If you have a cat you have to stop it scaring and eating birds

[lasagnelle]

Get a bell collar or something. Give the wildlife a chance. Can you train cats to leave birds alone?

Neither of my cats are allowed out after dark. Little cat seems to manage a lot of hunting in daylight.

I mean my name is basically lasagne so..

We had lasagne for tea. There was no dead cow flesh included

https://pangovet.com/statistics/how-many-birds-do-cats-kill-statistics-uk/

Cats are top predators in the UK. There is nothing out there stalking and preying on them. And there are millions of them out and about.

The damage to the gazelle/ rabbit/ worm populations is a drop in the ocean compared to the decimation of birds caused by cats.

Just because loss of habitat is a major concern doesn't mean being hunted by cats isn't something we also need to be seriously concerned about. Two threats can coexist.

Loss of habitat affects all wildlife. Cats will survive the destruction of the natural environment just fine.

I've had cats for years. They spend most of their time outside. One in particular is an excellent hunter but I've never seen her catch a bird. We have loads of birds around our garden. I've watched her painstakingly stalk them time and time again to no avail.
She's caught so many rats, mice and even the occasional small rabbit but no birds.

Yes but it's a bit of a clue.

Where have you got your information about that?

I would imagine that if all of a sudden, the entire population of cats stopped killing birds that there would be a knock on, detrimental effect somewhere. Everything is within an eco system.

So, for example, what if the bird population soared (pun intended) and as a result, fuck tons more worms were caught and eaten which fucked up the soil…

sorry did I miss your post with the peer reviewed research ??

I hadn't thought of that. We don't want a worm shortage

Mine said OK, he's no good at it anyway though he did once eat a live fly.

Absolutely this.

Again, have you ever stopped to consider how many animals have died because of you?

Quite a few but less than if I'd had a cat

Nah, cats are not the problem.

Evil cat 1 is currently outside killing all the rats which have made their way into my house (rural living is such fun…)

Evil cat 2 is currently resting from killing 2 rats last night!

Happy to continue with them being outside 🤷‍♀️

You have to know that isn't true?

Well I'm ok then as both me and my youngest don't eat meat, so our quota is taken up by my cats.

@mathanxiety Cats are top predators in the UK

I know. They are bloody great at it, aren't they

Argh yes, this makes me so sad. One year we had robins nesting in our garden and I watched the babies grow up and fledge. All got predated within a day or two - I even saw the neighbours' cat slinking off with one in its mouth 😥 they were very sweet

@lasagnelle I was told Sir Alec Jefferys of the university of Leicester -who was brilliant but apparently a bit of a trial- had his PhD students doing DNA fingerprint analysis of dog shit neighbours left on his property

Exactly! They keep the soil good for growing food in and stuff

What else do birds eat? Spiders? I think they’re pretty important too

What? If I had a cat I'd also have the cats food and any animals it killed in my tally so yes it's true

Some of the cats in my neighbourhood are so hard, the dogs are scared. My poor dog gets chased by a ginger thugcat till I have to scoop him up crying.