I know far more about feral cats than you do alex
I have taken care of them for years
And I stand by what I say

People are the problem.
!!!!! Not the cats.  If you want to objectify your hatred against cats because it is convenient to do so. Go ahead

I love birds just as much as you do. But to hate cats is not the solution

Educate people.

Mona
------Original Message------
From: Alexander Burdo
To: Mona at home email
Cc: Ct bird lst
Sent: Nov 30, 2011 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Feral cats

How do you know that, Mona? Feral cats are second only to collisions with windows in the toll they take annually on bird populations with feral cats being responsible for an estimated 500 MILLION bird deaths here in the US every single year. Do you follow each and every cat around day and night to see what they are eating or surgically go into their stomachs to find out what the contents are?

Feral cats are killers, nonnative and not necessary here. I hate to see 500 million of the organisms I love most of all, the ones that bring myself and many others around me countless hours of enjoyment and happiness, dying every year from something that is so easily preventable.

To learn more about feral cats and bird mortality click here:
http://www.sibleyguides.com/wp-content/uploads/Bird_mortality_chart.jpg

or here: http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/index.html

Alex Burdo
Fairfield
On Nov 30, 2011, at 6:50 PM, mcavallero1@comcast.net wrote:

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

" Feral cats are second only to collisions with windows in the toll they
take annually on bird populations"

I think we should do something about those windows...

Mona is right.  People are the problem.

Mark

On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 7:33 PM, mcavallero1@comcast.net wrote:

--
Mark S. Szantyr
80 Bicknell Road #9
Ashford, CT 06278
1-860-487-9766

Feral cats decimate native wildlife - especially wild birds - they are non-native predators. While people who release cats may have caused the problem, the cats are the ones doing the killing. The logic that cats aren't a problem because there may be even worse problems is akin to saying "factories pollute more than automobiles, so automobile pollution shouldn't be addressed."  http://ctaudubon.blogspot.com/2011/03/cats-are-birds-no-1-enemy.html  Even PETA, for goodness sake, opposes TNR programs.  This is not "hatred of cats," but simple observation and fact-based research.  To deny that feral cats hunt is to simply anthropomorphize feral cats.

Practical suggestions for dealing with the cat that started these posts?... Have you asked the owner to have the cat wear a collar with a bell?  That could be a decent solution, if he's not completely intransigent.  Maybe you can take a picture of the cat if it craps in your yard (or collect the evidence) and insist that Animal Control cite the owner for allowing their cat to damage your property? While the lack of Connecticut roaming laws applying to cats prevents you from legally using a Hav-a-Hart to trap the neighbor's cat and remove it from your own property, the picture and/or evidence might help with the locals. Better yet, take a picture of the cat in the tree and call the State, because hunting owls is illegal, right? And the owner is allowing their animal to do just that. You might get some help from state wildlife officers.  Keep an ongoing document of the situation that you can provide authorities.

Finally, if a feral wanders on to your property, you are completely within your legal rights to catch it and remove it. Some will claim to "own" feral cats, but they have no legal standing. (Though finding a shelter that will take it is a bigger problem .)

From: ctbirds-bounces@lists.ctbirding.org on behalf of Mark Szantyr
Sent: Wed 11/30/2011 9:39 PM
To: mcavallero1@comcast.net
Cc: Ct bird lst
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Feral cats

" Feral cats are second only to collisions with windows in the toll they
take annually on bird populations"

I think we should do something about those windows...

Mona is right.  People are the problem.

Mark

On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 7:33 PM, mcavallero1@comcast.net wrote:

--
Mark S. Szantyr
80 Bicknell Road #9
Ashford, CT 06278
1-860-487-9766

This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org

I lived in a densely populated area of Meriden for 10 years and fed birds with 4 feed stations. Cats were everywhere. I felt a little guilty attracting birds to the yard but needed to see those downys, wrens, chickadees and cardinals. In the 10 years on Terrace Gardens I only saw a single cardinal carcass outside my basement walk-out door. But yeah, I know cats feed on birds. My brother-in-law's Maine Coon brought a flicker to the door once. That was a sad day. And that cat was mostly a house cat.

I thought Andy's response to Mona was just wrong. To ask if she's ever been the stomach of a cat was 7th-grade humor. I felt like asking if he actually counted those half-million birds supposedly taken out by rogue felines. And to refer to birds as orgnaisms was actually funny. Who does that?

Okay....I feel better now. Cats are what we make them. Birds have to be faster. :)

Joe

--- On Wed, 11/30/11, Grimm, Chris chris.grimm@globepequot.com wrote:

From: Grimm, Chris chris.grimm@globepequot.com
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Feral cats & the original cat issue that started this
To:
Cc: "Ct bird lst" ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org
Date: Wednesday, November 30, 2011, 11:51 PM

Feral cats decimate native wildlife - especially wild birds - they are non-native predators. While people who release cats may have caused the problem, the cats are the ones doing the killing. The logic that cats aren't a problem because there may be even worse problems is akin to saying "factories pollute more than automobiles, so automobile pollution shouldn't be addressed."  http://ctaudubon.blogspot.com/2011/03/cats-are-birds-no-1-enemy.html  Even PETA, for goodness sake, opposes TNR programs.  This is not "hatred of cats," but simple observation and fact-based research.  To deny that feral cats hunt is to simply anthropomorphize feral cats.

Practical suggestions for dealing with the cat that started these posts?... Have you asked the owner to have the cat wear a collar with a bell?  That could be a decent solution, if he's not completely intransigent.  Maybe you can take a picture of the cat if it craps in your yard (or collect the evidence) and insist that Animal Control cite the owner for allowing their cat to damage your property? While the lack of Connecticut roaming laws applying to cats prevents you from legally using a Hav-a-Hart to trap the neighbor's cat and remove it from your own property, the picture and/or evidence might help with the locals. Better yet, take a picture of the cat in the tree and call the State, because hunting owls is illegal, right? And the owner is allowing their animal to do just that. You might get some help from state wildlife officers.  Keep an ongoing document of the situation that you can provide authorities.

Finally, if a feral wanders on to your property, you are completely within your legal rights to catch it and remove it. Some will claim to "own" feral cats, but they have no legal standing. (Though finding a shelter that will take it is a bigger problem .)

From: ctbirds-bounces@lists.ctbirding.org on behalf of Mark Szantyr
Sent: Wed 11/30/2011 9:39 PM
To: mcavallero1@comcast.net
Cc: Ct bird lst
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Feral cats

" Feral cats are second only to collisions with windows in the toll they
take annually on bird populations"

I think we should do something about those windows...

Mona is right.  People are the problem.

Mark

On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 7:33 PM, mcavallero1@comcast.net wrote:

--
Mark S. Szantyr
80 Bicknell Road #9
Ashford, CT 06278
1-860-487-9766

This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org

This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org