Subject: Neighbors with cats that catch birds
Date: May 24 12:15:46 2002
From: Greg Toffic - greg.toffic at zoo.org


If a cat has nine lives, how many lives does "the dreaded cat thread" have?
Greg Toffic

>>> "S. Miller" <sm100 at att.net> 05/24/02 12:02PM >>>
I'm counting on the collective widsom and experience of my fellow bird
lovers here. Have any of you had success in persuading neighbors to keep
their outdoor cats confined, especially during the nesting and fledging
season? I have a very kind neighbor who has an outdoor cat that is an avid
hunter. I like the cat -- he's very affectionate and loving. The problem is
that he's living death to the birds. I live on Guemes Island (due north of
Anacortes, WA) and have taken several years to make my garden into a haven
for resident and migratory birds. The cat is constantly over here, and as
you know, chasing him away does no good whatsoever. I've fenced all the
trees and shrubs where the birds tend to nest (at great expense; it looks
like all my shrubs are in jail), and even fenced the perimiter of the yard,
but of course birds don't just stay inside the fences. My neighbor
complained bitterly about another neighbor who was upset at all the birds
the cat was killing (at least one a day). She said, "This is what cats do.
It's how nature is." I think she sees the birds as entertainment for her
cat. I do not say this in a mean way; it's just part of what I need to keep
in mind when I think of how to approach her.

Now for the hard part. Confrontation will not work; she will just get upset
and withdraw, and the cat will continue to kill birds. Even a reasonable
request will have no effect. Another neighbor already tried that. I'm
thinking that a possible approach would be some kind of essay that would get
to her in a way a conversation would not. A few years ago I was concerned
about a Sharp-shinned hawk that was ravaging my songbirds. I talked to a
hawk specialist (Bud Anderson in Skagit County -- he's wonderful), and he
set me right about the Big Picture and how hawks and chickadees are all a
part of it. It still hurt to see the demise of a chickadee in the talons of
the hawk, but I accepted it and tried to love the hawk. It worked... slowly.
Is there a Bud Anderson equivalent for my neighbor -- not in the form of a
person but in a story, web site, essay or something like that?

So what do you advise, all you bird lovers (and cat lovers) out there? What
has worked for you?

Many thanks.

Susan Miller
sm100 at att.net
Guemes Island
Washington