Alley Cat Allies Responds to "SCIENTIFIC STUDY" on birds and cats

[MzNov]

https://www.facebook.com/AlleyCatAllies#!/notes/alley-cat-allies/alley-cat-allies-responds-to-studys-claims-on-cats-and-birds/10151280201793752

I hadn't even seen this the other day when I posted. so glad they have released this article. Please sign their petition to the Smithsonian.

[NV Whino]

1. Kick for the kitties.

[alarimer]

2. It's not biased; feral cats are extremely destructive to ecosystems.

House pets are not generally as big a problem.

Please keep your cats indoors. Cats DO NOT belong outdoors. They're healthier; they live longer; they are less likely to kill other animals. There are far too many in the wild- THAT is where the problem really lies.

It's an unpopular opinion, but feral cats and dogs and pigs and whatever else need to be removed.

Even if they are not reproducing, they can are still bad for the environment. Not to mention being disease vectors for domesticated pets.

[Arugula Latte]

3. Pillaging of the land by humans is what is really destructive to ecosystems.

[LWolf]

4. Around here, if they aren't reproducing,

the population disappears. The feral cat population is demolished by other predators.

After watching an entire large colony go extinct after I trapped, spayed, and released them, and the rodent population explode, I've hesitated to take in any "barn cats." The rodent population needs help, but putting a feral/stray neutered cat in the barn is like setting the table for the local coyotes, owls, and hawks.

[siligut]

5. Coyotes, owls, and hawks don't help keep down the rodents?

Is it when the barn cats leave the barn that they meet other predators?

I am not sure that the feral cat concern extends to farms.

[LWolf]

8. You'd think they would.

Coyotes don't really have access in. I have fences. The feral cats, though, could breach those fences to go out.

The owls and hawks...I'm sure they take rodents, too. I have seen them take cats and chickens. I think the cats get more rodents because they can sneak into places that owls and hawks can't.

Anyway, I've got a population explosion of pack rats and bunnies, but the bird population has remained steady. I'm sure the cats used to get a few birds, but their biggest effect was on the rodents.

[Mosby]

6. Maybe you could put up barn owl boxes?

They can live almost anywhere in the US and are a great way to control rodents.

http://www.barnowlbox.com/us-barn-owl.html

[LWolf]

7. There were barn owls around

in the state I lived in previously. I've never seen one here. I have a resident great horned owl who has taken stupid pullets who go out too early in the morning, and I suspect has taken several of the feral cats. It roosts in the trees next to the house, and I can hear the calls off and on during the night.

Last year there were two, calling back and forth. I thought there might be a nest close by.

There are plenty of rodents to keep owls happy; I don't know if barn owls would come into a territory already claimed by a great horned owl.

[BlueJazz]

11. I agree. As the population has grown, so has the amount of killer cats.

I love kitties but keep them indoors...

[Flaxbee]

9. thanks for this link.

A friend sent me the article with "This is why I don't have cats" - when cats are just doing what cats do and humans are too stupid to figure out how to care for the environment.

[MzNov]

10. I guess New Zealand is the latest bunch of idiots to lose their minds....

the conservative campaigner has decided that ALL cats must go. What a stupid, narrow minded moron.... WTF is wrong with people?

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/02/should-domestic-cats-be-eradicated