A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity The Bird Lovers Forum Cats can HELP with birding!

I love cats.

I love my cat too but she keeps murdering my birds.

Yes that can be a problem. I'm sorry, Sheri.
I really meant I love cat antics.

Surprisingly, most birders are avid cat lovers and keep cats as pets.

my cat is a killer. She will sit for hours and not move watching. We've put 2 collars on her with bells but she gets them off. We use the kind with velcro so she doesn't end up hanging herself.

My cat, Taboo will charge the feeder when she knows a bird is on the opposite side and can't see her. It's hard for the birds to tell which direction she's coming from and they'll sometimes try to escape towards her.

My cats are currently collar-less, having escaped from theirs, but I'm putting collars on my Kroger shopping list for tonight. The bell's do give the birds a better chance.

Don't forget the Morning Song Peanut Suet and the Big K Colas, Terry!

I LOVE coke! But coke doesn't like me, so I don't buy it very often.

As for the suet cakes, I much prefer the Terry's Peanut Butter Bird seed suet cakes that I have in my freezer. I just put out a new cake yesterday.

Taboo: Oh look Taffy, it's a Dark-eyed Junco!!!

Why would anyone who loves birds have outdoor cats?? Especially "bird killer" cats?? Cats are the #1 killer of song birds.

Surprisingly, Thistle, cats are the number one pet of choice among birders. I JUST got a kitten just this week myself. We just make a strong effort to keep our cats as INDOOR cats. So far, my kitten is terrified of the outside. He is staying inside and playing with our very friendly dog and our two friendly lop-eared rabbits. The four of them are getting along very well together. The birds are quite HAPPY with this arrangement so far.

Thistle, I'm allergic to cats. I put on my garden gloves to hold and rub my kitty and still have a problem with allergies. That's why she has to be outside. We didnt buy her. She was put out as a new baby at a dumbster where my husband eats lunch. It was last summer and they had opened the back door and he could here her crying. He listened for several days until he went and took a look and there she was. He brought back cat food and one of the waitresses said she'd feed her but she was too little for cat food so he brought her home. We kept her on the back porch until I could barely breath but by that time she was old enough to eat on her own and we put her outside.

I adore cats and am a cat lover. I have 2 beautiful 9 year old indoor cats. But, I also just adore my birds and from what I see of my neighbors 2 cats stalking around my bird feeders and trying to catch them, it really upsets me. When a hawk comes and chases the birds I know that is "nature", it has to eat to survive and has babies to feed. But, a cat that is a pet, is killing birds just for sport, not to eat.

Even though it's terrible it's still nature I guess. I don't know how to keep her from doing it. If you have any ideas I'll sure try them.

Cats are the only animals, other than man, that kill for sport. But they also kill for food, too.

You know, on one nature forum here in Oz, some members were getting quite cranky with others for even having cats (I know that you aren't doing that, Thistle!). But what they forgot was that it is we humans who do the most damage to wildlife, rather than cats.

isn't that the saddest thing Stevie. We're the most intellegent and the most destructive.

Yes, and when someone behaving badly is said to be an animal, it's an insult to animals; humans are capable of much worse.

I absolutely agree about humans being the most destructive. If my neighbor wants to have outdoor cats that is her right, however, I feel it infringes on my rights and that is what upsets me. Because, when I am home I am constantly yelling at them to go home, watching for them to get too close to the feeders. I have lost my sense of tranquility when I am enjoying the serenity of my yard. I hope I don't sound "cranky", I am just saddened by the changes in my environment.

How many cats does your neighbor have? I think our cat wonders around too. Our neighbors have cats though so I don't know that they mind if one more is in their yard. Our neighbor has dogs they let out every evening too. That does get on my nerves because I'm sort of afraid of them since the almost attack the other week. We don't let our dogs out without supervision but once in a while Porter will go into their yard but I always go get him immediately. It's only when he decides to run away for some reason. Someone has a cocker spaniel that must escape occasionally because he'll show up in our yard. I don't mind him. He's too cute.

Sorry, I just went back and read that you said your neighbor has 2 cats.

Do you live in a neighborhood in a city? Do cities have laws about cats being outside?

You are right, thistle, it is a pain when other people's cats come into your yard. If you can give them a good squirt with the hose it may discourage them. We had a similar problem, where a cat was coming into our yard all the time. One night I waited on the garage roof, and gave it a good bath when it came near. Never saw that one in our yard again.

I've heard about doing that too stevie. They're smart and will learn to stay away.