Study: Cats wiping out backyard wildlife
Reptiles are easy prey. (Photo by Amy E. Ford)
Cats can be cuddly, but America’s second most favorite family pet is also an accomplished killer.
Researchers at The University of Georgia have concluded domesticated cats are wiping out neighborhood wildlife.
USA Today sums it up as mundanely as possible: “That mouse carcass Kitty presents you with is just the tip of a very bloody iceberg. When researchers attached kittycams to house cats, they found a secret world of slaughter.” [Video of the carnage]
While icebergs are largely homogeneous in structure, the wildlife gnawed upon by Fluffy is quite diverse.
Mammals’ eternal foe, the reptiles (and their slimy cousins, the amphibians), take the brunt of the feline assault — lizards, snakes and frogs made up 41% of the animals killed by the 60 Athens-area cats equipped with collar cameras.
Cute creatures, such as chipmunks and voles, made up 25% of the tiny corpses; insects and worms 20%; birds 12%.
I’d have thought birds, as tasty as they are, would have been killed more often, but, from a predator’s standpoint they have the annoying ability of flight.
Nevertheless, birding enthusiasts are upset at the nation’s 74 million cats.
“Cat predation is one of the reasons why one in three American birds species are in decline,” said George Fenwick, president of American Bird Conservancy.
Cat lovers are equally upset at the UGA report, which has been called “heavy on errors, misrepresentations, and glaring omissions, and light on defensible claims.”
Here’s some more details from the complete UGA study that will make you think twice about kissing Fluffy:
- About 30% of roaming house cats kill prey — an average of two animals per week
- Cats brought home just under a quarter of what they killed, ate 30% and left 49% at the scene of the crime
- Roaming cats are a lot like roaming people — males were more likely to take risks than females and older cats were more careful than younger ones.
- Favorite risky behaviors include crossing roadways (45%), eating and drinking things they found (25%), exploring storm drains (20%) and entering crawl spaces (20%)
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114 comments Add your comment
artyc
August 7th, 2012
12:32 pm
happy nine lives, kitty
Patrick Pentz
August 7th, 2012
12:37 pm
Cats also carry a parasite that is implicated in numerous neurological problems (this is the parasite that induces rats to be attracted to cat urine). Apparently most cat owners show signs of current or past infections.
Ella VonSchnauzhapfen
August 7th, 2012
12:38 pm
I knew it! They’re after my food. I’ll destroy any cat that comes in my yard!! DESTROY!!
Kurt
August 7th, 2012
12:38 pm
Really? You decided to use a toy dinosaur as your reptile picture. Dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, and cats had nothing to do with it.
gadem
August 7th, 2012
12:42 pm
I hate cats…Dogs ARE man’s best friend for a reason!
Fritz the Cat
August 7th, 2012
12:42 pm
Meow!!!!
Kathy
August 7th, 2012
12:47 pm
I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed the picture. Of course the animal shown in the picture is easy prey. It’s bright yellow and can’t move!
MikeB
August 7th, 2012
12:47 pm
Spay & Neuter your cats people…….. And counties should spay/neuter feral cat colonies too…….. Its cheaper as an expense to the counties than euthanizing hundreds of cats. Work with your rescue groups to make it happen vs. sitting by the by and complaining……
Bill Campbell
August 7th, 2012
12:49 pm
Pet owners allow cats to roam free ! All stray cats should be shot!
Study: Cats wiping out backyard wildlife – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Cats Blog Online
August 7th, 2012
12:52 pm
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August 7th, 2012
12:56 pm
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Judy Harris
August 7th, 2012
1:00 pm
My cats stay indoors at all times. I blame people for the stray cat situation. Some people decide they don’t want their cat(s), dump them, and expect them to survive. They breed, along comes more cats, and all these cats need food. It is very disturbing to know our wildlife is being eaten by cats or perhaps coyotes…but what are they to do? People need to be more responsible for their pets.
catmom
August 7th, 2012
1:03 pm
I live on a dead end street and people think it’s an animal jump. I currently an feeding 9 cats and 2 dogs. The animals will not let me near them so I can’t get them to the vet to be spayed or nutered. Called an animal company, the animals didn’t go near the traps. Please find a home for your pet instead of throwing them away.
Willydoit?
August 7th, 2012
1:03 pm
That Darn Cat
A dad
August 7th, 2012
1:08 pm
For all who let their cat stray and think that’s ok, be advised that if I catch your cat, I’m dropping it off in Buford area where no doubt it will be rendered into a tasty Kung Pao Kitty….
Study: Cats wiping out backyard wildlife – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Ez Cats World
August 7th, 2012
1:08 pm
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ZinoDawg
August 7th, 2012
1:11 pm
@gadem “I hate cats…..”
Wow – been hanging out with Jeffrey Dahmer lately you psycho?
My cats are the greatest.
Mary
August 7th, 2012
1:20 pm
Dogs are disgusting annoying smelly creatures that dig up the cat’s poo and eat it! I would look for a new best friend if I were you? but then again you are an idiot and only a dog would be your friend.
