Cats vs birds / monsters vs aliens - polite discussion only, no hyperbole

dion · March 2014

well, more of the former.<div><br></div><div>Last year we had a blackbird in the garden, it ate worms and the children gave it a name. It used to have this annoying alarm call song all the time, anyway, the alarm call stopped when next doors cat hunted it down. It was a bit sad really. well, i didn't really care as i am a mature adult with a healthy sense of proportion, but the children were devastated. it was very vexing to have to explain the circle of life to them, and to have to justify senseless murder by cuddly cats. luckily, the blackbird survives in bird heaven - though its chicks probably starved to death with only one parent to look after them. </div><div><br></div><div>Does anyone have any mild, polite and well researched and well informed views on whether cats in cities should be banned and subject to a cat licence, or whether we should just let them carry on murdering millions of cutesy happy birds each month for no reason except pleasure? Why did they ban hunting with dogs and not hunting with cats? I mean foxes are a menace, especially round here, getting bolder and bolder, and they don't eat birds either</div>

Mirandola · March 2014

Banned is a leeetle harsh don't you think? I suppose there's a case for more cats being indoor cats.

miss annie · March 2014

We don't train cats to hunt birds and lead them out in packs to do so. If a dog killed a fox, that's nature doing its thing, riding to hounds is different. However, there are plenty of people who would tell you that traditional fox hunting is a better way of despatching them than trapping or poisoning. Idoru has previously posted some stats about the number of birds killed by cats, but I can't find the post now. I seem to remember thinking it wasn't as many as I'd assumed. Our cat has never caught one in almost two years and she has a garden full of them to look at. Foxes do eat rats, I'm all for them trotting about in cities if they step up on that side of things.

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dion · March 2014

I HATE pigeons - rats of the sky

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dion · March 2014

Not everyone has a river in their grounds, you are very fortunate

dion · March 2014

apart from insurance difficulties, and floating rubbish, and rats

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yagamuffin · March 2014

I think New River was man made to supply water to London, I guess it is controlled somewhere.

dion · March 2014

Andy controls it like a lot else round here. Even its name is a misnomer to put us off the scent

Ali · March 2014

<P>The most recent figures are from the Mammal Society, which estimates that the UK's cats catch up to 275 million prey items a year, of which 55 million are birds. This is the number of prey items that were known to have been caught; we don't know how many more the cats caught, but didn't bring home, or how many escaped but subsequently died.</P> <P>The most frequently caught birds, according to the Mammal Society, are probably (in order) house sparrows, blue tits, blackbirds and starlings.</P> <P>from the RSPB web site it then goes on to say that this is not that bad.</P> <P><A href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/cats/birddeclines.aspx">http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/cats/birddeclines.aspx</A></P>; <P> </P> <P>So I guess a cat somewhere near you must be involved !</P> <P> </P> <P> </P>

Marquis · March 2014

What was the name of the bird?

Ali · March 2014

I would also like thne to stopp crapping in my garden and eyeing up the frog spawn in the garden lake !

yagamuffin · March 2014

So Dion, how (why?) do you differentiate between blackbirds and pigeons?<div><br></div>

dion · March 2014

That is over a million birds a week. Sounds like a dodgy statistic to me How many cats in the country? Any ideas?

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dion · March 2014

I am just a speciesist. Luckily only for animals. I have no hatred for humans

yagamuffin · March 2014

I think I may be the opposite, love all the little critters, the humans not so much!

Ali · March 2014

<P>according to the Pest Food Manufactures Association</P> <P> </P> <P><STRONG>Top Ten Pets for 2013 (based on running totals over two years)</STRONG></P> <P><STRONG>1. Fish kept in tanks: </STRONG>20 - 25 million (9% of households)</P> <P><STRONG>2. Fish kept in ponds: </STRONG>20 - 25 million (6% of households)</P> <P><STRONG>3. Dogs: </STRONG>8.5 million (25% of households)</P> <P><STRONG>4. Cats:</STRONG> 8.5 million (19% of households)</P> <P><STRONG>5. Rabbits: </STRONG>1 million (3% of households)</P> <P><STRONG>6. Caged birds: </STRONG>1 million (1.9% of households)</P> <P><STRONG>7. Domestic fowl: </STRONG>1 million (0.9% of households)</P> <P><STRONG>8. Guinea Pigs: </STRONG>Half a million (0.6% of households)</P> <P><STRONG>9. Hamsters: </STRONG>Half a million (1.5% of households)</P> <P><STRONG>10. Horses and ponies: </STRONG>400,000 (1.1% of households)</P> <P> </P> <P>Other popular pets are Lizards (400,000 / 0.9% of households), snakes (300,000 / 0.6% of households), tortoises and turtles (300,000 / 0.7% of households), frogs and toads (200,000 / 0.1% of households), pigeons (200,000 / 0.3% of households), newts/salamanders (200,000 / 0.2% of households), gerbils (100,000 / 0.1% of households) rats, insects and mice were the least popular in our report (100,000 for each / 0.3% of households total).</P> <P> </P> <P>So your cat is likely to be doing over about 7 mamals or birds a year, too many</P>

dion · March 2014

Wow. So each cat in the country kills a bird every two months. It just adds up to a lot. Ouch.

lucyabcde · March 2014

Maybe the cats only kill the slower, weaker birds that are vulnerable anyway thus help to strengthen the bird population overall and helping lead us quicker to the point where the bird masses rise up and take over the world?

andy · March 2014

This is amazing:<div><img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/land_mammals.png"></div>

Idoru · March 2014

Those stats are about right, and if anything an underestimate. The biggest problem is feral cats, and I do think there's an argument for insisting that all cats are neutered unless you're a registered breeder. All breeders should be licensed. I think dog breeders should be too. <div><br></div><div>I don't think there's any argument for banning cats. They catch birds, that's just a fact of life. Squirrels eat bird eggs and chicks. Foxes are omnivores and do eat birds, their eggs and the chicks. According to government figures, 210,000 people in England are attacked by dogs every year, with five deaths since 2007. Surely it would make more sense to ban dogs? Besides kids are going to have to understand the circle of life at some point anyway and surely this is a good way to illustrate it?</div><div><br></div><div>There are ways cat owners can help. Keeping them in during dawn and dusk when birds are at their most active, especially when the chicks are fledging, and putting a collar with a bell on the cat both help and are pretty easy. </div>

Sutent · March 2014

My friend has 2 cats on chateris rd. They kept bringing their pray home. They put bells round their necks and this stopped. I feel sorry for them. What right do we have telling animals not to kill when we are happy eating animals and blowing up other humans in wars.

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ChangN4N6 · March 2014

To be honest, there are 2 many cats in london . Chang

Sutent · March 2014

Isn't too many cats good for you Chang. The more cats the more gutting they need...

ChangN4N6 · March 2014

I don't get any pleasure in gutting cats as you put it (ok just a bit) but the main point is professional pest control either via a sexy vet or rentakill is pretty important or THE ANIMALS TAKE OVER. Like Planet if the Apes, only with talking cats in Nandos. Chang

Idoru · March 2014

Humans are responsible for many more bird deaths than cats. Also population growth requires ever more development and destruction of habitat. So really the best thing to do would be to cull a few million people.

dion · March 2014

No we aren't. I have never killed a bird.

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Cats vs birds / monsters vs aliens - polite discussion only, no hyperbole

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