Cats are really bad for native wildlife

This is true. I have two cats and both are kept indoors. Over the couple score times one has slipped through the door, she has brought home two shrews and a vole. I know many cat lovers don't see it, but a fed house cat or urban feral is to the local garden/sub-urban ecology as a fleet of trawlers on the Grand Banks. At least the fishermen are subject to regulation.
 
Too bad many well-meaning cat owners think that a cat should be given the freedom to roam outdoors at their leisure and not remain cooped up in a house for their entire life.

There are more than 20 million cats in Australia - one for each person! It has been estimated that each can can kill 1,000 animals per year, meaning that feral cats alone in Australia potentially kill 20 billion animals a year - the small, vulnerable mammals and birds. Indeed cats have caused a few species to go extinct here in Oz and are putting immense pressure on other species.
 
75 million native animals every single night in Australia alone. Yet our government's insist on destroying the only predators that actively hunt cats.
 
In my neighborhood if your Domestic Cat is out too long a Bobcat, Coyote, or Red Fox is bound to catch it before it can do any major damage. Domestic Cats do cause a huge problem but most government will never make any restrictions as people just love their cats way too much. I do plan on owning a cat one day but my plan is to build an indoor exhibit-type thing with hiding, climbing, and resting places.

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
In my neighborhood if your Domestic Cat is out too long a Bobcat, Coyote, or Red Fox is bound to catch it before it can do any major damage.
~Thylo:cool:
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Here in Australia I have always shot all feral cats I see. When I was in the US I was surprised that most people liked feral cats and would never kill one. I suppose it is due to all the predators which eat feral cats meaning they can never survive and breed enough to become a problem like they are here.
 
Monty said:
Here in Australia I have always shot all feral cats I see. When I was in the US I was surprised that most people liked feral cats and would never kill one. I suppose it is due to all the predators which eat feral cats meaning they can never survive and breed enough to become a problem like they are here.
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Feral cats are a huge problem in the U.S. in terms of native wildlife death. It's true that some get picked off by predators but there are still massive numbers of them with ecosystem-level effects. The pro-cat lobby is constantly fighting with birders, ecologists, and others who recognize that these cats are really bad for the ecosystem and should be removed if intact native wildlife populations are to be protected.
 
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Monty said:
Here in Australia I have always shot all feral cats I see. When I was in the US I was surprised that most people liked feral cats and would never kill one. I suppose it is due to all the predators which eat feral cats meaning they can never survive and breed enough to become a problem like they are here.
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Yes I was merely talking about my area. Elsewhere Domestic Cats are a huge problem!

~Thylo:cool:
 
It's just been realized recently and just pointed out to me that sightings of Eastern Chipmunks have been rare for several years (I had a large population outside my house but then a cat appeared...) and no one has spotted an Eastern Grey Squirrel since over the summer in several towns. I may be that my area isn't as feral cat proof as I thought:(

~Thylo:cool:
 
If you look at the thread(s) about the Scottish wild cat, you will see that the main threat to them is hybridisation with feral moggies.
If my fairy godmother ever granted me three wishes I would strongly consider sterilising every specimen of Felis domesticus and turning any human who took a dog on to a nature reserve into the appropriate local species of toad :D

Alan
 
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