Study: Cats wiping out backyard wildlife – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Ez Cats Blog
August 7th, 2012
1:21 pm
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cat death
August 7th, 2012
1:23 pm
I have found that large doses of an OTC sleep aid mixed into a can of fancy feast makes stray cats easy to hit with a pellet gun.
Thats a waste of a good OTC sleep aid. Look, I have nothing against cats, but they are biologically configured to kill small animals. The feral cat population is out of control in the U.S. The cat lovers in this country are in complete denial.
I am loathe to recommend poison in a neighborhood, as poisons are indiscriminate. An accurate gun is much preferred.
.17HMR is a good, flat shooting round that can easily kill out to about 150-200 yards. It practically blows them in half.
For a more discreet round, .22LR subsonic works well. If you have one, a suppressed .22lr makes a clack sound.
And , no, I could not care less what the cat lovers think. It is their collective irresponsibility that has caused the feral cat problem in the first place. Cats are now an invasive species and should be exterminated along with hogs and coyotes.
bigdawg88
August 7th, 2012
1:28 pm
@gadem, Amen to that!! I’ve always known that cats are evil and must be destroyed!
Cat, The Other White Meat
August 7th, 2012
1:29 pm
Cat death, it’s counterproductive to exterminate coyotes since they help control the cat population.
Mandingo
August 7th, 2012
1:30 pm
We have some 3rd generation feral cats that live in our wooded neighborhood. They are superior to the run of the mill house cat in every sense of the word. Kill and eat anything they can overpower. I spotted one on top of my neighbors house at dusk scouting for prey on the ground. One climbed a tree and pulled a baby squirrel out of its nest. I am not trying to stir the pot or be cruel……but the only thing that will control them is a .22 short bullet. Quiet round that hits hard at close range.
Good
August 7th, 2012
1:31 pm
They catch the snakes that can bite me, the chipmunks that dig under my foundation and the squirrels that have mange and destroy my yard. Dogs are great but do little other than lay there. You should be thankful they roam around. Get over it.
bigdawg88
August 7th, 2012
1:32 pm
Mary, dogs do a lot of work. Don’t remember the last time I saw a cat herding sheep or cattle, or catching criminals, or leading the blind! Frakkin’ miserable and evil moochers! /jk
Ian
August 7th, 2012
1:34 pm
Cats were are all over my neighborhood at night. So are other predators such as foxes and coyotes. People leave garage doors open about a foot so the cat can get to its bowl. Predators figure that out too. Those who let their cats roam that way are endangering their pets by attracting who knows what to the neighborhood.
Ellen
August 7th, 2012
1:34 pm
Please don’t let your cat roam the neighborhood. Your neighbor didn’t sign up to have to deal with your cat!
Ann
August 7th, 2012
1:43 pm
Excuse me but my cat has killed at least two copperhead snakes within my sight. No telling how many I haven’t seen. Also she has killed voles and moles which are the bane of my existence in my garden. Before I had my cat I had lost many plants to the “cute” voles. More power to my cat. She’s worth her weight in gold!
Watching You
August 7th, 2012
1:44 pm
Like ‘em or hate ‘em, if you kill an animal, you stand to serve jail time.
http://www.agr.georgia.gov/animal-cruelty-faqs.aspx
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
john
August 7th, 2012
1:46 pm
Cats do what God designed them to do, control the varmint population which in turn lets you have a garden and crops that produce food, plus, allow you to live disease free. Way better to have a cat in the house and back yard then rats and mice dropping poop in your walls and under your counters.
Roekest
August 7th, 2012
1:46 pm
I have a shoot-on-sight policy for the little buggers. My dog can haul the carcass away
D
August 7th, 2012
1:52 pm
If one of you double digit IQ rednecks shoots or poisons my cat (who would only be outside if he ran out – letting a cat run around unattended is something I don’t do) and they’re going to have a very, very, very bad day. Would it be alright if I shot your dog if found him in my yard? What about if he was barking all night long? And we wonder why the rest of the world looks at the south they way they do. Idiots.
billy bob
August 7th, 2012
1:54 pm
cats rule, dogs drool…
ClydeFrog
August 7th, 2012
2:00 pm
I’d think twice about the poisoning and shooting of cats…some cat lovers are armed as well and don’t take too kindly to that kind of activity.
In Europe a few hundred years ago people killed cats because they thought they were witches’ familiars. Guess what happened? Rat populations grew out of control and the fleas they carried started the plague and wiped out a major chunk of the population. Poetic justice if you ask me….
Cats were used by early civilizations to guard food supplies from actual dangerous rodents and snakes.
You morons that want to kill cats do so at your own peril. I’ll be damned if I stand by and watch though, that’s for sure.
John
August 7th, 2012
2:03 pm
Sorry to say but this is old news. Why hasn’t something been done yet is the real question. Maybe they will do a study on that next. Dogs are leashed because they are an identifiable threat. As usual the world begins and ends at the end of a persons nose, so there has been no response to these studies since they have put them out.
Meantime, everyone should kill as many cats as they can.
