Cats kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds every year in the
United States, according to a new study.
Credit: Emily Krieger
15 comments:
Bianca :)
said...
Among all the dangers; windows, poising, human, etc...I never thought cats would be the biggest danger for birds. It is surprising how cats who seems so innocent can be killing between 1.4 and 3.7 billion cats every year (and that is only in the US :O ) It is fascinating that feral and pet cats are responsible for most of the bird deaths, I would think it would be the wild cats causing the most trouble. Wow! Cats are killing machines! Not only do they kill billions of birds they also kill billions of wild animals (like rats) I never knew that hunting habits of cats could be based off of the time spent outside. I never thought there would be this big of a problem that is caused by cats. Would it be more dangerous to keep the cat out for a longer period of time or a shorter period of time? (Based on the hunting habits, like if they kill more or are more agressive) Does having more than one cat affect the hunting habits?
By the way, the reason why the why I said everything seems a little weird is because I was writing it as a read and wrote the things down directly after I read them...(Just giving you a heads up)
I never knew that cats eat so many birds and mice! I used to really want a cat, but now I'm not sure that I want one if every time I let it out I have to watch it every second to make sure it doesn't try to "play" with mice. Bianca, I think it would be more dangerous to keep the cat out for a longer time unattended, because that is more time to track down birds and mice and kill them. However, keeping your cat inside all the time isn't good either because he/she will grow restless and might attack you! Lions like to hunt in packs. If you have two cats, they might want to hunt together like lions. This article was very interesting. I rate it an A-.
Okay...so yeah...this is a bit upsetting, but, ya know. Cats are odd creatures, but hunting is a natural part of their life. They need to eat meat if they wanna be healthy, and when they are outdoors, they want to kill prey. The thing that is a bit weird is that they kill so many animals, yet a lot of people have dogs, and most of the cats are people's pets. I know that my cat, Emily, wouldn't pass up the chance to kill something. She's and indoor cat who pretends like she wants to go outside, but when she does, she freaks out. But, if she sees a fly, she definitely will want to kill it. Oddly enough, she doesn't want to eat the bug, it's just the killing. I think that that proves that the really the only reason why cats do this is because it is part of their nature. If they really wanted to stop this, they should just make a toy that essentially has "a life". If they could make one where cats could play with it, it would pretend to die, then later it would come "back to life" again, then cats might not kill so many animals. I totally disagree with idea that they should make it so that cats can't reproduce. Cats have to reproduce, if we want to keep having them as pets. Again, it's part of their nature and we shouldn't be stepping in just because we don't like another part of their nature, killing animals. Sure, we don't like to hear that so many animals are dying, but it's natural. They have to do it. We haven't heard that mice or birds have gone extinct yet, and there are a lot of them left. Just the fact that cats can kill 20.7 billion mice, that just tells us that there are a lot of them, and cats have the right to be cats. I know that it's sad, it makes me a bit sad, but it natural for a cat to kill its prey.
I never would've thought that cats were the biggest threat for birds!!! I mean, when I think of cats, I think of cute fluff balls! Not killing machines! Now, whenever I see a cat I can freak my mom out by saying "Don't upset the cat. He/she might try to kill you!" Haha. Overall, I give this article an A-.
This is a really interesting article. My cats were orphaned and feral, until an organization rescued them. We then adopted them, but it's taken about 7 years for my cats to get used to my family, and they still haven't gotten used to my dad. The article states that feral cats cause the most deaths of birds in the US, however my cats were feral, and they don't really like to "hunt" anything, such as toys around our house. I agree with you Sammie; I didn't know that cats killed and in some cases, ate so many birds and mice! My cats don't like to go outside, and one of my cats, Sophie, rarely ever comes out from under my parents' bed. It's interesting how cats can be so vicious, yet so shy, like my cats. This comment basically sounds like I'm just talking about my cats, right? Well, I think that the main point that I'm trying to make is that I really didn't know, like I said before, and cats were so vicious, and can be so timid when around certain people, or things. And it's pretty obvious I love cats, right? :)
That was kind of interesting. To me, it would be pretty obvious that a lot of cats kill birds, but I was surprised when I saw how many. At least one and a half billion birds killed by cats every year is a lot! I'm sure that this changes all of Earth's ecosystem. Cats also hunt a lot. It is amazing that they kill seven billion other mammals. Cats really effect all of Earth, and it was interesting to know how.
