According to Mr Packham:
"Sixty million songbirds are killed every year by cats. If cats were kept in at night, predation would be cut by 50 per cent."
He even manages to get a bit political:
Since New Labour came to power, between a third and two thirds of our cuckoos, swifts, pied and spotted flycatchers, nightingales, turtle doves and wood warblers have vanished from these shores
I assume he knows what he is talking about.
I don't understand this nation's obsession with cats. I am not a great cat lover, and anyway I am very badly allergic to them. I am certainly not a fan of cat owners who pretend that "he never goes on the table/bedroom/kitchen counter". I have been tempted in the past to say "Mind if I do a poo in a tray on your kitchen floor, tread in it and then walk on the dining table?"
A far better way of keeping felines is to follow the good advice of the long-established website, Bonsai-Kitten. It's clean, efficient, space-saving, non-allergenic and fun!
4 comments:
Ha ha the alley cat is the best !
I see you're also fed up with cats.
The apologists for cats say that they're only doing what comes natural by killing all our garden birds. But surely 7 cats in my little row of houses is way above ' natural'. Cyclops Brown should be persuaded by a Joanna Lumley type to make cats wear a bell or something to at least give the birds a fighting chance.
Does anyone know how to keep cats out of gardens ? The neighbours cats keep digging up my veg/ flowers etc. I've got a pellet gun but couldn't handle the neighbours fury if I was caught shooting their cats. I've tried those sonic devices etc. Hopeless.
On KFC. Yuch. Way too greasy. And it's going halal aswell now so, like Subways , are off my list of junk food shops to visit.
I enjoy reading your blog and have it in my bookmarks now. I think you and 'subrosa' would make a nice couple ; )
Thank you anon for your kind words. Please come back and comment again when you want to.
Thanks for dropping by again Ruth.
Never seen a cat with a half dead bird in its mouth?
Ruth
I'm not too keen on dogs either. All that mess to clean up. Erk.
There may be no empirical data on the number of birds killed by cats but it must be pretty high. I see about 3 birds killed each season so there must be more killed when I'm at work etc. Multiply that by 20 million gardens and common sense says we're getting near to 60 million. Plus it's distressing hearing the cries of the mother as the bird is used as a plaything by the cat. Surely it's not too much to ask that cats have a collar and a bell. It would give the birds a bit more warning of an attack.
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