DogsRule
August 7th, 2012
2:04 pm
I don’t get it why dogs are always picked up by animal control, when cats are the real nuisance. My neighborhood is overrun with these nasty creatures causing havoc and all animal control seems to care about is dogs. Besides killing birds, lizards and etc., they also like to torture dogs that are inside by flaunting their freedom and they also like to get their stupid paw prints all over my car. My dog has busted out a window because of my neighbors stupid cat hanging out in my yard waiting to eat birds at my birdfeeder. Next time I see that f-ing feline over here I’m going to release the hounds! The predator becomes the prey!
Dirty Dawg
August 7th, 2012
2:16 pm
Had a neighbor once that didn’t appreciate another neighbor’s cat, claiming that said cat was killing birds. Whether or not she actually saw the cat kill birds nobody knows. What we do know is that somehow she lured the cat into her ‘fenced’ back yard – probably with something that would have had to have drugged the cat enough to not get away from her dogs that she subsequently let out of her back door and killed the cat. And since it worked so well she did it again to another neighborhood cat a few months later. Ever know of a cat that wasn’t able to avoid a couple of dogs inside a five foot fence unless they were ‘on something’? So who’s the villain here?
Dibi
August 7th, 2012
2:17 pm
In the scientific world where “Natural Selection” is the rule, Darwin would examine the scope of the species in balance with its neighboring animals. In the world of religious absolutes where God or Allah or Buddha or the Hindi Deities rule, killing of any of their creations has consequences for the killer.
kar
August 7th, 2012
2:25 pm
Didn’t they do a similar study in Great Britain? Even though kitty is not a natural predator, they summarized that the local fauna had more or less accomondated and adjusted for feline domesticus.
ericcatman
August 7th, 2012
2:26 pm
Well, this must be true. I haven’t seen a snake or lizard in my bedroom in over 10 years.
BOBCAT4BFAST
August 7th, 2012
2:26 pm
Well that does it for me. I was always told the only good cat is a dead cat. All cats found walking around without supervision and or a leash will be dealt with accordingly. If you love your cat best keep it in doors. Sayonara Felines
Ron
August 7th, 2012
2:27 pm
Someone actually got paid for writing such a stupid article.Personally I am glad the cats killed off all the dinosaurs.
ATL
August 7th, 2012
2:27 pm
We’d be better served by exterminating half of the people on this thread.
Bad Dog
August 7th, 2012
2:28 pm
The only thing dogs do is stink, slobber, s#!% in the yard, bark, and bite. All domesticated breeds and mixed breeds should be shot on site (OK, maybe a little harsh. Just “put to sleep” instead.) God’s dogs – coyotes and wolves – are the only ones worth protecting.
Cat owners – spay and neuter your dang cats and keep them inside or under supervision outside.
Bad Dog
August 7th, 2012
2:30 pm
Hey, ATL, good idea….oh, wait…you’re talking about me….nevermind.
KJ
August 7th, 2012
2:36 pm
We have feral cats in our neighborhood. We have fixed four of them. We like bird watching. We have had chipmunks and snakes in our backyard, but no more. We have many birds killed. I am dismantling my bird feeder this week due to the cats.
Joe Bob
August 7th, 2012
2:48 pm
Cats keep the rodent and bird populations under control. There’s really no problem with that.
Leslie
August 7th, 2012
2:49 pm
Oooh. Big Bad Cats. For those birders out there one of my memories of DisneyWorld was waiting for a water ride and watching a seagull peck baby ducklings to death for food. Hawks eat other birds. Get over the cat thing. I have cats and numerous bird feeders and plenty of birds. A bird here and there falls victim to a cat but I’ve also watched a snake in a tree in my backyard catch and swallow a bright yellow finch. How many of birds fly in front of cars and sit on electrified wires? UGA needs to tie a camera around the neck of a fox and see how many snakes and birds it eats. How has drought and disease affected bird populations? Anyone studying that? Dogs are not better than cats or vice versa. They are animals that give unconditional love to those who care for them. And regarding the comment about kissing your dog or any pet, the human mouth contains worse germs than any dog or cat.
brwnesville
August 7th, 2012
2:51 pm
And still Tom was never able to get rid of Jerry
Renee T
August 7th, 2012
2:56 pm
Isn’t that what cats are supposed to do? That is how they survive if they are not “house cats”.
Kimberly Roberts r
August 7th, 2012
2:59 pm
MEAN PEOPLE SUCK!
Red
August 7th, 2012
3:00 pm
Well maybe for this part of the world but when I lived in Phoenix, AZ a cat was hard to find out in the open. The Hawks, Coyotes and Owls killed them – I saw a hawk swoop down behind a fence and carry a cat off into the wild blue yonder there. Owls grabbed them with their claws held them down pecked a hole in their skull and ate the brain then left the rest for others. If you saw a cat out on the street it was bug eyed hiding under a shrub trying to get back in the house alive.
markie mark
August 7th, 2012
3:04 pm
When I was in high school, I lived in St Simons and knew the lady whose family owned the Sargeant’s animal care product line….she was in her 80’s and retired on Sea Island. She absolutely hated cats and dogs and refused to allow any on her property or around her….maybe she knew something we didnt?