I agree with Nick and Izzy. I agree with Nick because he said that cats by themselves, can really change Earth this article taught us how. They like to kill and eat (in some cases) birds, and not only birds, mice, etc.!!!! This is horrible. But then again, like Izzy said, this is completely their way of life!! :0! If you are going to do something to cats that could change everyones life (make them stop reproducing) then before you do that, you should think. Think about how you would feel if that happened to you! Would you like it so you can't have babies? Well I know it sounds awkward, but isn't that why we are alive? To make the human race larger and to experience making it bigger? Well if you were a parent (sorry if this is awkward :) ) would you like it if all of a sudden you didn't have children because you couldn't? Well I understand if you have a house cat, you don't want them having babies all over the house, but for wild cats, they might kill birds, and that is bad, but making them stop reproducing is probably even worse! See what I am saying?
It is their way of life, like Izzy said, and we should respect them. Why are they giving their love to birds? Why not the cats? This is sad, but what can we do? :(
I agree with Nick and Izzy. I agree with Nick because he said that cats by themselves, can really change Earth this article taught us how. They like to kill and eat (in some cases) birds, and not only birds, mice, etc.!!!! This is horrible. But then again, like Izzy said, this is completely their way of life!! :0! If you are going to do something to cats that could change everyones life (make them stop reproducing) then before you do that, you should think. Think about how you would feel if that happened to you! Would you like it so you can't have babies? Well I know it sounds awkward, but isn't that why we are alive? To make the human race larger and to experience making it bigger? Well if you were a parent (sorry if this is awkward :) ) would you like it if all of a sudden you didn't have children because you couldn't? Well I understand if you have a house cat, you don't want them having babies all over the house, but for wild cats, they might kill birds, and that is bad, but making them stop reproducing is probably even worse! See what I am saying?
It is their way of life, like Izzy said, and we should respect them. Why are they giving their love to birds? Why not the cats? This is sad, but what can we do? :(
I had no idea cats killed that many birds! In the article people were trying to find solutions to stop the cats from killing, but I have a different approach. What if cats killing was meant to be happening? What if cats are controlling the population of mammals, and if we stopped cats from killing we would have too many animals? If those billions of animals every year didn't die, there would be a lot of animals on earth. Would that harm us? Or maybe I'm wrong and the cats killing animals is wrong.
I never believed that cats would be the biggest killing machine for birds. But I look at this and say, "So what?". It is called the food chain. Cats eat birds, Birds eat bugs. There really isn't anything that you could do about it. Now if the cats didn't really eat the birds, that is different. What I am wondering, is if the cats are house, or wild cats. Maybe it is because the cats are hungry. Overall, this was a very interesting article.
This is why I'm not a cat person. It's amazing how one little creature can kill a bird. It's like a devil is inside them. Muahahahaha! It might be the species because the first cats were things like sabortooth cats that were just meant to kill their prey. This might be the reasoning of a minimized sabortooth. They should make a kitty jail. It just amazes me how they are killing machines. Overall, a big kitty krime (you see what I did there)
I sort of saw that coming. When I was in Australia this summer, there was a cat that would kill about two or three cats about every week or so. I think that because birds are basically all over, cat find them to be a big and easy target for "play and snack time". Many people have cats as pets, and they usually live outside. Since a lot of people have trees in their front/back yard, their cats tend to want to eat the birds that are in the trees. I think that cats just enjoy the killing part in the hunting, and a lot of the time, wont eat what they killed, so maybe, to stop this, they could make a robot rat that looked exactly like a real rat. Since the cats can't really see color, it will be easier to make the toy. Overall, I think that cats do pose a great threat to birds and rats, but it doesn't affect the amount of birds because there are so many. (I also think that cats basically only kill the birds that are pests, and ones that there are a lot of, because birds like eagles, will be the ones killing the cats. And the rare birds are kept safe from cats.)
I knew that cats like to chase birds, but I would have never guessed they were the biggest threat to birds. I guess it makes sense. Cats are natural born hunters. Even the most tame will have at least some instinct to kill. Rats, birds, mice, and tons of other animals are killed every day. My friend's cat even kills dragonflies.
