Many cat owners believe that their pet cannot possibly have a significant impact on local wildlife just because it hunts. However, the cumulative devastation of cat attacks on wildlife is substantial. Many species are in danger due to habitat loss. Predation by our house cats is yet one more hardship we humans impose on wild animals already struggling to survive.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects native birds from being killed or kept by people. Any person who willfully allows his or her cat to injure or kill migratory birds is, in effect, in violation of this federal law. Although this may seem like an extreme interpretation of the law, the sport hunting of wild animals by our well-fed pets is a waste of life and destructive of the natural balance necessary for a healthy and biologically diverse ecosystem.

• WHEN ARE BIRDS MOST VULNERABLE?

At anytime during the nesting season (March - October) both adults and young birds are at risk. Adults are harried with nesting duties and trying to defend their young. Often the female bird is caught while brooding her young on the nest. If the nestlings are not killed with the mother, they will starve to death. Fledgling birds–young birds that are unable to fly well–are also at great risk. All birds are at risk at night any time of the year. Except for nocturnal birds such as owls, most birds have night blindness and if surprised while sleeping are virtually helpless to escape a cat attack. Birds are also vulnerable at birdbaths and feeders if there is low vegetation nearby in which a cat can hide.

Cat predation accounts for most of the admissions to many wildlife centers. “Caught by cat” out-numbers car collisions, window collisions, oil spills, pesticide poisoning, tree felling and all other miscellaneous causes of injury.

Unfortunately, the prognosis for recovery of cat attack victims is poor: typically less than 10% - 20% survive. Necropsies of cat attack victims admitted to wildlife centers reveal massive internal hemorrhaging and soft tissue damage from crushing bite and puncture wounds, even when external damage appears negligible. Even small puncture wounds expose the victim to over 60 types of bacteria and pathogens know to exist in cat saliva. Now may be the time to change your pets’ outdoor habits.

• Cat Facts

HOUSE CAT PREDATION OF OUR NATIVE WILDLIFE

Consider these studies:

• Researchers studying 70 cats in a small English village estimated that pet cats in England were responsible for killing 70 million native animals, including 20 million wild birds.

• In a study of radio-collared farm cats in Wisconsin, researchers Stanley Temple and John Coleman estimated that each year cats kill at least nineteen million songbirds and 140,000 game birds in the state of Wisconsin.

• A researcher at Point Reyes Bird Observatory in California, noting that there are approximately 55 million cats in the U.S., of which 44 are permitted outdoors, suggested that the toll may be as high as 4.4 million songbirds each day.

• Cat predation can also negatively impact our native predators, especially raptors such as hawks and owls. An Illinois study concluded that cats were taking 5.5 million rodents and 2.4 billion invertebrates from a 26,000 square mile area. This action effectively depleted the prey base necessary to sustain wintering raptors and other native predators.

• Answers to commonly asked questions:

Q. Isn’t hunting a natural instinct for my cat?

A. While it may be instinctive for them to hunt, house cats are not a native species to North America. They cause imbalances in the ecology of an area by killing so many native wild animals. Since free-roaming cats are moving in an ecosystem at anytime of the day or night, they have an advantage over native wild predators that tend to be either nocturnal, diurnal or crepuscular. Because their population numbers are artificially large due to being kept as pets, cats are far more numerous than natural selection would normally allow other native predator species to be, such as the bobcat or fox. Predators are supposed to be rare, not abundant, in an ecosystem.

Q. Will putting a bell on my cat’s collar help?

A. Probably not. Most birds do not instinctively associate the sound of a bell with a predator. Some neighborhood adult birds may learn that the bell sound from the local cat represents danger, assuming that they escaped the initial attack. Young birds and birds migrating through your yard will still be at risk. Also, many cats are able to stalk silently in spite of the bells on their collars.

Q. Are well-fed cats less of a threat?

A. No. Hunting is instinctive and even well-fed cats will hunt. A well-fed pet is apt to be more fit, and thus a more successful hunter, than a feral cat, which hunts to survive.

Q. My cat just helps keep my garden free of field mice (chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, woodchucks, etc.). How can this be harmful?

A. In suburban and rural areas, the prey base for raptors such as hawks and owls may be depleted. A study in Maryland found that Cooper’s Hawks which depended heavily on chipmunks to feed their nestlings, were forced to prey upon songbirds as the chipmunks were eradicated. Not only did this put additional pressure on the songbird population, but because of increased hunting time and increased difficulty in catching songbirds as opposed to chipmunks, the hawks’ nesting survival rates suffered. The Coopers Hawk is considered endangered in New Jersey.

Q. Is there any way to protect birds at a feeder or birdbath?

A. Provide escape cover with brush piles and thorny shrubbery for the birds to fly to for protection. Keep the ground clear under the feeder and birdbath so that cats are unable to hide and ambush the birds attracted to the feeder and the birdbath.

Q. My cat is used to roaming the outdoors and drives me crazy to be let outside. Can I train him to stay indoors?

A. It may be difficult, but not impossible, to break an adult cat of the urge to roam outdoors. Let your cat out as infrequently as possible, and gradually increase its stay indoors. When your cat is out, keep it confined to your yard and your observation. Spaying and neutering your pet will also curb the urge to roam. It is always best not to let your cat roam. A kitten who is not allowed to roam will not expect to roam as an adult. Cats that do not go outside have a longer life expectancy and fewer illnesses and injuries than cats that roam.