# I've got a stray cat picking off birds in my yard **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288 "2010-10-15T20:38:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/41 "2010-10-19T03:18:33Z")
If it truly is a cycle of life, and letting nature take its course, then the OP should maybe get a big mean dog. A dog capable of and made to destroy cats. Or a .22 handgun as humans are the apex predator. SSG § Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/42 "2010-10-19T03:19:47Z")
> [@Kiwi\_Fruit](#): > > I’d go with trap and euthanise. Although **Spectre of Pithecanthropus** offers that NA has bobcats, I’d think their preferred prey and also hunting areas would not coincide with a feral cat. The fewer non-natives and strays, the better. a ring of those around the perimeter of the feeder would work. I’d scatter a few in the yard and move them so the cat learns to stay out of the yard altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/43 "2010-10-19T04:05:35Z")
I agree that a dog is a possible solution. But a .22 handgun is not an answer as it was made by man to destroy humans and other species for criminal activity, vengeance, and sport. Domestic cats, big cats, eagles, hawks, snakes, and most other animals on planet Earth are predators because they have to be to survive. It is only humans who kill for the thrill or gain, and frequently without remorse. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/44 "2010-10-19T05:49:15Z")
> [@Sycorax](#): > > I agree that a dog is a possible solution. But a .22 handgun is not an answer as it was made by man to destroy humans and other species for criminal activity, vengeance, and sport. Domestic cats, big cats, eagles, hawks, snakes, and most other animals on planet Earth are predators because they have to be to survive. It is only humans who kill for the thrill or gain, and frequently without remorse. So a .22 can’t be used by a human for self defense or survival? ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/45 "2010-10-19T11:51:37Z")
I thought cats killed for the thrill of the chase and then played with the victim. A bullet to the head seems more humane. SSG § Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/46 "2010-10-20T00:48:01Z")
Wilbo - oh please, of course a .22 can be used for self-defense. If you happen to be in Africa, and a BIG cat (e.g., lion, tiger, cheetah) leaps at you, you may use your .22 on him. Statistically, it’s more likely that you will be attacked by a human, in which case I have no qualms about sending the offender straight to hell. And SSG: cats do chase, catch, release, chase catch…but it isn’t for a “thrill” – only humans do stupid shit “for the thrill.” Domesticated cats, especially indoor cats, are well fed and aren’t in a hurry to eat their prey, but catching and releasing is their way of practicing and re-enforcing their hunting skills. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/47 "2010-10-20T01:38:26Z")
There is something like 50 million feral cats in the U.S. They do irreparable damage to songbirds, bats, frogs, lizards and a number of other natural species. They compete for food with owls and raptors. If it was any other animal it would be an ecological disaster and we would have a bounty on them. Just kill it. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/48 "2010-10-20T02:32:57Z")
So a variety of species competes for food; what’s new? And what stats do you have to show that cats do “irreparable damage” to songbirds, etc.? None of the species you mention (AFAIK) are on the endangered species list. So a hawk may not succeed in snaring a particular mouse, but a cat does; what does that prove? The hawk moves on and finds something else. Hawks, as well as owls and raptors, have the advantage since they can see their prey very well from the air and swoop down before the prey realizes what’s happened. It’s only an “ecological disaster” if an ecological system is destroyed, or affected to the point of causing loss of life (e.g., melting glaciers). And as far as I’m concerned, it’s immoral to kill a creature who is doing what it was designed to do and what it must do in order to survive. If only humans could restrain themselves thus, wouldn’t it be a better world? (Sorry everyone to sermonize, but this is a sore subject for me.) ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/49 "2010-10-20T04:50:28Z")
> [@](#): > > [http://biology.usgs.gov/pierc/PLLindseyPredator1.htm](http://biology.usgs.gov/pierc/PLLindseyPredator1.htm) > > “ The role of feral cats as predators to Hawaiian forest birds is poorly known, but results of several studies suggest that they may be a major predator in Hawaiian forest habitats.” > [@](#): > > [http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/duffy/arb/497-508/505.pdf](http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/duffy/arb/497-508/505.pdf) > > “Successful control of stray and feral cats would also benefit the proposed > reintroduction of the endangered buff-banded rail (Rallus philppensis andrewsi) to several > islands within the group (Garnett, 1993; Parks Australia, 1999; Garnett and Crowley, 2000; > Reid, 2000). This species was once widespread on all the Cocos (Keeling) Islands but is now > restricted to the cat-free North Keeling Island. The last record for this species, other than on > North Keeling Island, was an individual killed by a cat on West Island in 1991 (Garnett, > 1993).” > [@](#): > > [http://www.fws.gov/birds/mortality-fact-sheet.pdf](http://www.fws.gov/birds/mortality-fact-sheet.pdf) > > “Cats. Many citizens would be surprised to learn that domestic and feral cats may kill hundreds of millions of songbirds and other avian species each year. A recent study in Wisconsin estimated that in that state alone, domestic rural cats kill roughly 39 million birds annually. Add the deaths caused by feral cats, or domestic cats in urban and suburban areas, and this mortality figure would be much higher.” > [@](#): > > [http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/pubs/cat.pdf](http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/pubs/cat.pdf) > > “There is clear evidence that feral cats have had a heavy impact on island fauna. On Macquarie Island, for example, feral cats caused the extinction of a subspecies of the red-fronted parakeet. On the mainland, they have probably contributed to the extinction of many small to medium sized mammals and ground-nesting birds in the arid zone, and seriously affected bilby, mala and numbat populations. In some instances, feral cats have directly threatened the success of recovery programs for endangered species.” Why should a native species have to compete with a invasive? Because it’s cute, what a joke ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/50 "2010-10-20T05:46:33Z")
Why are we worried about species going extinct? Because \*they’re \*cute? It’s just nature doing what’s natural. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/51 "2010-10-20T19:03:40Z")
Cats didn’t swim over from Europe; they were brought here, just as horses were. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/52 "2010-10-20T23:43:52Z")
Is he a black and orange cat? Is he sitting on a fence? Does he holler to the moonlight on a summer night? Do you have a bunch of old shoes? You know what to do. That’ll get him back to getting his dinner from the garbage can. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288/53 "2010-10-21T01:20:44Z")
Merijeek - its been a few days. Have you made a decision on what to do? How has it worked? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-a-stray-cat-picking-off-birds-in-my-yard/557288.md?page=2)