15 comments:
Among all the dangers; windows, poising, human, etc...I never thought cats would be the biggest danger for birds. It is surprising how cats who seems so innocent can be killing between 1.4 and 3.7 billion cats every year (and that is only in the US :O ) It is fascinating that feral and pet cats are responsible for most of the bird deaths, I would think it would be the wild cats causing the most trouble. Wow! Cats are killing machines! Not only do they kill billions of birds they also kill billions of wild animals (like rats) I never knew that hunting habits of cats could be based off of the time spent outside. I never thought there would be this big of a problem that is caused by cats.
Would it be more dangerous to keep the cat out for a longer period of time or a shorter period of time? (Based on the hunting habits, like if they kill more or are more agressive) Does having more than one cat affect the hunting habits?
By the way, the reason why the why I said everything seems a little weird is because I was writing it as a read and wrote the things down directly after I read them...(Just giving you a heads up)
I never knew that cats eat so many birds and mice! I used to really want a cat, but now I'm not sure that I want one if every time I let it out I have to watch it every second to make sure it doesn't try to "play" with mice.
Bianca, I think it would be more dangerous to keep the cat out for a longer time unattended, because that is more time to track down birds and mice and kill them. However, keeping your cat inside all the time isn't good either because he/she will grow restless and might attack you!
Lions like to hunt in packs. If you have two cats, they might want to hunt together like lions.
This article was very interesting. I rate it an A-.
Okay...so yeah...this is a bit upsetting, but, ya know. Cats are odd creatures, but hunting is a natural part of their life. They need to eat meat if they wanna be healthy, and when they are outdoors, they want to kill prey. The thing that is a bit weird is that they kill so many animals, yet a lot of people have dogs, and most of the cats are people's pets. I know that my cat, Emily, wouldn't pass up the chance to kill something. She's and indoor cat who pretends like she wants to go outside, but when she does, she freaks out. But, if she sees a fly, she definitely will want to kill it. Oddly enough, she doesn't want to eat the bug, it's just the killing. I think that that proves that the really the only reason why cats do this is because it is part of their nature. If they really wanted to stop this, they should just make a toy that essentially has "a life". If they could make one where cats could play with it, it would pretend to die, then later it would come "back to life" again, then cats might not kill so many animals. I totally disagree with idea that they should make it so that cats can't reproduce. Cats have to reproduce, if we want to keep having them as pets. Again, it's part of their nature and we shouldn't be stepping in just because we don't like another part of their nature, killing animals. Sure, we don't like to hear that so many animals are dying, but it's natural. They have to do it. We haven't heard that mice or birds have gone extinct yet, and there are a lot of them left. Just the fact that cats can kill 20.7 billion mice, that just tells us that there are a lot of them, and cats have the right to be cats. I know that it's sad, it makes me a bit sad, but it natural for a cat to kill its prey.
I never would've thought that cats were the biggest threat for birds!!! I mean, when I think of cats, I think of cute fluff balls! Not killing machines! Now, whenever I see a cat I can freak my mom out by saying "Don't upset the cat. He/she might try to kill you!" Haha. Overall, I give this article an A-.
This is a really interesting article. My cats were orphaned and feral, until an organization rescued them. We then adopted them, but it's taken about 7 years for my cats to get used to my family, and they still haven't gotten used to my dad. The article states that feral cats cause the most deaths of birds in the US, however my cats were feral, and they don't really like to "hunt" anything, such as toys around our house. I agree with you Sammie; I didn't know that cats killed and in some cases, ate so many birds and mice! My cats don't like to go outside, and one of my cats, Sophie, rarely ever comes out from under my parents' bed. It's interesting how cats can be so vicious, yet so shy, like my cats. This comment basically sounds like I'm just talking about my cats, right? Well, I think that the main point that I'm trying to make is that I really didn't know, like I said before, and cats were so vicious, and can be so timid when around certain people, or things.
And it's pretty obvious I love cats, right? :)
That was kind of interesting. To me, it would be pretty obvious that a lot of cats kill birds, but I was surprised when I saw how many. At least one and a half billion birds killed by cats every year is a lot! I'm sure that this changes all of Earth's ecosystem. Cats also hunt a lot. It is amazing that they kill seven billion other mammals. Cats really effect all of Earth, and it was interesting to know how.
