[TN-Bird] Fw: cats are predators...but
- From: jreese5@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 22:46:31 -0600
Carol Reese
Ornamental Horticulture Specialist -Western District
University of Tennessee Extension Service
605 Airways Blvd.
Jackson TN 38301
731 425 4721 email jreese5@xxxxxxx
----- Forwarded by Joan C Reese/ADAG/WEST/EXT/UTIA on 12/17/2002 10:45 PM
-----
Joan C Reese
To: tn-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
12/17/2002 10:33 cc:
PM Subject: cats are
predators(Document link: Joan C
Reese)
Carol Reese
Ornamental Horticulture Specialist -Western District
University of Tennessee Extension Service
605 Airways Blvd.
Jackson TN 38301
731 425 4721 email jreese5@xxxxxxx
I hear a lot of opinion about cats being serious predators, but I have yet
to see any real data that backs this up. Quail have had a great deal of
genuinely scientific study to discover their predators. If you go online
and type in quail and predators, you will read that the most serious
predator of adult quail is the Cooper's hawk. In fact, some articles
speculated that the laws protecting raptors were part of the problem with
diminishing quail populations. Owls were also a serious predator of adult
quail, and then the mammals followed. Domestic or feral cats were rarely if
ever mentioned in these studies as a problem. If you read about nest
predation, turns out snakes are the worst in some places, raccoons in
others. Opossums, armadillos, skunks, rats, were high on the list and fox
and wildcat fell in there eventually. Coyotes were rarely problems, and
again, domestic cats weren't cited as a problem In fact, in one study in
Georgia, where management had decided to kill/remove the major predators on
quail, the cotton rat population soared as a result, and they became the
primary predator on quail nests. Cats would have helped out there, with the
rat population, huh?
I even found one article where someone made a serious proposal to start a
program of poisoning Cooper's hawks to help improve the quail population!
The argument might be made that quail are not in as close proximity to
heavy cat populations as some other species, but most common suburban bird
species are thriving, apparently adapting well to living with humans and
their cats.
My cats do kill 3 or 4 birds a year at my house - the old, the sick, the
stupid. It is evolution at work. Heck, we've gotten rid of the cougar, the
wolf, the bear, and damn near run off the fox and the wildcat. That is why
we have too many deer. Deer and birds are prey animals to many other
species. The real threat to wildlife is too many @%^*&!#* humans, and
their enterprises.
I hope I haven't fanned a flame, but likely I have. I know when I read that
line about Terry's cat, I didn't cringe. Of the several bird chatters I
know personally on this line, the majority have outside cats, intact with
teeth and claws. No offense to the Florida guide, I'm sure his heart is in
the right place, but then, so is mine...
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