GC.SUL@forsythe.stanford.edu (Sullivan) (12/04/89)
After moving to a rural area 4 years ago, I slowly began to appreciate all the birds in the area. I was, as a city dweller, mainly uninterested in birds. Since then, I have put up feeders and attracted numerous small seed-eating birds (so far unidentified) and large coveys of California Quail. I even started a small nursery devoted to propagation of plants to attract hummingbirds. This quickly led to conflicts because my neighbors were feeding upwards of 20 to 30 cats. AFter a certain point I had had enough of sick kittens, cat shit and bird carcasses in my yard. As the county laws said it was legal to humanely trap cats in my yard, and turn them over to the humane society-this is what I started doing. As this IS a group for bird-lovers, I am somewhat mystified by those posters who advocate letting their cats roam free to deficate in their neighbors yard and kill neighborhood birds. What are they doing reading this group anyway? Mikki Barry writes, "cats are entitled to roam on your property.......it seems pretty strange to me that one can advocate protecting one species of animals (birds)while promoting killing another"(cats) I don't see how someone can be so blind and hypocritical. How can she be outraged by someone shooting cats, and then turn a blind eye to all the birds cats kill? Lets face it, native bird populations have to contend with shrinking habitats, pesticides and other toxic chemicals, car kills, etc. Predation by FERAL AND DOMESTICATED cats is significant-and at least something responsible pet owners and animal lovers have CONTROL over. K. Sullivan