Vermin aren't the only animals being killed.

Billions? They kill billions? Excuse me while I show serious doubt of that number. Considering the number of cats that are strictly indoor or poor hunters or live in areas that do not have a lot of prey, that would mean all the rest of the cats are killing something every day or so. Color me skeptical.

Did you even read the article?

 

[jobberone]

I wouldn't trust those numbers but I don't know for certain they aren't valid.

 

[vta]

What about Lynx's?

 

[Lonestar94]

What about Lynx's?

I have a baby lynx and let him outside all the time.

 

[vta]

I have a baby lynx and let him outside all the time.

No kidding? They are generally wild animals and I wonder if they're factored into the equation as well.

 

[Hopeuhavechange]

I wouldn't trust those numbers but I don't know for certain they aren't valid.

Surely it is hard to get our minds around such a boggling number, but I've been following these reports for years and this is consistent across studies. Years ago they estimated a huge range of 100 million to 1 billion birds killed by cats. But upon closer study and more accurate measurement of both roaming cats and feral species coupled with their avg kill rt, it really isn't terribly difficult to make a fair assessment.

And suppose these numbers are high. What number would be an acceptable U.S. wild bird kill number by domestic cats? 39 million? 97 million? 543 million? More credible/acceptable? I understand not all people share the same values but as I see it it is people who long ago domesticated cats and we now bear responsibility for them as an obligation to nature.

Another take from 2011:

"Bird Kills by House Cats

News from the American Bird Conservancy (Washington, D.C., August 6, 2012)

A new study of house cats allowed to roam outdoors finds that nearly one-third succeeded in capturing and killing animals. The cats, which wore special video cameras around their necks that recorded their outdoor activities, killed an average of 2.1 animals every week they were outside, but brought less than one of every four of their kills home. Of particular interest, bird kills constituted about 13 percent of the total wildlife kills. Based on these results, American Bird Conservancy and The Wildlife Society estimate that house cats kill far more than the previous estimate of a billion birds and other animals each year.

The study was carried out by scientists from the University of Georgia and the National Geographic Society's Crittercam program."

http://www.sequoia-audubon.org/conservation.html

 

[Teren_Kanan]

Wow Cats are cooler than I thought. I wish our cats could kill a bird, they are too ******** though. One of our cats catches lizards sometimes, but the other 2 dont' know what to do with them so they pretty much ignore them.

Vermin aren't the only animals being killed.

What else are they killing? Vermin are the only ones I saw listed in the article. Rabbits, Birds, Moles, Shrews, Chipmunks, Snakes, Bugs, lizards, frogs and voles. Did I miss some non vermin?

I don't see any problem with cats being able to roam free, so long as it's ok in your community. I didn't grow up with cats as pets, but I never lived in a neighborhood where they weren't allowed to roam outside, never had a problem with a cat growing up.

Still not a big fan of them as animals because dogs exist and are better in every way, but hey to each their own. I mean hell, some people own birds, and I can't think of a more useless pet, so much so that I list them as vermin. I mean, they poop on my motorcycle, not cool.

But hey some neighborhoods are full of bird feeders and it's pretty commonplace to have birds everywhere. I wouldn't want to live in a neighborhood where that was common cause birds are awful and noisy, but again, to each their own. I certainly wouldn't move into a neighborhood where bird feeders were common, and then complain about birds.

 

[TheCount]

I don't see any problem with cats being able to roam free, so long as it's ok in your community.

See, if I edit the rest of your crazy statements out, you almost sound logical. :laugh2:

 

[Lonestar94]

No kidding? They are generally wild animals and I wonder if they're factored into the equation as well.

Not really, but I have a grey manx cat, which looks like a baby lynx.

 

[kristie]

i have 3 cats of my own, & my husband & i keep them inside. for us, that's just how it is.