Cats kill up to 3.7B birds annually

[alp227]

Cats that live in the wild or indoor pets allowed to roam outdoors kill from 1.4 billion to as many as 3.7 billion birds in the continental U.S. each year, says a new study that escalates a decades-old debate over the feline threat to native animals.

The estimates are much higher than the hundreds of millions of annual bird deaths previously attributed to cats. The study also says that from 6.9 billion to as many as 20.7 billion mammals — mainly mice, shrews, rabbits and voles — are killed by cats annually in the Lower 48. The report is scheduled to be published Tuesday in Nature Communications.

"I was stunned," said ornithologist Peter Marra of the Smithsonian's Conservation Biology Institute. He and Smithsonian colleague Scott Loss, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Tom Will conducted the study.

It's part of a three-year Fish and Wildlife Service-funded effort to estimate the number of birds killed by predators, chemicals and in collisions with wind generators and windows. About a third of the 800 species of birds in the USA are endangered, threatened or in significant decline, according to the non-profit American Bird Conservancy.

full: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/29/cats-wild-birds-mammals-study/1873871/

Last year this study found "Domestic Cats, and Wild Bobcats and Pumas, Living in Same Area Have Same Diseases". However, the population of domestic cats in this country is SOOOO out of hand that they out-compete even the native big cats like cougars and bobcats. Even the American Bird Conservancy is not fond of coyotes eating cats (from an "animal suffering" viewpoint I suppose. But I wonder what the wolves will eat when all the deer get hunted?). so KEEP YOUR DAMN CATS INDOORS PEOPLE.

[NYC_SKP]

1. Spay your fucking cats. Why are there no cat licensing requirements?

I am serious!

But still, reminded of this:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. There are, in some cities.

Where I live, cat licenses are required. http://www.minneapolismn.gov/animals/licenses/index.htm#requirements

It is a requirement honored more in the breach than in the observance, however.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

7. Back in Jasper Co. Mo. there were requirements to licenses you cat.

But nothing said you had to spayed or neuter them.

[doc03]

2. OMG an anti-cat thread, you are really asking for it now

[Lady Freedom Returns]

8. +1

This thing is destined to look like a scratching post!

[Skink]

9. Fuc..ing cats

[NYC_SKP]

11. Just don't post any kitten pics. That just wouldn't be fair. THIS is what LOVE looks like:

This is what LOVE looks like.

Millie is Spayed, Chipped, and Licensed!

[ManiacJoe]

14. My cat would call that "lunch".

[PrezHillary2016]

3. We LUV kitties!

[Lady Freedom Returns]

5. Smart move posting in GD.

Because if this was in the Lounge...

[slackmaster]

6. Sometimes birds need to be killed.

So do rats and mice and gophers and squirrels.

[Nye Bevan]

10. How many worms do birds kill annually? (nt)

[kwolf68]

13. Really?

Worms and birds are on direct trophic levels from each other, meaning the bird is actually a natural part of the worm's ecosystem. A domestic cat has no place there.

[kwolf68]

12. I love cats too

But they DO NOT belong outside. Sorry, your cat belongs NOWHERE near an ecosystem.

As much as I love cats I never cry when one of my neighbors cats comes up missing. I think, 'the local environment has a chance now'

[aquart]

21. Yes. A chance to die of starvation.

Which is what unrestricted breeding sans predators results in.

Although, without cats, you do have a good chance of bigger and better predators coming for breakfast.

Remember, urbanization drives out predators incompatible with human comfort. But the birds keep their predator-expecting breeding program in place.

[flvegan]

15. How many are YOU responsible for?

No, seriously. Where are you on that?

Feel free to look upon yourself first and answer honestly. I'll wait.

[alp227]

18. Am not a pet owner.

[flvegan]

19. Not what I asked.

Try again.

[alp227]

23. Uhh, I ate chicken last Friday. Good enough answer?

If that's what you asked, I don't think there's a damn equivalent between humans eating birds as meat and cats eating wild birds. Chickens aren't going extinct.

[Jamastiene]

29. Are there any chickens in the wild anywhere?

I can't remember the last time I saw a wild chicken. I've seen wild turkeys, but not wild chickens.

[NutmegYankee]

31. Go to Oahu, HI

Wild Chickens all over the island.

[flvegan]

32. Awesome. Next time, put a period after your word "think"

Ego is a wonderful thing. It's nice that you can quantify it to suit your needs. n/t

[alp227]

33. To better explain my point,

humans BREED livestock like chicken to eat. Wild animals don't breed prey.

[ohheckyeah]

16. I've pissed off more than one neighbor

over their cat being in my yard and killing birds. I spend a fair amount on bird fee and I don't do it to provide the neighbor's cat with lunch.

I don't want dogs running wild in my yard either. If I wanted a cat or dog I would get one. A dog killed a baby rabbit right in front of me one day and it pissed me off. If a wild animal kills another wild animal that is the nature of nature, but domestic animals need to be contained. I never let my dogs run free and I don't expect neighbors to let their cats or dogs run free. I had one neighbor whose car's engine was destroyed when she started the car and a cat was sleeping in the engine. It didn't do much for the cat, either.

If you value your cat, keep it inside. If you value your dog, get a fence.

[SpartanDem]

17. So what? Cats eat bird and mice that's what they're supposed to do.

[alp227]

20. Well, cats can't just eat any damn animal they see.

Commercial pet food may not be very healthy or (if made in china) even dangerous, but live prey carry diseases. And save for factory farming or extreme cloning, birds would go EXTINCT if cats had a bird in every dish.

But mice? Ok. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/nyregion/21cats.html

[KT2000]

22. Not all cats kill birds

My cat's preference is for mice, moles, and rats. Before she moved in I had mice in my car and my elderly neighbor had them coming through her heating ducts. They were so brazen they just stared at her and went where they wanted.
Someone had killed all the cats in the neighborhood and the rodents were taking over. My cat was adept at cleaning up three one acre yards and we no longer have the rodent problem.
In the years she has lived here I think I have seen her kill one bird.

[justabob]

24. has a study been done for dogs?

Just curious. I know dogs don't run loose as cats do, or as often as cats do, but they also like squirrels and birds and other creatures for snacks (or toys).

[kwolf68]

25. Dogs suck as predators

Cats are a far superior predator. Dogs are almost useless when left on their own and cause little issue for local environment. They also are not near as subtle as cats so they stand out more and are easily picked up by animal control.

Cats are superb predators, stealth, smart, cunning, destructive. I LOVE and admire the destructive nature of the cat, because it seems like it is closer on the evolutionary scale to their wild ancestors, which is why I don't want these evil (but lovable) creatures out wreaking havoc on my backyard.

[justabob]

26. agreed on cats

I have four of them, all inside kitties. Dogs aren't *that* useless though. I know and have known quite a few pups that had no problem grabbing a squirrel, rabbit or whatever else in their own backyards

[Fearless]

27. And?

I'm all for desexing cats and all household pets, but seriously, this is silly. If I have the choice between confining my cats to the house and letting them roam free and happy, I'm going to go with free and happy. If they happen to make a meal of a birdie, then that's life.

[Jamastiene]

28. Oh, wow!

You must need a wheelbarrow to carry around a big set like that. Posting an anti-cat thread on DU?

Cats are spayed and neutered and kept indoors only at this household...AND I feed the birds AND the squirrels.


Yer just askin' for it.

[JNelson6563]

30. Put a bell on your cat.

Really hampers the hunting abilities.

Julie