They should expand Chinese restaurants to all neighborhoods.
I call BS. I’ve had multiple cats (usually 3 at a time) my entire life. Some of these cats were fierce hunters making kils every day. Even those cats caught birds only rarely - not as often as once a year. Birds are difficult for cats to catch. They typically catch only those birds who have poor survival skills.
Circle of life starring cat and rat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QcCOpEsV4I&feature=endscreen&NR=1
What do you know? Dogs kill rats too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxQksEF2uso&NR=1&feature=endscreen
Stray and feral cats do little bird killing on our property as they all get shot on sight. We’ve got a couple barn cats but they stay close to the barn and those that don’t end up being coyote food.
I occasionally rescue a bird or a lizard from the cats and set them free. Now it makes me wonder if I could be in violation of wildlife laws that prohibit the possession or transport of wild animals, even though I’m taking them from in the house out to the yard. YIKES!
We live next door to a vacant/foreclosed McMansion. The owners had a fancy fish pond with Koi and whatever out back. After a year of neglect the pool has regressed to nature.
I started noticing dead frog parts in the lawn awhile back where I had never seen anything but live toads. My son was up early one morning and saw our cat coming back with a nice frog. He only eats the rear legs and gets one almost everyday for breakfast. I’m thinking he’s helping keep the pond’s fauna in equilibrium.
Years ago, I had a black and white fluffy cat who, from standing still position, could jump straight up a long way.
Blue jays would dive bomb her, attacking her. One day, she jumped stright up and a blue jay flew right in her mouth. Good for her, that taught the blue jay’s friends a lesson.
Years after that, she was killed by two big sized standard poodles. I don’t care for standard poodle killers.
Those wouldn’t be particular Kittehs with Scandinavian (AKA “Viking”) Ancestry, would they? :-)
Did they count the birds done in by cars? I suspect the number of roadkill birds is not insignificant.
Washington, D.C. has a horrendous rat problem — and not the kind who walk the halls of the House and Senate. People are ill-advised to take their kids to the parks and people’s yards over overrun, all because several years ago they outlawed cats. They closed down on of the Occupy sites because it was so infested with rats. All that said, my dog says that this is a sound, well thought-out plan to deal with kitties.
Hey, cats gotta eat too... and also play with their prey!
Kitties make great gloves.
~~
WHAT KILLS BIRDS?
Common sense tells you it's Urban Sprawl and pesticides...yet some refuse to believe in common sense. Here's a compilation of what is killing our birds. SO please don't blame the cats:
Curry & Kerlinger has compiled the following information from environmentalorganizations and government agencies.
Glass Windows
Bird Deaths a year: 100 to 900+ million
Dr. Daniel Klem of Muhlenberg College has done studies over a period of 20 years, looking at bird collisions with windows. His conclusion: glass kills more birds than any other human related factor.
Automobiles / Trucks
Bird Deaths a year: 50 to 100 Million
Scientists estimate the number of birds killed by cars and trucks on the nation's highways to be 50 to 100 million a year. Those statistics were cited in reports published by the National Institute for Urban Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Electric Transmission Line Collisions
Bird Deaths a year: up to 174 million
Estimates made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service demonstrate millions of birds die each year as a result of colliding with transmission lines.
Agriculture
Bird Deaths a year: 67 million
Pesticides likely poison an estimated 67 million birds per year according to the Smithsonian Institution. Cutting hay may kill up to a million more birds a year.
Land Development
Bird Deaths a year: unknown
Suburban sprawl is a silent but deadly killer. The National Audubon Society says loss of bird habitat is the greatest threat to bird populations.
Communication Towers
Bird Deaths a year: 4 to 10 million
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that bird collisions with tall, lighted communications towers, and their guy wires result in 4 to 10 million bird deaths a year.
Stock Tank Drowning
Bird Deaths a year: unknown
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and other conservationists believe that large numbers of birds inadvertently drown in livestock water tanks.
Oil and Gas Extraction
Bird Deaths a year: 1 to 2 million
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that up to 2 million birds died landing in oil pits to bathe and drink in 1997. Fish and Wildlife says netting has improved that situation somewhat. There are no overall estimates for the number of birds affected by oil and gas spills, and oil and gas extractions (and transport.)
Logging and Strip Mining
Bird Deaths a year: unknown
Logging and strip mining destroy bird habitat. According to the National Audubon Society, habitat destruction is the leading cause of bird population declines.
Commercial Fishing
Bird Deaths a year: unknown
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Ornithological Council report that 40 thousand seabirds per year are killed in the Gulf of Alaska by long line fishing operations. These same sources say long lining and gill netting kill large numbers of birds in other parts of the country as well.
Electrocutions
Raptor Deaths a year: more than 1,000
Experts estimate that more than one thousand hawks, eagles, falcons and owls are electrocuted on transmission lines and poles each year.
Hunting
Bird Deaths a year: 100 + million
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, more than 100 million ducks, geese, swans, doves, shorebirds, rails, cranes, among others are harvested legally each year.
~~~~~~ALSO..DDT KILLS BIRDS, BEES.....ETC.p
Outside kittehs gotta eat! ;o)