I agree with Nick and Izzy.
I agree with Nick because he said that cats by themselves, can really change Earth this article taught us how. They like to kill and eat (in some cases) birds, and not only birds, mice, etc.!!!! This is horrible.
But then again, like Izzy said, this is completely their way of life!! :0! If you are going to do something to cats that could change everyones life (make them stop reproducing) then before you do that, you should think. Think about how you would feel if that happened to you! Would you like it so you can't have babies? Well I know it sounds awkward, but isn't that why we are alive? To make the human race larger and to experience making it bigger? Well if you were a parent (sorry if this is awkward :) ) would you like it if all of a sudden you didn't have children because you couldn't?
Well I understand if you have a house cat, you don't want them having babies all over the house, but for wild cats, they might kill birds, and that is bad, but making them stop reproducing is probably even worse! See what I am saying?
It is their way of life, like Izzy said, and we should respect them. Why are they giving their love to birds? Why not the cats? This is sad, but what can we do? :(
I agree with Nick and Izzy.
I agree with Nick because he said that cats by themselves, can really change Earth this article taught us how. They like to kill and eat (in some cases) birds, and not only birds, mice, etc.!!!! This is horrible.
But then again, like Izzy said, this is completely their way of life!! :0! If you are going to do something to cats that could change everyones life (make them stop reproducing) then before you do that, you should think. Think about how you would feel if that happened to you! Would you like it so you can't have babies? Well I know it sounds awkward, but isn't that why we are alive? To make the human race larger and to experience making it bigger? Well if you were a parent (sorry if this is awkward :) ) would you like it if all of a sudden you didn't have children because you couldn't?
Well I understand if you have a house cat, you don't want them having babies all over the house, but for wild cats, they might kill birds, and that is bad, but making them stop reproducing is probably even worse! See what I am saying?
It is their way of life, like Izzy said, and we should respect them. Why are they giving their love to birds? Why not the cats? This is sad, but what can we do? :(
I had no idea cats killed that many birds! In the article people were trying to find solutions to stop the cats from killing, but I have a different approach. What if cats killing was meant to be happening? What if cats are controlling the population of mammals, and if we stopped cats from killing we would have too many animals? If those billions of animals every year didn't die, there would be a lot of animals on earth. Would that harm us? Or maybe I'm wrong and the cats killing animals is wrong.
I never believed that cats would be the biggest killing machine for birds. But I look at this and say, "So what?". It is called the food chain. Cats eat birds, Birds eat bugs. There really isn't anything that you could do about it. Now if the cats didn't really eat the birds, that is different. What I am wondering, is if the cats are house, or wild cats. Maybe it is because the cats are hungry. Overall, this was a very interesting article.
This is why I'm not a cat person. It's amazing how one little creature can kill a bird. It's like a devil is inside them. Muahahahaha! It might be the species because the first cats were things like sabortooth cats that were just meant to kill their prey. This might be the reasoning of a minimized sabortooth. They should make a kitty jail. It just amazes me how they are killing machines. Overall, a big kitty krime (you see what I did there)
I sort of saw that coming. When I was in Australia this summer, there was a cat that would kill about two or three cats about every week or so. I think that because birds are basically all over, cat find them to be a big and easy target for "play and snack time". Many people have cats as pets, and they usually live outside. Since a lot of people have trees in their front/back yard, their cats tend to want to eat the birds that are in the trees. I think that cats just enjoy the killing part in the hunting, and a lot of the time, wont eat what they killed, so maybe, to stop this, they could make a robot rat that looked exactly like a real rat. Since the cats can't really see color, it will be easier to make the toy. Overall, I think that cats do pose a great threat to birds and rats, but it doesn't affect the amount of birds because there are so many. (I also think that cats basically only kill the birds that are pests, and ones that there are a lot of, because birds like eagles, will be the ones killing the cats. And the rare birds are kept safe from cats.)
the comment above is mine! :D
-Chloe <3 (twihard)
I knew that cats like to chase birds, but I would have never guessed they were the biggest threat to birds.
I guess it makes sense. Cats are natural born hunters. Even the most tame will have at least some instinct to kill. Rats, birds, mice, and tons of other animals are killed every day. My friend's cat even kills dragonflies.
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