Turtle Man
August 7th, 2012
3:08 pm
meow this is awesome!
Dixie Darling
August 7th, 2012
3:09 pm
When the CAT Creatures were created and evolved, they survived through the ages because they were designed to prey. Think of the cats in the jungles (sadly many now in zoos) — the beauty of the lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, jaugers, bob cats and so on — down to the little house cats who provide protection from mice and who give companionship. Just of the long history of the feline population which began in the ages when T-Rexs once roamed and they and their like are now gone. Cats are survivors. I love my dog too but my 2 cats rule in my household.
TC
August 7th, 2012
3:09 pm
Well…I’m a stray cat..Watch out Ladies!! MEEEOOWWW!
Bernie Matt
August 7th, 2012
3:19 pm
My wife tried to run off a cat that comes in our back yard. He stalks the edges of the back yard near the woods and natural creek. I told her, “you better not run that cat away or it will be your job to keep the rodents and snakes away”. Hooray, for at least one Cat!
joann
August 7th, 2012
3:22 pm
I am a dog lover but once found this stray cat and for the life of me I could not leave it in the street. Named him Fubu and for some strange reason I cried like a baby when he died. Just goes to show if you have any kind of heart you would not mistreat or harm in any way a hapless animal not even a cat. By the way have you ever watched a cat stalk its prey——– Looks just like a lion on the hunt because aren’t they a relative of lions?
DCS
August 7th, 2012
3:41 pm
Tie a bell around your cat’s neck. Hopefully s/he’ll deign to wear it.
RobbE33
August 7th, 2012
3:53 pm
This from a university with a bulldog as it’s mascot?! Yeah, and Green Bay stole YOUR logo. Right.
Ella VonSchnauzhapfen
August 7th, 2012
4:06 pm
I live three doors down from a McDonald’s. Cats are all over the place. They eat from the dumpster and eat rats eating from the dumpster. Also, there is a lot of foot traffic walking to the McDonald’s, and that results in a lot of scraps of food on the ground.
Last week, I was mowing my lawn and I saw a large gray feral cat wearing a backpack, hoody, baggy pants and oversized headphones walking toward the McDonald’s on my street. I tried to ask him what he was doing and remind him that cats don’t normally wear these items. He hissed at me and ran under the front porch of my neighbor’s house.
GR
August 7th, 2012
4:10 pm
Neighbors have two free range cats who control our rodent population. Anytime I’ve caught them using our yard as a toilet, I’ve sprinkled cayenne pepper and they have gone elsewhere.
Gale
August 7th, 2012
4:11 pm
When I was a kid, my dad decided cats were killing off the local wildlife, so he shot a few in our back yard. This was about 45 years ago, mind you. The next season we could not keep a garden because of all the rabbits. Be careful what you wish for.
The solution is to spay/neuter your pets and keep them indoors. Kitty does not need to roam just because you may be too lazy to clean a litter box. They are predators and they will kill wildlife if allowed outside.
Tag
August 7th, 2012
4:29 pm
Isn’t that what cats do???????????
Schmitty
August 7th, 2012
4:33 pm
Mary – DOGS > CATS
You can train a dog to do many things like hunting. Dogs are loyal protecting servants. All cats do is stick their ass in the air and crap in there designated litter box which always stinks no matter what typ eof kitty litter you buy. To make this short cats are useless and pointless ass a household pet. I can hunt with my dog. What does fluffy do for you?
Antonio
August 7th, 2012
4:39 pm
@ Watching You 1:44PM…..Amen. I hope any and all of these would be “Rambos” on here who are so brave about shooting a defenseless animal that is doing what comes natural either get arrested and charged with animal cruelty. A few nights in jail, bail money, and a fine or a little prison time will make the urge to fire that .22 a little less attractive. BTW, birds eat my blackberries, and then dump on my car. Moles and voles dig trenches and tunnels in my yard. Snakes…well, we won’t even get into that. Most of these brave urban warriors would probably jump on top of their vehicle if they saw one. Shoot a cat in front of me in my neighborhood, I will video it and call the Sheriff. Happy jail time.
Jason
August 7th, 2012
4:42 pm
Nothing a sharpened 9-iron and some spare time can’t fix….
Todd Smith
August 7th, 2012
4:54 pm
Well I live out in the country of north georgia, and there are several cats that roam around, yes I see them kill frogs, mice, moles, lizards, even birds and squirrels and sometimes young rabbits, but for the life of me they really don’t seem to hurt the populations of either, just as many birds, squirrels, rabbits, lizards, frogs and mice, that there ever has been. But the one thing I have notices is very very few snakes which they take out with extreme prejudice, I have a 7 year old that roams around, so more power to them. Seems like most you cant stand nature taking it’s course. I do understand that a very very large feral population would be a problem have to be dealt with, but a few cats running around is really a good thing.
