Killer cats

[DrivingDig]

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scien...tm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=socialmedia


Will the RSPB ever acknowledge the impact of cats on the environment instead of concentrating on easier targets?

 

[KMA]

and upset all their flaky supporters no chance, raptors don't kill songbirds, badgers don't raid ground nesting bird's eggs

 

[TripleSix]

Cats are killers for the hell of it.

If if they aren't hungry they'll be going after a kill.

Many many songbirds....

 

[DrWazzock]

Fully agree. The hypocritical age we live in.

Cats undo all the good work done to boost songbird numbers. A cat will pick off young blackbirds as they fledge, given half a chance. A cat here and there wouldn't matter but there are thousands of them because everybody feels entitled to one for some reason.

I've seen a badger killing a hedgehog. They have wiped them out here. And hoovered up birds nests. Dog walkers also put many birds off their nests.

Yet they poison rats in town, because well, err, they aren't nice.

And badgers are?

Crass wind in the willows morality, sentimentalism and self indulgence using animals as they see fit as emotional props or as a cause to prevent others earning a livelihood just because it doesn't fit into their warped moral framework,

Urban metrosexuals at their best.

 

[Kevtherev]

That decline in song and farmland birds isn't much to do with farming practices look at all the schemes we do to benefit wildlife.
Main causes are badgers raptors and the household cat.
Bloody vermin

 

[topground]

I am a livestock Farmer who has seen the decline in ground nestng birds and songbirds together with Hedgehogs over a number of decades on land that has been farmed in the same way over half a century to my knowledge.
I agree that changes in farming practices that are trotted out regularly by the single issue groups as the reason for the declne in wildlife are responsible.
Why?
Because the farming practices that farmers carried out in the oast have been outlawed, included managing top end predators to maintain a balance and give those at the bottom of the food chain have a chance to maintain viable populations.
The various 'experts' employed by single issue lobby groups have only focussed on their own particular cash generator, be it birds or Badgers without realising there is a bigger picture.
I doubt many of these career lobbyists care about the bigger picture and they really dont want to hand back control to those who really know the land, namely the folk that farm it. If the top end predators were placed on the open licence list I would expect to see Lapwings, Hares and Pheasant broods back in my land withn a few years.

 

[Pasty]

It's all about balance. I am not a cat person. My family love them so we have them. I would rather we had just one but we 'rescued' a couple so that's that while they are alive. That said, I can't deny the benefit of having a good ratter or mouser around farm buildings. My son's moggy certainly keep the brooding shed clear of any threats to feed bags / chicks. On the flip side we have given up on our raised beds near the house as the dirty barstewards use them as litter trays and I'm not eating food out of a toilet.

The problem with cats is that they cannot be controlled so there will always be conflict.

 

[milkloss]

Could have a good rant on here about cats but perhaps my biggest bugbear with cats is the owners. Why is it they feel they have to let their cats roam? I don't let my dogs roam the countryside or the towns looking for fun and generally killing things and crapping in everyone's garden. What about the animals safety?

I was driving late one night and saw a cat writhing on the road that had been hit by a car so stopped with my hazards on and went to the nearest house to find the owner. All I got was accused of running their cat over, presumably for insurance cover of vet bills, and that I must have been driving recklessly. I can't say I was particularly careful with my words when I accused them of not being responsible pet owners letting their animals roam in a place that was unsafe and causing an annoyance to neighbours amongst other things.

 

[KMA]

It's all about balance. I am not a cat person. My family love them so we have them. I would rather we had just one but we 'rescued' a couple so that's that while they are alive. That said, I can't deny the benefit of having a good ratter or mouser around farm buildings. My son's moggy certainly keep the brooding shed clear of any threats to feed bags / chicks. On the flip side we have given up on our raised beds near the house as the dirty barstewards use them as litter trays and I'm not eating food out of a toilet.

The problem with cats is that they cannot be controlled so there will always be conflict.

