Cats killing all the baby birds

[paperdollar]

There are so many cats in the neighbourhood the baby birds don’t stand a chance. I don’t understand how people can’t take responsibility for their cats and keep them inside during nesting season (at the very least) to stop them butchering all the local wildlife. All that time and energy spent by birds tending to their nest and providing food for them to be killed without even having a chance. One cat in particular has been stalking mine and my 2 neighbours gardens and taken most of the baby birds that have come this year, this is the least we have ever seen. Despite shooing it, chasing it, using water pistols/jugs of water, dogs chasing it, lions poo, high up feeders, removing feeders etc. I have been to the owners door to ask her to keep it inside for a bit to give the birds a chance but she said it is an outdoor cat and it is “nature” and nothing she can do about it. It is nature for birds and other wildlife to prey on baby birds as a means of survival, not your overbred, overfed domesticated cats. One cat owner has 9 cats with a nest in her gutter, next door to that has 3 with a nest also. One of them has a feeding pole in her garden low to the ground, so my stopping feeding the birds means they will be going there to take their chances. I can’t believe foxes are put down for killing cats for survival but nothing can be done about this. It is making me ill to witness, these irresponsible owners are not animal lovers. I post at the end of my rope having just chased one with a screaming baby in it’s mouth and dropping it only once it stopped. I’m wondering if anyone else has ever suffered the same and found something to do about it.

@June2021

cats are vile

Nope, they're amazing

Also why do you only care about BABY birds
Honestly

Just say you hate cats and find a method to deal with it

@BrilliantBetty

There was no demanding. After having tried many other deterrents, she was asked politely if she would consider keeping it inside for a short amount of time as I had been told by another neighbour the cat was expensive and intended to be kept inside anyway. It has been damaging to neighbour relations to have 4 gardens constantly harassed by someone’s choice of pet that refuses to leave.

I had this same situation where I used to live OP and got really wound up about it. The best thing to do in my opinion is provide and promote better places for birds to nest that aren’t so accessible to cats. Put your energy into researching ways to provide nesting opportunities around the outside of your home, the RSPB provides some good advice. I don’t love cats but they are here to stay so hating them isn’t going to improve anything.

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

Pet cats are not wildlife so the nonsense about nature and circle of life and whatnot is just cat owners trying to be clever.

If anything happens to a cat while the cat is killing fledglings in my garden then that’s on the owner who didn’t keep it in.

So its ok for you to hurt a cat?

My cat has only ever managed to catch earthworms, he brings them to me while looking really proud of himself, I put them back when he's not looking

The cat is in my garden, killing a defenceless bird. It doesn’t need to do either.

What would you like me to do? Feed it tuna?

Yanbu. I have a cat, love cats, but am becoming more and more aware of the ethical compromises I need to make to have one, including things like cat food (not just for the suffering of farm animals that end up in that food, but also the fact it’s often made in places like Thailand, which was in the news a few years ago for the awful conditions in the seafood industry) and plastic waste. Thankfully, mine rarely goes out and seems incapable of catching anything, but that is a happy accident. I’ve certainly started thinking about what happens when she’s gone - would I want another, who might well turn out to be a prolific hunter?

There certainly are experts who believe domestic cats are a menace to wildlife - I think the jury is out as to the impact they have here in the UK, but that to me isn’t good enough to assume there isn’t a problem.

Loving cats doesn’t mean having to deny there are issues around the way we own them.

It is nature, because that's what animal instinct is. Cats didn't get the memo that they shouldn't have it.

Also, there are nine million stray cats in the UK and 1.5m feral cats. I guess they should know they should be raiding bins instead?

YANBU, OP.

Even RSPB don’t agree with you

www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/animal-deterrents/cats-and-garden-birds/are-cats-causing-bird-declines/

I bet you don't like them walking over grass and flowers either!

Sounds like you have a dog OP? Are you familiar with a dog's environmental impact?

I hate to tell you but dogs kill birds too and frequently disturb ground nesting birds, causing their chicks to die or the eggs to be abandoned. Our local otter has also just about decimated the duckling population. That and the herons. It’s just life I’m afraid ( or death).

[quote paperdollar]@WaterBottle123 I don’t support the meat industry, I haven’t eaten meat since I was 9 years old. Probably why I feel so strongly about pet cats needlessly killing birds they aren’t going to eat for survival.[/quote]
I had an inkling you'd say that OP.

Can I ask why you decided to name change for this thread?

If it's making you ill I suggest you see a gp, it's not normal to get this worked up over a cat that you'd go and ask its owner for it to stay indoors. Saying your health is suffering over it makes you sound unhinged.

I shall very politely ask my cat to stay indoors for a few weeks and wait to kill birds.

I will also have a word with the local foxes.

I will also have a word with the local foxes.

What, because they are your pets too..?

@OppsUpsSide

No she can’t talk to foxes. Mad cow
Only animals she owns.
God what’s she thinking

@wildeverose your response sounds unhinged, I think you should see your doctor.

@OppsUpsSide yes because saying you're suffering and becoming ill over cats preying on birds is a completely normal response.

I'll pop to the gp tomorrow and tell them I'm in need of help because I think it's ridiculously dramatic.

You could make a fortune if you could figure out how we can stop and train cats from killing (and eating) wildlife. Most car owners are horrified. I’m also horrified at the foxes that will kill a whole flock of chickens, but only take away one or two to eat. I’m horrified at the crows that will raid nests even though there is plenty of other food to eat. I’m horrified at the sparrow hawk that takes away way too many birds than it needs. I’m horrified at speeding drivers that needlessly kill so much young wildlife on our roads. I’m horrified at the weekend poachers that kill pheasants because it’s fashionable, without eating any of their prey. I’m horrified at people cutting down trees and hedges in spring when the birds need the cover the most. I’m also horrified at my ‘over domesticated’ Beagle that will break into the utility room to ‘needlessly’ eat the cat food, despite being already ‘over fed’. If you have a solution to cats killing the wildlife (without being cruel to the cat), I’m all ears.

@mrstt89

Yabu for starting another cat hating thread. The RSPB consistently maintains that there is no evidence of cats causing any significant decline in the song bird population. If you care about songbirds I suggest you look closer to home.

This

My cat seems to have retired now but went through a phase of bringing birds in the house. She managed to kill one and eat it and it made me really upset but I'm not going to make her stay indoors. That's just as cruel. She also used to kill mice but I was told the best way for them to stop is to thank them. She hasn't done anything like it for ages and yes it's awful and horrible but they can't help it.

Foxes kill many things because it’s in their nature to come back. Over days. They naturally take what they need at the moment and then bury over time what they need for later.,
They’re not wasteful. They have a strategy, what I find interesting is if you watch magpies follow foxes and dig up their hidden stashes of meat.

The eco system is not as simple as humans would like to believe. And most humans eat cheap factory chicken. 🤷‍♀️