Friends cat catching birds

[bagpuss90]

Okay -so I know cats hunt and it’s hard to stop them … However AIBU in thinking my friend should not have a bird feeding station in her garden when her cat is catching and killing a bird practically every day -three in one day a couple of weeks ago . It just sits there in wait . It’s like they’re being lured to their deaths. She won’t put a bell on the cats collar so the birds have half a chance . Don’t get me wrong-I love cats. But she says herself the cat is slowly but surely wiping out the bird population of her garden

@PinkSyCo

I just don’t not understand why cat owners don’t just put a bell collar on them. Anyone?

It takes me longer to get a collar on my cat than it takes for her to remove it!

It takes me longer to get a collar on my cat than it takes for her to remove it!

Haha that made me laugh!

That’s just cruel of your friend.

I have a cat, she genuinely doesn’t hunt anything but we still wouldn’t have a feeder for birds as there are so many other cats nearby that come in to our garden.

Our cat doesn’t have a collar or bell though either, she had never worn one so when we tried when we got her at 4 years old it agitated her and given her inability to hunt even a spider, it doesn’t seem necessary.

I wouldn't have a bird feeder for this reason, my two are real hunters 😞 your friend is awful!

Yeah that doesn't seem right.

I have a bird feeder in my garden, but my cat is such a non threat to the birds, they feel comfortable sitting on the fence with him in the garden. I've even seen them on the grass with him out there. He's pathetic, just sits there chirping at them.

They only screech if they see an actual cat roaming the streets and then fly off. Mine though? No noise, I think they are embarrassed for him.

I'd be really worried if the cat got it's own copy of The I Spy Book of Garden Birds!

Collars are a hazard to the cat. She probably shouldn’t have a bird table, I agree that seems so unnecessary

I’ve seen many who do this. Cruel and twisted individuals luring the birds to be tortured to death. One has two feeding poles packed with feeders next to a short fence, easy pickings for their 3 hunters.

And no it’s not just sick and old birds they take. The cats around here lie waiting by a wall across the street and grab the birds as soon as they land.

Collars are dangerous and cats quickly learn to cover the bell with their chin when hunting, making them pointless.

It’s unreasonable to lure birds to food knowing a hunting cat is in wait.

Birds and wildlife are being killed and decimated by humans lifestyle choices, housing, gardens being concreted over, roads, infrastructure and lack of food due to farming.

We try to feed the birds and we have cats, unfortunately the birds are more or less destroyed by seagulls and we've given up.

Our very generously stocked feeder and our three belled cats have coexisted for years. The feeder is baffled to stop the squirrels and well away from trees or fences

Our cats do predate. Mainly small rodents but they quite often get a wood pigeon. They feed in the ground and are slow to take flight. But I've never seen them bother with the smaller birds on the feeder.

Cats are decimating the bird population - even the RSPB state this. I have 6 cats, and I have a tall bird table - too tall for the cats to jump on, and a wide tray so they can't climb up it. Its not difficult to keep cats and feed birds.

A semi feral decided to come and live with us…she’s a prolific hunter - mainly mice and rabbits (in the summer). She does get birds when they fledge. The body count is dramatically reduced by letting her out later on in the morning, in fact she only catches mice then. We also have a very successful sparrow hawk, so I don’t feed the birds.

My ornithological knowledge such that it is comes entirely courtesy of the cat in my family when I was a child. Second and third cat would accept a collar, but even so, there was no bird feeding station until after third cat dies and my parents decided not to get another one.

YANBU OP in your view.

@Onlyforcake

It's awful cats do so much damage to natural wildlife. Nature lovers don't keep cats, it sounds like she's more interested in keeping a captive animal for her own joy. Some people just are like that.

I have two cats. They don't go outside and are perfectly content!

I got rid of my bird feeder when my cat started to hunt birds.

It wasn’t fair and I was heart broken.

She had never hunted before, so I safely had the bird feeder, but then she turned her attention to them. Bye bye feeder.

I would love to have one now, as she doesn’t go outside anymore, but we are surrounded by cats who would likely hunt them instead. So I don’t

@PinkSyCo

I just don’t not understand why cat owners don’t just put a bell collar on them. Anyone?

I cannot put any collar on her. She severely panics and freaks out to the point where she would be physically harmed. It was safer for her not to have a collar

@PinkSyCo

I just don’t not understand why cat owners don’t just put a bell collar on them. Anyone?

Because the arsehole loses them constantly (and I worry he might strangle himself ) and having it on made no difference on his hunting successes.

DM has a bird table and a cat…. Poor birds! But not many are caught luckily.

@Shmithecat2

Cats are decimating the bird population - even the RSPB state this. I have 6 cats, and I have a tall bird table - too tall for the cats to jump on, and a wide tray so they can't climb up it. Its not difficult to keep cats and feed birds.

I think they have updated their stance on the basis of new evidence. This is the RSPB’s current take on the bird/cat situation:

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. This may be surprising, but many millions of birds die naturally every year, mainly through starvation, disease or other forms of predation. There is evidence that cats tend to take weak or sickly birds… It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations.

As taken from the RSPB website

I do agree that the OP’s friend is being very irresponsible and should, as a minimum, take steps to relocate or cat-proof her bird table and area around it.

@PinkSyCo

I just don’t not understand why cat owners don’t just put a bell collar on them. Anyone?

I used to put breakaway collars with bells on my 2 cats.

The boy cat just takes them straight off.

Our girl cat got hers caught in a bush. She was missing for 3 days before I found her. The breakaway collar had failed to breakaway and she was trapped with a huge open wound on her neck.

Neither of my 2 cats are interested in hunting birds - my boy cat likes to bring in dried leaves, but we just have hundreds of massive seagulls round here. We don’t have bird feeders in the garden

@Shmithecat2

Cats are decimating the bird population - even the RSPB state this. I have 6 cats, and I have a tall bird table - too tall for the cats to jump on, and a wide tray so they can't climb up it. Its not difficult to keep cats and feed birds.

@Shmithecat2 unless it’s changed there was research suggesting that building of flats etc was harming bird population not cats.

Mine never catches birds, just wood mice in the garden.

@AdaColeman

I'd be really worried if the cat got it's own copy of The I Spy Book of Garden Birds!

Sorry you’ve made me lol at this comment

It does seem odd to more or less encourage the cat to feast on a virtually ready made meal, although cats, and mine in particular, will scout round other gardens looking for prey. Not pleasant but instinctive behaviour which they can't control x

I have a bird feeder and a bird bath in my garden, and three cats. My cats tend to not bother with birds who come to feed,, they usually go further down the garden, mainly in the evenings, or when it's dark, and usually bring mice in the house. I have never seen them with a bird at all.

One of my cats likes climbing up the trunk of an apple tree here, and sits in the branches. I pigeon went near the cat in the branches last week,. and my cat leapt out of the tree and ran in the house, looking quite scared !!