Sorry H.

I won't be raising a fuss in my neighbourhood...
cats are a "natural" hazard here ... relative to habitat destruction,
pollution, etc.

Besides, the cats and rest of the land based mammals are gonna lose out to
the termites in the long haul anyway.


On Fri, 26 Apr 1996, H. Hertzel wrote:

>
> FYI, Tweeters. Im sure all of us are socially responsible individuals,
> but perhaps you could pass this along to a friend or neighbor who
> may not have been aware.
>
> H Hertzel
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Thu, 25 Apr 96 19:59 CDT
> Subject: kitty kitty
>
> In the time it takes you to read this sentence, about six seconds, an
> estimated 600 wild birds somewhere in the United States will be killed by
> cats, domestic cats and their feral brothers and sisters.
> That's 100 wild birds killed each second, 6,000 wild birds killed each
> minute, 360,000 dead birds per hour.
> Well over eight million birds per day.
> How many wild birds are killed in this country each year by domestic cats?
> The stunning total is figured to be just over three billion dead birds.
> The last time we wrote about cats in this newsletter we got a letter highly
> critical of what was termed our scurrilous anti-cat propaganda.
> Let's say right now we are not anti-cat. We are simply strongly pro-bird.
> And this is not propaganda.
> The information we are dealing with comes from the same source as our first
> article, the newsletter of the Point Reyes (California) Bird Observatory.
> The latest article was written in the summer 1995 issue by David Evans,
> Ph.D., executive director of the observatory. The references he uses in his
> article are cited at the end of these comments.
> Studies show, Dr. Evans points out, that well-fed cats kill as many prey as
> other cats, illustrating that the urge to hunt is distinct from the need to
> eat. The well-fed house cat is as likely to kill birds as its wild relative
> which must hunt or starve.
> Dr. Evans writes of a study in England which showed that for certain birds
> cat predation was "far greater than all natural predation combined."
> He writes of a study in Virginia which conservatively estimated that each
> domestic cat there kills at least 26 birds each year in urban areas or 83
> in rural areas, representing over 26 million dead birds in that state
> alone. A similar study estimated that at least 19 million songbirds and
> 140,000 game birds are lost annually in Wisconsin.
> Since there are over 60 million pet cats in this country, these studies
> indicate that these pets kill an estimated 1,560 million birds each year.
> "The magnitude of cat predation becomes more staggering when you realize an
> even greater number of small mammals are killed," he writes.
> Add the predation by the 60 million feral cats that roam the United States
> and you get three billion birds killed each year!
> You can't legally kill a songbird, but your cat can. Dr. Evans notes that
> the Wisconsin study showed that "94 percent of the cat owners questioned
> wanted songbirds on their property, yet many were totally unaware that cats
> ever killed songbirds, and many of these cat owners were unwilling to
> reduce the number of cats for the benefit of wildlife."
> What can be done?
> Dr. Evans suggests that cat owners must become responsible and neuter their
> pets. People must care enough about their pets to stop uncontrolled
> proliferation, he says. "Secondly," he writes, "abandoned or feral cats
> have no place on public lands. We must raise our voice and direct local,
> state, and federal officials to prohibit cat colonies on all public lands."
> And finally, he says, "domestic cats should not be allowed to run free,
> because even tricks like putting bells on cats are ineffective."
> As our human population grows, Dr. Evans writes, "so does the number and
> distribution of cats. However, many of the songbirds that brighten each
> spring are declining dramatically, in part due to cat predation. We must
> act now and not sacrifice our diverse bird life for the sport of feline
> poachers."
> We add to his comments our suggestion that birders become active in seeking
> community control of cats. We lobby city, state, and federal officials
> ceaselessly to save habitat. We testify against perceived hazards like
> radio towers. It seems to be time to add cats to our lists.
> References:
> Morris, D., Cat-watching, London Zoo.
> Churcher, P. B., and J. H. Lawton, 1987, Predation by domestic cats in an
> English village, Journal of Zoology, 212:439-455.
> George, William G., 1974, Domestic cats as predators and factors in winter
> shortages of raptor prey. The Wilson Bulletin, 86(4):384-396.
> Mitchell, Joseph C., 1992, Free-ranging domestic cat predation on native
> vertebrates in rural and urban Virginia, Virginia Journal of Science, Vol.
> 43(IB):197-207.
> Harrison, George, 1992, Is there a killer in your house?, National
> Wildlife, 30(6)10-13.
> Liberg, Olof, 1984, Food habits and prey impact by feral and house-based
> domestic cats in a rural area in southern Sweden, Journal of Mammalogy,
> 65(3):424-432.
> For a complete reference list, see: A bibliography of feral, stray, and
> free-roaming cats in relation to wildlife conservation, compiled by Ronald
> Jurek, April, 1994, California Dept. of Fish and Game, Nongame Bird and
> Mammal Program Report No. 94-5.
>
>
>
>
>
>

Michael Kennedy,
headin' out to "...paint the town beige"
wg847 at freenet.victoria.bc.ca