Smyrna Dog Lover
August 7th, 2012
4:57 pm
I keep a small bowl of tuna fish on my deck for the stray cats. In each piece of tuna there is an Extra Strength Tylenol. Acetaminophen is deadly for cats.
Boris Badnoff
August 7th, 2012
5:07 pm
I hate reptiles so go get ‘em kitty. Insects? I spray them with insecticide. Nothing cuter than cats.
http://cutest-cats.tumblr.com/
Everyone should own at least 6 cats.
EDinATLANTA
August 7th, 2012
5:39 pm
A primary reason I have a cat is to keep the squirrels, voles, salamanders, snakes, field mice, lizards, etc. away from the house. That’s one of the reasons they were domesticated in the first place. What an absurd study.
Barbara
August 7th, 2012
5:48 pm
Schmitty, .. “what use are cats ?”.. wait until the plaque comes to your neighborhood. … p.s. left to their own lives, cats “are” wildlife not separate from it and with the expansion of the coyotes’ territorities I’d worry about both the wild ferral cat and other wildlife.
Der Fuhrer
August 7th, 2012
6:08 pm
People carry parasites and reproduce irresponsibly.
Leave Kitty alone.
Mitch Kumstein
August 7th, 2012
6:09 pm
My cat, let’s call her “Lucy”, is a stone cold killer of the highest order. She is also very sweet and loves playing with my dogs.
I am also a former Marine who will snap the neck of anyone trying to hurt her. She is only doing what she was designed to do.
RGB
August 7th, 2012
6:56 pm
This report was from academicians who possess a shared mindset who also brought us:
1. Alarmism about man-made global warming.
2. The promise of economic growth through government spending.
3. The idea that government-run health care would reduce costs and expand access.
These eggheads need to get a life.
It’s ashamed that taxpayer dollars had to be used to finance such a study.
Expressed differently–and given the existence of marginal economics–some family lost their home due to excessive taxation because idiots at UGA wanted to “prove” that cats kill birds.
Makes be doubly glad I voted against T-SPLOST.
RGB
August 7th, 2012
6:57 pm
P.S. Snap their necks, Mitch, snap their necks.
Cats Rule!!
Peter J. Wolf
August 7th, 2012
9:00 pm
It’s disappointing to see so many news outlets swallowing in one in one gulp a press release plagued with errors, misrepresentations, and glaring omissions.
The American Bird Conservancy and The Wildlife Society claim, for example, that “bird kills constituted about 13 percent of the total wildlife kills.” Thirteen percent of HOW MANY? As the Athens Banner-Herald reported in April, “just five of the cats’ 39 successful hunts involved birds.”
That’s right: FIVE. Fifty-five cats, 2,000 hours of video—and just FIVE birds. Not so impressive when it’s put like that, is it?
And which species of birds are we talking about? Are these common? Rare? Native? Non-native? Etc. It’s curious that ABC and TWS, which claim to be concerned with the “ongoing slaughter of wildlife,” aren’t troubled by such “details.”
ABC president George Fenwick claims that “cat predation is one of the reasons why one in three American bird species are in decline.” Where’s the evidence? Certainly not in the KittyCam study!
Predators—cats included—tend to prey on the young, the old, the weak and unhealthy. At least two studies have investigated this in great detail, revealing that birds killed by cats are, on average, significantly less healthy that birds killed through non-predatory events (e.g., collisions with windows or cars).
As the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds notes: “Despite the large numbers of birds killed, there is no scientific evidence that predation by cats in gardens is having any impact on bird populations UK-wide… 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.”
Nobody claiming to have even the slightest regard for science would extrapolate from five birds killed in Athens, GA, for the purposes of developing a nationwide “estimate.” The fact that Fenwick is so willing to do so—and sell it to the public—says far more about the integrity of ABC than it does about predator-prey dynamics.
The ABC/TWS press release is just the latest installment in the long-standing witch-hunt against free-roaming cats. It’s difficult not to see it as an act of desperation—no surprise, really, from organizations whose position is supported by neither the science nor public opinion.
Peter J. Wolf
http://www.VoxFelina.com
dude
August 7th, 2012
9:23 pm
Cats are by far the best pets. Anyone that would hurt a cat should have their heads examined by a psychiatrist. The cat’s not the problem, you are.
Melaine
August 7th, 2012
10:05 pm
People that get tired of their pets and dump them in the country or on a dead end street thinking that they will be okay, think again. I am tired of finding bags of kittens or puppies and calling animal control when we have stray dogs wander into our yard. We have coyotes, foxes and wild dogs that will eat your house pet. Cats are natural predators and can fend for themselves often better than the dogs but become feral and a danger to domestic pets. Hate cats if you want but be kind to unwanted pets and adopt them out.
AZ Rattler
August 7th, 2012
10:22 pm
Ya know, we really don’t worry about loose kitties here in AZ. Where I live a loose cat’s life would be measured in hours as the desert isn’t a good place for kitty. Kitty would end up as an eagle snack, coyote snack and/or bobcat/mountain lion snack.
Lightweight Kitty Cams reveal the secret life of house cats – Los Angeles Times | Headline News Network
August 8th, 2012
12:18 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Fred
August 8th, 2012
12:54 am
Dog: a pseudo-friend for people with submission/dominance issues.
