I get no pleasure from saying, "I told you so."
...
This morning, as I was leaving for work, I heard a terrible commotion of squawking jays. And sure enough, what I had been dreading had come to pass.
The feral cats had killed one of the fledgling scrub jays. The parents were freaking out, and swooping at the cat, who had the limp bird in his jaws. I was on the verge of tears.
Damn it.
I knew that this was going to happen.
I am a pathologically tender hearted person. I deplore any form of killing, haven't eaten meat in twenty five years, and am staunchly opposed to war. But I am not such an idealist to think that I can change nature. Even if I stuff the feral cats with kibble until they waddle, they'll still be ambush predators. And young birds will be inexperienced and naiive.
I feel like a murderer.
(Robb did manage to catch Cardigan and put a particularly jangly bell around his neck. Maybe that will slow his hunting down just a little bit. Maybe.)
Update: The very next morning, the cats killed another of the fledglings.
Further Update: Cardigan managed to get the collar wrapped around his shoulder and torso, and ripped off the bell. Sleeves won't let us get close enough to touch his neck. I've taken to hanging out in the back yard with a garden hose. I squirt the cats when they get too close to the jays.
There is still one baby left.
This morning, as I was leaving for work, I heard a terrible commotion of squawking jays. And sure enough, what I had been dreading had come to pass.
The feral cats had killed one of the fledgling scrub jays. The parents were freaking out, and swooping at the cat, who had the limp bird in his jaws. I was on the verge of tears.
Damn it.
I knew that this was going to happen.
I am a pathologically tender hearted person. I deplore any form of killing, haven't eaten meat in twenty five years, and am staunchly opposed to war. But I am not such an idealist to think that I can change nature. Even if I stuff the feral cats with kibble until they waddle, they'll still be ambush predators. And young birds will be inexperienced and naiive.
I feel like a murderer.
(Robb did manage to catch Cardigan and put a particularly jangly bell around his neck. Maybe that will slow his hunting down just a little bit. Maybe.)
Update: The very next morning, the cats killed another of the fledglings.
Further Update: Cardigan managed to get the collar wrapped around his shoulder and torso, and ripped off the bell. Sleeves won't let us get close enough to touch his neck. I've taken to hanging out in the back yard with a garden hose. I squirt the cats when they get too close to the jays.
There is still one baby left.
Comments
Jays are tough birds, no doubt about it. And I love them ... most of the time. I've seen scrub jays tearing into bushtit nests, with the intention of making a meal of the babies.
But, on the other hand, domestic cats are non-native, and are a real menace to our native wildlife. The statistics on the numbers of birds killed by housecats is sobering.
Unfortunately, these two feral cats can't seem to find enough comfort with humans (or bladder control) to live inside. I don't know what happened to Sleeves, but he's completely petrified of all people.
So, the slaughter continues.
Have you considered confining the boys to a screened-in cat porch, maybe just for the few weeks it takes the babies to fledge? It is a tough call. I too feel like a murderer luring birds to my yard and to their death. Unfortunately cats are particularly adept predators, I'll bet Cardigan learns to hunt with his new bell quickly.
colls
In addition to not eating my snails, some mean poop-factory completely buried one of my young tomato plants in the process of burying a turd yesterday. Dead plant. Mean cat. I've jerry-rigged cages out of dry forsythia branches and string around the most vulnerable ones now, but that'll probably just keep the cats from eating the snails off them.
Annalisa
Still, if tender-heartedness is a pathology, then I hope it becomes an epidemic.
I'm thinking our city was thinking about having an ordinance where people were not allowed to let their cats roam the neighborhoods. That wouldn't work in the country, though.
I would have your cats microchipped, though, in case one is injured or for some other reason taken to a shelter, the shelter or vet will scan the chip and know who the cat belongs too. Although not all vets have scanners.