I don't mind the "flame", I knew when I wrote it that it could generate some
unhappy responses. When we lived in the city, about all the birds we had
were house sparrows and starlings, and as noted before, relatively hard to
catch since they stayed mostly to the trees. Our two cats seldom succeeded
in catching a bird, and when they did, it was generally a species that isn't
native anyway. At the time, I wasn't a confirmed birdwatcher, and didn't
think much about it. Our neighborhood had so many cats per square yard, ours
hardly dared to make their presence known. The problem is, now that we've
moved I do care, now I do have an abundance of native bird species, some who
ground-nest, but once your cats are confirmed "outside cats", there's very
little you can do but put them to sleep, if you don't want them to go
outside. I do take exception to the implication that outdoor cats are less
healthy or their owners are necessarily irresponsible. Our cats are kept in
good health, and I believe they are healthier because they spend time
outside *exercising*, eating grass (which helps with digestion), etc. And
yes, they are spayed and cannot contribute to increasing the feral
population. And I really think there is something unnatural about indoor
cats. Cats are predators, that's their nature, and it's part of the reason
humans have such fascination for them. I have seen more fat, slothful
indoor cats who seem to be just decorations for their owners, rather than
true to their natures and appreciated for what they are. We have done
everything in our power to limit their bird-catching by showing them how
much we dislike it, making them noisy, etc. But we can't keep them indoors
now that they're adults and have spent their lives outdoors. I tried that
once in my life. The cat was miserable, we were miserable, the furniture
was in tatters, and the cat ran away at the first opportunity and got
killed. Cats just don't understand when you make fundamental changes in
their life style once their habits are established. I would welcome any
suggestions anyone has about this dilemma, because we do care about the
birds at our new place, but we love our cats, too. They are part of the
family.

Teresa Michelsen temi461 at ecy.wa.gov