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.

I’m with you OP, so many complaints about dog owners leaving poo around while your neighbours don’t give a hoot if their outdoor cat is shitting in your children’s sand pit, killing your kois, having fun killing birds, or attacking other cats in the neighbourhood. It’s just nature, they say.

I know a woman who paid a fortune for a garden flat because she enjoyed gardening and wanted a vegetable patch. Then spent the next 2 years removing cats’ poo from her garden beds because the neighbour loved kittens and the many cats she had had not been spayed or castrated. It come to the point she counted 15 cats in her garden so she got a cat trap and started sending them to the city pound.

It's a myth that cats do any noticeable damage to bird populations. The ones that they catch are usually the injured and weak ones that wouldn't have survived anyway.

@Henio

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

I had three great tits fledge on Saturday afternoon. The cats had them before Sunday morning. I'm gutted.

Clicked through to the RSPB source and found this paragraph quite interesting:

"Gardens may provide a breeding habitat for at least 20 per cent of the UK populations of house sparrows, starlings, greenfinches, blackbirds and song thrushes four of which are declining across the UK. For this reason it would be prudent to try to reduce cat predation as, although it is not causing the declines, some of these species are already under pressure."

So no impact yet, but potential to put more pressure on garden birds in the future?

I love cats, but I'm not a fan of the stronger outdoor cat culture in the UK. I've seen too many laying dead on the side of the road after being struck . Plus there's the hygiene concerns, like the spread of toxoplasmosis when they inevitably poop somewhere.

I don't think you're unreasonable for being upset, OP. People can form strong attachments to their local birds, and I think it's unfair of people to laugh at you for that. I doubt you could convince your neighbours, so aside from creating safer nesting areas there's not much you can really do.

Mine couldn't catch a cold. He brought me a leaf once
To be honest the other cats around don't seem to hunt either but we don't have many birds about except for in very tall trees
Stable kittens catch rabbits, never birds but can't really stop them as they're there to keep the mouse population down (they do that too)

I am sad when my cat kills a bird or a mouse but no one cares about all the worms that birds kill!!!

@wildeverose I hope you get the help you need

no one cares about all the worms that birds kill!!!

🤣

Came downstairs earlier and my boy cat has left a bird behind the kitchen door.

I know it's him because girl cat just eats her catches (unless it's a squirrel).

They would be so upset if I locked them in for 3 months or however long nesting season is

@Taliskerskye I don’t think this is true. Foxes round here definitely do kill for the sake of it, or seem to. They got hold of my chickens and ripped their heads off and just left them. Not a sign of any being eaten.

God imagine living next to the crazy bird lady!

There’s no way I’d keep my cat indoors in the summer. I care more about my cat than a bird sorry

@Slippy78

It's a myth that cats do any noticeable damage to bird populations. The ones that they catch are usually the injured and weak ones that wouldn't have survived anyway.

That’s a ridiculous statement and just sounds like you’re trying to justify it

YANBU I have cats and I keep them in if I know there are babies around. They also have numerous bells on their collars when they do go out which reduces the kill rate.

@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.

Despite the large numbers of birds killed by cats in gardens, there is no clear scientific evidence that such mortality is causing bird populations to decline. ... There is evidence that cats tend to take weak or sickly birds.

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

God imagine living next to the crazy bird lady!

Yeah, because living next to the crazy cat lady whose animal shits and mild in your garden is so much better.

That what all responsible cat owners should do @musicalfrog 😊

All very well saying you care more about your cat than the birds @Popchips. That’s not the point, we should be preserving our wildlife. If there was a dog going around killing cats would that be ok because the owner cares more about their dog than your cat?

I have a cat that sometimes kills birds; he also kills mice and lots and lots of rats.
Shall I stop him killing the rats because they are just poor defenceless creatures?
Maybe you can have them in your garden?

YANBU
The RSPB should just come out and say it, it's clear it would be beneficial for bird populations for cats in this country to be kept indoors but I suspect they are afraid of loosing donations as people don't like to hear the truth. I don't understand how you can care about one animal so deeply and have no empathy for the others that are ground up to make it's food.
It's clear that even if cats were naturally present in the environment that they wouldn't be at the same population density as they are currently.

Don’t be ridiculous!!!
What about all the humans killing animals for fun .
If it’s any consolation I have a cat who actually doesn’t bother about the birds and the birds don’t care about my cat they live in harmony.
Other cats though my cat goes mental if they come within a 5 metre radius of my garden .

@paperdollar I want your life if this is your 'end of your rope thread'.
We all have different choices when it comes to pets (2 dogs and 2 cats myself) and they will all have a small impact on their immediate area.
Unless the cat has stolen your actual baby out of the moses basket please untwist your knickers for your own sake.

I have an outside cat. I won't be getting another after her though and it's mostly down to her hunting.
Since lockdown she's got quite fat, the neighbours started giving her treats. The vet wants her on a diet but it's reduced her hunting (and I can't stop the neighbours) so I've left her as she is. Not ideal but much better for the local birds.

This is why my car wears 5 bells around her neck. Very rarely catches anything!!

Lol at the 'nobody cares about the worms birds kill' comment

It's the circle of life OP. You don't have to like it, I certainly always try to deter my cat from catching birds by putting a bell on him but you can't honestly expect people to keep their cats cooped up for weeks every nesting season.

There is a lot of cat hating on MN and it mostly boils down to the fact that people don't agree that cats are allowed to roam and owners don't take responsibility for their actions. It's just their nature. You can't keep tabs on a cat like a dog. They are legally allowed to roam. They exist like all other animals and we have to learn to coexist with them.

Quite a lot of nasty comments on this thread. It’s fine to disagree with OP but some of the comments are just unnecessary.

It’s not ‘just nature’ as you are keeping a domesticated animal, which is an ‘introduced predator’ with no other animals preying on it, as would happen if it lived in the wild.

You can’t compare it to foxes, jays, etc as they are wild indigenous animals

Also those talking about artificial lawns, housing developments etc - they are all an issue too - but the one we are discussing here is cats. Don’t minimise by changing the subject.

I love the wildlife in my garden and seeing all the birds. I have thought about having a cat, but the killing of birds really put me off.

OP I can understand why you are upset, I think you will just have to look for other ways to deter cats from your garden.