Cat: a piece of nature walking around your house.
John
August 8th, 2012
1:12 am
Who cares?
John Brewer
August 8th, 2012
7:34 am
All cats should be kept indoors at all times unless supervised. The life expectancy of outdoor cats is much shorter than indoor cats. They get diseases, run over by vehicles, shot by (mostly) well meaning landowners and killed by other animals. Outdoor cats really DO kill a lot of wildlife. Also, have your cat neutered unless you are a professional breeder. I have managed to find homes for quite a number of feral kittens, but most feral kittens suffer and die.
M.B. Edwards
August 8th, 2012
9:22 am
I was well aware of this . My house is in the woods. My wife does not like lizards and we all dont like snakes. We got a cat for just this reason. 3 months later , no lizards , snakes etc. We also have a dog, but the cat is my “franchise quarterback”.
Ron Mexico
August 8th, 2012
9:38 am
So how many people and children have cats killed? People who claim to hate/kill cats and only like dogs, probably shouldn’t have either.
bhigh
August 8th, 2012
9:40 am
I love the fact that my cats are stealthy little killers. They keep my home free of bugs, mice, and one time, a big rat. Of course I don’t let them outside, that is dangerous for the cats as well as the wild birds I enjoy.
bhigh
August 8th, 2012
9:47 am
Disney feeds and shelters semi-feral cats in its theme parks to help keep the vermin population down.
Jill
August 8th, 2012
9:50 am
Get a grip you haters. This study is an example of mis-use of statistical method. The author takes a very small sample size, comes up with some exaggerated results, and makes “newsworthy” claims. In rushes ignorant haters who love to jump on a bandwagon. I bet I could make a statistical sampling of you haters and learn the following about you:: low-level education in general, no statistical training, believes the world was created five thousand years ago, believes carrying guns makes you smarter and more patriotic. Yes I am saying you are dumb. The academic author of this study is laughing at you now. He knows writing something controversial that stirs up ignorant masses advances his career at the U of GA and his paycheck is guaranteed with tenure.
JAFOM
August 8th, 2012
9:51 am
My cat brings in prey almost every day. Birds, small rabbits, lizards, bugs, whatever she can catch. She is an adopted feral cat and as such had to hunt for survival. I’m very proud of her for being a “real” cat, as opposed to my two other cats who lie around the house all day. It’s cruel to keep a cat indoors all the time. They lead boring, dull lives. Why do you think there are so many birds, lizards and rabbits. They are below the food chain in relation to cats. They were put there to be fodder for more intelligent animals.
jojosmart
August 8th, 2012
9:52 am
If you really want to see some action, do this. Do not feed your cat at home. Keep him ouside all day an night. Give him his rabbies shots, flee collar, and occasional visit to the vet to help him survive. Then I say let cats loose and let them have at it. It’s too bad we cannot have larger cats like cougars. The larger cats could keep the deer, racoons, groundhogs, large rabbits, and larger animal population in check. I hate deer, racoons, etc. They bring ticks and all kinds of infestation to places where people dwell.
The secret life of a serial killer
August 8th, 2012
10:00 am
[...] drinking things they found (25%), exploring storm drains (20%) and entering crawl spaces (20%) Study: Cats wiping out backyard wildlife | News To Me with George Mathis He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. ~ Friedrich [...]
Jackie Greenleaf
August 8th, 2012
10:32 am
Indoor cats only. Problem solved. Their life span is much longer, they are healthier and most of all, they are safe. Cats shouldn’t be out killing wild life. I haven’t read all the comments. I’m sure this is redundant.
Mike
August 8th, 2012
10:50 am
After reading this I think I’ll put a little less in the cat’s food dish. I don’t want it to get fat. You got to love a pet that feeds itself.
Kittehs4Eva
August 8th, 2012
10:54 am
Ur next, hoomins
Akasha
August 8th, 2012
10:59 am
we’re taking over. Next, we get rid of 90% of human males and keep the rest as breeding drone. BWAHAHAHAHAHAA!
Tom
August 8th, 2012
11:01 am
All cats suffer from the lack of a certain mineral, arsenic. Be kind, give them a little (or a lot, if you are generous.)
Will Willows
August 8th, 2012
11:06 am
I guess the study missed the coyotes who are eating up everything in sight including the cats in suburban and rural neighborhoods. The foxes have moved into the hedgerow that separates my property from the bean field behind me and I see them hunting in town and on the fringes. The coyotes find them to be a tasty snack also. I have cats and dogs, they both hunt my backyard for mice and ground squirrels as they have since humans moved into caves and put out the cat at night.
Sonikqua
August 8th, 2012
11:21 am
My outdor cat is a critter killing machine. I once saw him terminate and then chow down on a full grown possum. Even the neighborhood dogs avoid him.
TampaDan
August 8th, 2012
11:24 am
We have odd standards whenit comes to our pets. If a dog was allowed to run loose by it’s owner and kill neighborhood wildlife, it would be considered aggressive, the owner fined and the dog likely put down. Letting your cat run loose is equally irresponsible.
