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?

I have tried to explain to mine but she told me to F off.
Seriously though OP mine is old and catch catch anything these days but she and her sister used to. We put bells on them and only fed birds in areas they couldn't get to but short of keeping them in (which I don't agree with) there wasn't a lot I could do
We still have lots of birds around though, including some more unusual ones so I don't think they made much of a dent on them

I went lateral. I haven't got a cat but I do have lots of birds on my feeder and hanging out in the bushes and trees in my garden, so I've asked them to be a bit more alert for things creeping up on them. I think they took notice, but it's hard to tell because they all flew off at the first sign of my approach.

I also asked them to keep down the chirrupping at four in the morning in the summer and the crapping on my washing, but I doubt they'll stick to that.

The frog wasn't eaten. He was left in the kitchen, alive, and we took him back to a pond.

edited for typo.

A lot of birds are killed by other birds.

I don't believe the 50 million figure for cats. Most cats are too well fed to be really good hunters, and they can't fly! If they do catch birds, they are going to be the ill and old ones anyway,

My conscience is clear. My cat has always had a bell on her collar, can hardly be arsed to go outside and couldn't catch a bird if she tried due to being a bit on the lardy side 😁 she does hate birds though, its innate I think.

Apparently they were brought over by the Romans so have been here a good few years. I would have thought by now that we have reached some sort of equilibrium with the number of birds killed.

My cat figured out the quick release on safety collars, if you put one on him it'll take him very little time to find the quick release and bite it until it opens. We then moved on to elastic safety collars but he eventually figured those out too.

We keep him mostly indoors and he has access to a balcony so he gets to watch the birds but they never come close enough for him to catch one.

We feed the birds so a wide variety visit our garden so I feel like we're doing our part for local wildlife.

For when the cats reversing?

I think it's cruel to have a bird feeder if you have a cat

that sort of noise yes

OP, while PPs are talking to their cats about the birds, perhaps you could speak to the birds about the poor little defenceless worms they keep eating?

I’ve always had indoor cats. I find it really upsetting the number of cat owners who say they’re worried an elasticated bell collar will strangle their cat so their cats don’t wear them. I don’t understand how it’s a risk. I hate cats killing wildlife when they’re perfectly well fed house cats.

Don't be ridiculous

One cat plays dead when you put a collar on him. The other one learnt to freak out from him, so they are collarless.

They've caught, between them, 2 or 3 birds in 9 years.
Next door has chickens. My two boys are currently helping to keep his garden free of mice, by bringing them into our house, which is... unpleasant. Especially as mouse catching appears to have awakened their competitive streaks and I feel they're trying to outdo each other.

People kill so much wildlife simply by putting so much lights on. Lots of species have gone excint in the past decades.

Maybe, but I don't. Look at the first line.

Tbh though, mine makes a sparrow last a whole week. He is very inventive with making curry/brothing the bones etc. So long term he is actually being quite resourceful I think

Yes, modern garden designs have a lot to answer for too.

Artificial grass for one.

Exactly! I've posted before that we live in a flat with no garden, so our cat doesn't go out and was reamed for being cruel because cats need to go out, it's in their nature. We can't win!

We’ve timed out cat flap to keep her in at peak hunting times. If the is out she can come in at anytime.

As she’s got older, and lazier, she hunts far less too.

Mine are semi feral and keep the mice out my house. Unfortunately they get the odd bird in spring particularly. Not putting a collar on any of them, very dangerous on barn cats.

This made me laugh so loud! 😂

What about the numbers of rats and mice killed by cats? Would you rather they just continued to invade gardens/houses?

i wouldn’t allow mine to do this. Put a bell on or even better keep them inside. Much safer for cats to be indoor cats too.

That’s just bollocks.

The RSPB says it is fine to have bird feeders if you have cats and may even offset cat predation by providing food during lean weeks for the bird population.

OP, you don’t seem to know anything about this topic at all.

If cat owners want to reduce bird predation, the advice is to keep them in at dawn and dusk. That’s when the biggest risk to birds occurs.