Cats (we have two which my ex decided she no longer wanted) are the biggest problem with my veg growing but it's simple enough to make a netted frame to put over the area to keep them out. Personally I prefer dogs but the cats do keep the rodents under control, the downside being predation on songbirds. So far the only dead young Blackbird I've seen this spring was from a car.

 

[milkloss]

Cats (we have two which my ex decided she no longer wanted) are the biggest problem with my veg growing but it's simple enough to make a netted frame to put over the area to keep them out. Personally I prefer dogs but the cats do keep the rodents under control, the downside being predation on songbirds. So far the only dead young Blackbird I've seen this spring was from a car.

It's when the cats half kill a rat and bring it indoors you'll be having fun!

 

[Pasty]

Our ratter eats their brains and other selected organs and turns them inside out and then leaves them on the path. Which is nice. Dead rat is a good rat though so not complaining!

 

[KMA]

Been there, it's all part of having cat's, the hunter usually announces his triumphant return so we get a bit of warning, his brother is a lazy git and prefers to lounge around the house preferably on the clean laundry, did see him kill a stoat once but that was about 4 years ago before we moved. Can't recall either of these two bringing live prey into the house.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

RSPB:
It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations. If their predation was additional to these other causes of mortality, this might have a serious impact on bird populations.

Those bird species that have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines. Research shows that these declines are usually caused by habitat change or loss, particularly on farmland.

So that's ok then.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Bloody things.

Is there any other animal that people claim to own and can then legally just allow them to wander about and do exactly what they like, where they like?

I asked a neighbour once if they would mind stopping their cat from crapping daily on our lawn. They said they can't stop a cat doing anything because they are free spirits.



I stopped it. No bother.

 

[Kevtherev]

From the book 'complete uses of a dead cat'

 

[Old Boar]

Next door have 3 toms. They fight all the time with each other. They come over and spray everywhere, dig up my flowers, and I have to keep the windows shut at night or they come in and spray. This year they have killed all the moorhen and wild duck chicks on my ponds. Last year they had new hatched chicks under one of my hens. I told them and they shrugged.
If I could catch them.....

 

[Old McDonald]

RSPB:
It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations. If their predation was additional to these other causes of mortality, this might have a serious impact on bird populations.

Those bird species that have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines. Research shows that these declines are usually caused by habitat change or loss, particularly on farmland.

So that's ok then.

I have not really tried, but I think I would find it difficult to find a flaw in your argument.

At the same time, I was spraying my almonds this afternoon and was absolutely delighted to see one of two pairs of Ringed Plovers I knew must have nested, move only a few inches away from the tractor and call to her two dinky little offspring. Never seen a Ringed Plover close up until a few weeks ago. I have trawled these trees on numerous ocasions and so had a fairly good idea which line they were nesting in, but never managed to spot the nest. I was not inclined to do a real search as many RSPB members would, and thereby disturb a sitting bird, just looked from the trctor seat.

Just for the record, I spray only the trees with a hand lance, and not the spaces between the trees, so there is ample space for ground nesting birds to do what they have to do. I also have lots of larks, but do not know whether they are Sky, Three-toed or Thekla.

 

[JWL]

I thought I'd stopped our neighbours pet moggy from crapping on my parents lawn and visiting the old mans Zebra Finches when I was out one evening walking the hedges with the 12 bore. It certainly looked deceased to me when I shoved it down a rabbit hole and caved the hole in with my size 12's.
Bit of a shock in the morning, we lived in a converted stable yard with our two houses round a courtyard. When I backed my old van out of the hovel it got parked in, there was their bloody cat that had crawled back and expired on their front doorstep! I backed round a bit further opened the drivers door, grabbed it and left it on the side of the main road to save some awkward explaining

 

[Yale]

Have noticed the house martins here don't seem to be building nests much as there is a lack of mud with it being so dry,(yes,we have avoided most of the rain.)

 

[milkloss]

Here we go:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39961402