TampaDan
August 8th, 2012
11:26 am
Jojosmart, the problem is not that wildlife shows up where people live, it’s that people move in to the wildlife habitat then whine that there is wildlife there.
Karen Rivelli
August 8th, 2012
11:59 am
Ella VonSchnauzhapfen make sure you remember this name as stating she will destroy what ever goes into her yard…..In America that’s called “Animal Abuse” even if they often eat rodens, birds, and such it’s there nature…..as in Mother Nature and it’s not nice to fool around with her………..:)
texacote
August 8th, 2012
12:07 pm
A whole bunch of posts about cats eating the fauna, and the others (and dogs) that have to live with them. No one really talked about the Fauna eating the cats. We had a problem in my neighborhood where several cats were found dismembered in peoples front yards. At first, the activity was blamed on “Cruel” teenagers. After about nine (9) cats were “shredded” on my street, we figured out that “Raptors” were the real culprit. It seems that a couple of Hawks and Owls had found cats quiet tasty. Since I didn’t have a cat, I wasn’t terribly worried, until one Hawk went after my 20lb puppy. Fortunately for me, my 40lb Border Collie took the role of protected and fought off the bird. I saw it happen. So I can only conclude that when ecosystems get out of balance, nature has a way of correcting (if given the opportunity).
Beth Chandler
August 8th, 2012
12:08 pm
This is why I don’t have cats. I like cats and used to keep them, but they are all excellent predators.
It’s just their nature. I tried belling and declawing one and it still managed to kill. I live on a farm out in the country and very much enjoy observing skinks, lizards, toads, chipmunks, birds, rabbits, turtles, and even large insects like cicadas go about their business WITHOUT being molested by cats. I am mystified by people who call themselves “animal lovers” and also rescue stray cats.
Suzy
August 8th, 2012
12:13 pm
During the Middle Ages people would hunt and killed stray cats. It was during this time that there was a boom in the rat population. These same rats introduced the Black Plague into major cities in Europe.
Cats eat pigeons. I hate pigeons, but they eat the spiders that invade my houses. I also hate spiders, but they eat mosquitoes.All animals serve a purpose. (What purpose does the mosquito have?)
Karen Rivelli
August 8th, 2012
12:16 pm
I think it’s very disturbing what so many are writing on this that it’s like a “Third World Country” where they eat dog and kill coons while alive for there fur. At best what I have read is a steady diet of disturbed individuals that have no common concept for the greater good of Human kind. If the shoe’s were turned and the animals got to choose which one of you do you think would be destroyed first? It’s a shame – this is why there is so much animal abuse everywhere…..I am very sadden to read this, and we call this America the land of the “Free”……
Hickory Doc
August 8th, 2012
1:25 pm
Cats are here so kids with slingshots and pellet guns will have their first moving targets. I trap, shot, kill every cat I can. Neutered cats are still a problem. Dead cats are not. And cats killing wildlife is not “part of nature.” House cats do not belong in this environment. Lease laws for cats now!!! I think I’ll go outside with some tuna and bait for the new neighbor’s cat I just saw stalking my bird feeder. Here kitty kitty.
Woodsman
August 8th, 2012
2:13 pm
Licensing and laws do nothing to curb the problem. If cats are required to be licensed then cat-lovers just stop putting collars on their cats, as they did by me. And they won’t even bother getting them micro-chipped, especially not that. They want absolutely nothing that can hold them legally responsible, liable, and accountable for the actions of their cats. We’re not talking about the topmost responsible citizens of the world, you know. They don’t want that responsibility of what their cat has done coming back on them. If they had even one iota of a sense of responsibility and respect for all other lives on this planet we wouldn’t even be having these discussions.
On the other hand, I found something that DOES work and works well. It’s the ONLY thing that works. Where I live cat-lovers quickly learned that, collar or not, their cats get shot on-sight no matter what. Simple as that. 100% effective. Love ‘em or lose ‘em!
They either learn to stop getting more cats that die under the wheels of cars, from animal attacks, rat-poisons under people’s steps, or antifreeze in a gutter or someone’s garage; OR they finally learn how to be a responsible pet owner, respectful neighbor, and learn to keep their deadly-disease spreading, native wildlife destroying, invasive species animal under confined supervision, as it should be. Win win win all around. You can either destroy their cat for them humanely, or let their lack of concern for their cat cause it to inevitably die inhumanely. Your choice. By destroying their cat humanely for them you are actually showing them that you care more about their cat than even they do. They don’t care one bit how their cat might cruelly suffer to death if they let it roam free. Humanly destroy their cat for them before that can happen under their lack of care and concern. No matter HOW an outdoor cat dies, that is the fault of the person that let it roam free. Make no mistake about that. And they can easily be charged with all laws that define animal-neglect, animal-abandonment, and animal-endangerment. They can also be fined and convicted under all invasive-species laws.
