I would like to send out a plea to all of you with cats to keep them indoors.
It is estimated that domestic cats kill hundreds of millions of songbirds each year in the United States.
I have a beautiful gray tabby cat that is a member of our family, and he is very content and happy staying indoors. We take him outside from time to time with a harness and leash.
Unfortunately many of my neighbors cats are on the loose every day and night.
I have numerous feeders around my house that attract thousands of birds throughout the year.
I have already lost a Red-breasted Nuthatch in January, two Cassin's Finch in February and a couple of Pine Siskins, due to cat predation. I cannot count the other birds that I'm sure have been dragged away from my yard.
I have taken a neighbors cat back to them once before and then called animal control the next time I caught the cat. This cat was the one that had caught the nuthatch. There is no blame that I am placing on the cats here, cats will be cats. It is the owners that are acting irresponsibly and do not have the best interest of the cat or birds in mind. Currently Logan city does have an ordinance against any animal running at large on anothers property.
Right now I am sitting here, looking at a gorgeous male Cassin's Finch that had been mauled by a cat, its right wing missing sections out of it. It is crippled and cannot stand on its legs. It had been sitting under one of my feeders for a day and a half, eating the seeds off of the ground, around it. I was just going to let nature (from an unnatural act) take its course, but after seeing it survive through the night, I did not have the heart to let it be taken out by one of the neighbors cats. And I'll be damned if I was going to let a cat have the pleasure of getting this bird again.
I took it inside and have placed it in a large box, with water and seed. It has been eating the seed, drinking the water and living for a week now.
Would we just let a crippled cat fend for itself and let nature take its course? I think not.
Please do your part by keeping your cats indoors. Little bells on their collars do nothing to scare off the birds at your feeders. I know, because the cat that got this bird has such a bell.
Keep your cats indoors, not just for the birds sake, but for the well being of the cat.
American Bird Conservancy has a Cats Indoors program, if you are interested:
Thanks,
Stephen Peterson