It seems like this is just narrative based judgment. Everyone is all about how reintroduced wolves are so great for XYZ because predators do so many good things for environments and prey dynamics but cats in the environment are bad for ABC and they kill all the birds, etc.
Most of the places which aren’t islands had predators in roughly the housecat niche before human civilization and many of those are lost.
I think it’s just the opposition by agriculture for wolves and the fact that people aren’t as affectionate for their prey which makes the “wolves good” narrative and people like birds and feel good about blaming humans so there’s “cats bad” narrative.
It probably doesn’t matter, your suburban cats are killing birds in a habitat that humans already destroyed by putting a suburb there.
If you want to make a difference to offset some cat activity plant native pollinator friendly plants and trees and shrubs that bear fruit for birds. You’ll make much more difference building habitat than complaining into the void.
There's a lot going on here to try and avoid the statement that introducing predators to a given area's biome changes the balance of things.
This is especially true when you prop up that predator's existence by feeding it (and not letting its population remain harmonious with available food supply/prey).
> This is especially true when you prop up that predator's existence by feeding it (and not letting its population remain harmonious with available food supply/prey).
Yeeeeeeah but that’s true of all human cultivation of animals, including bees, cows, and tilapia. I mean I’m also not sure what you’re getting at with the feeding of cats thing. I don’t know anybody that’s like hardcore pro-feral cat. Most people just have an indoor cat which kills 0-1 birds/year and feed it cat food.
But anyway to my interpretation of the Op’s point. Who cares how many birds die when (if you’re like me - Canadian Geese) they’re getting run over by cars and starving to death and can’t replenish their numbers because their nesting grounds were turned into a parking lot? This problem, like sooooo many others stem from our terrible relationship with nature and inability to admit we already know how to build towns and cities in harmony with nature and we don’t need to invent crap like highways or suburbs.
Should be. But cats get loose. Some escape. Calamity ensues. The primary issue is probably not house cats but our destruction of natural habitats. Ducks can’t land and swim on top of a Starbucks.
>you prop up that predator's existence by feeding it
... and constrain its population by neutering it, and reduce its hunting behavior by keeping it inside most of the time.
Cats are native to North America. Animals in North America have evolved to avoid cats. This is not some island in the Pacific Ocean which forms the only habitat for a rare flightless bird with no natural fear of felines.
I live in a dense suburb of Providence which is surrounded by roads and buildings for miles in every direction. There are cats running all over the neighborhood, which is very cute and fun to watch. I do not own a cat and never have.
You know what else this place is full of? Squirrels, rabbits, and several colors of loud-ass birds. Apparently the cats aren't quite the slaughter machines they're made out to be.
Now, I would absolutely agree that if you live in a "wild" rural area, especially in or near a wetland/high altitude/island ecosystem, you need to keep the cats inside. But in a city, full of animals that have co-evolved with humans and their pets for centuries and in some cases millenia? Give me a break.
Most of the places which aren’t islands had predators in roughly the housecat niche before human civilization and many of those are lost.
I think it’s just the opposition by agriculture for wolves and the fact that people aren’t as affectionate for their prey which makes the “wolves good” narrative and people like birds and feel good about blaming humans so there’s “cats bad” narrative.
It probably doesn’t matter, your suburban cats are killing birds in a habitat that humans already destroyed by putting a suburb there.
If you want to make a difference to offset some cat activity plant native pollinator friendly plants and trees and shrubs that bear fruit for birds. You’ll make much more difference building habitat than complaining into the void.