You can’t train a cat to stay home but I found that, in time, you CAN train a cat-owner into being a responsible pet-owner and a respectable neighbor. Most of them are so phenomenally stupid, disrespectful, and criminally irresponsible though that you have to make at least 12-15 of their cats permanently disappear before they even start to figure out what they’ve been doing wrong all during their sorry, useless, and pathetic lives.
Beth Chandler
August 8th, 2012
2:19 pm
Human intervention has unbalanced natural populations in many species, but especially in the number of cats. There are too many cats. One can love cats and still recognize that they enjoy unnatural selection benefits by being companion animals to humans. I hope that every so-called “animal lover” posting on here has neutered their cats. I hope that you keep them confined to your own house and yard rather than letting them roam the neighborhood. And I also caution you not to do what was done in Athens, where this study was conducted. Feral cats were trapped, neutered at the vet school, then released back into the wild. This was done to sooth local cat lovers who wouldn’t adopt them, (too many cats already) but also vociferously objected to their euthanasia.
Woodsman
August 8th, 2012
2:22 pm
The law in the USA is that it is perfectly legal to destroy any animal, someone’s pet or not, that is threatening the health, well-being, and safety of yourself, your family, your animals, or even your property. Also true even in most densely populated cities, firearms laws permitting, if not then 700-1200fps air-rifles are commonly used. The only animals exempt from you taking immediate action, legally, are those listed on endangered or threatened species lists, and any bird species under protection of MBTA (the Migratory Bird Treaty Act). Even then variances can be given should there be sufficient problem but this requires further study by authorities. Since cats are listed in the TOP 40 WORST invasive-species of the world in the “Global Invasive Species Database” (www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=24&fr=1&sts=sss), this means they have no protection whatsoever from being shot on sight, they are not on any protected-species list anywhere in the world. Quite the opposite as a matter of fact. And if your area enforces and obeys invasive-species laws — as they should — then it is against the law to NOT destroy any cat on sight, someone’s pet or not. It is your civic and moral responsibility to destroy any invasive-species that is found away from supervised confinement and roaming freely in a non-native habitat.
Shoot to maim is punishable under the laws that define animal-cruelty. But shoot to kill is a perfectly legal way to humanely destroy an animal. The same laws that apply to methods of humanely hunting animals also applies to cats. Unlike cat-lovers’ psychotic beliefs, the reality is that a cat is just another animal. It’s NOT their baby, their child, their offspring. Even if they do view their cats that way, letting them roam free is no less criminally irresponsible than them telling their child to go play in the freeway and then blaming the cars for their child’s death. If they let their cat roam free, NO MATTER HOW IT DIES, that is THEIR fault and they can be charged with all laws that clearly define animal-neglect, animal-abandonment, and animal-endangerment.
In fact, here’s a publication from a study done by the University of Nebraska on the best ways to HUMANELY deal with a feral-cat problem wherever you live. This documentation INCLUDES the best firearms, ammo, and air-rifles required to HUMANELY destroy cats. deenawinter.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/ec1781.pdf
Besides, what difference does it make if the cat gets shot or ran over by a car, attacked by another cat or animal, drowned, or poisoned by plants animals or chemicals (inexpensive 1-adult-strength generic acetaminophen pain-relievers gaining in popularity, for being so species specific). The result is the same. The cause is the same — the fault of the criminally irresponsible pet-owner that let their invasive-species pet roam free. They’ve already proved that their animal is 100% expendable. You can either destroy their cat for them humanely, or let their lack of care cause it to inevitably die inhumanely. They don’t care one bit how their cat might cruelly suffer to death if they let it roam free. Humanely destroy their cat for them before that can happen.
University Of Georgia Research Shows Cats Spend Their Nights Killing Small …
August 8th, 2012
10:31 pm
[...] additionally noted males were some-more approaching to rivet in “risk behavior” than womanlike cats [...]
Jimbo
August 9th, 2012
4:39 pm
Every week, there’s a new “cat missing” sign at the entrance to my subdivison. Two doors away, my neighbor’s cat was killed by a coyote a year ago in her driveway and one of my neighbors will not walk her dog along the river trail in my backyard as the coyotes attacked one of her dogs. Seems like if one predator gets an advantage, another comes along to get things back in check. You need some coyotes in Athens, then replace them will wolves, then prides of lions, then …..hood rats???
Sibyll Gilbert
August 9th, 2012
5:23 pm
Spay/Neuter of feral cat colonies is a waste of effort and money. That is the conclusion drawn from long term studies. Just trap and euthanize. Sorry, but that is effective. Coyotes are also effective.
People just need to neuter their pets, and keep their pet cats indoors. That measure protects the owners and neighbors from toxoplasmosis.
Jimbo
August 9th, 2012
6:53 pm
Every week a cat disappears in our subdivision. We have coyotes who killed a neighbor’s cat in her driveway. Our neighbors quit walking their dogs along the river trail in my backyard as the dogs were attacked but did survive. Seems like a predator that gets an advantage soon has another predator on their case. Athens needs to import some coyotes, then they can get wolves and later bring in prides of lions. After that, the hood rats will clean house. Nature works wonders.