Comedy Channel’s Jon Stewart, one of my faves, took on the “real” Sophie’s Choice: cats vs. birds, on The Daily Show last night. In this clever segment, reporter Aasif Mandvi tries to get to the bottom of the eternal conflict between cats and birds. (direct link: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-july-11-2011/sophie-s-choice—cats-vs–birds)
Yet within the comedy, there are a few serious points that I’d like to call out:
Cat predation on birds. Yes, outdoor and feral cats kill a lot of birds. But birds are not cats’ primary prey. Cats kill far more rodents (and in my house, moths and bugs!) than birds. Bird advocates predictably and consistent exaggerate the actual impact of cats on the bird population, exactly as the one in this clip did. Actual scientific studies don’t support those numbers. Many other animals kill birds as well, such hawks (even in the heart of the city!) and foxes. There has indeed been a decline in the bird population, particularly songbirds, but the largest contributor is not cats but habitat destruction and fragmentation (which disrupts songbird migration patterns), pollution, and other man-made causes, parasites and disease, and competition from other “immigrant” species such as starlings. (See this paper from Stanford University for a more factual review.)
However, his point about keeping cats indoors is certainly a good one–not only for the safety of birds, but for cats’ sake as well. (See our article on Indoors vs. Outdoors for more information.)
Hunting is a hard-wired instinct that must be satisfied. Cats are born to hunt; all that playful stalking and pouncing that so delights us in kittens has a deadly serious purpose for the adult: survival. As Jackson Galaxy shows in the Daily Show clip, interactive play redirects the cat’s prey drive into an acceptable outlet: the toy. (The best interactive toy? There’s no contest–give your cat Da Bird!) Regular “play therapy” will prevent and solve an unbelievable proportion of feline behavior problems. (See our article on Play Therapy for more information.) Providing a more satisfying diet in the form of wet food (e.g., canned, homemade, or raw) may also satiate the emotional needs of our feline “Super-Predators.”
Cats need help! Feral cats have a hard life. Contrary to what Mr. Compassion from the Bird Conservancy advocates, it’s unnecessary and cruel to capture and “remove” (by which he means slaughter) every stray and feral cat. Alley Cat Allies is a great friend to cats; please support this wonderful non-profit organization!
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I appreciate your words on this controversy. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and it’s coming up in the novel I’m reading. In Freedom by Jonathon Frazen, as you are saying, it talks about the source problem as habitat, not cats. Also crows and raccoons prey on small birds too. I love songbirds too, but I also always wondered how on earth some people get their numbers about exactly how many birds per year are killed by cats. It must take a rather elaborate study to prove those numbers and control for the hundreds of variables involved.
Good point! Most people don’t really get how many wild animals live in cities, and how the cycles of nature continue to work even in that environment. Skunks, raccoons, weasels, foxes, coyotes, crows, ravens, gulls, owls, and hawks (kestrels, sharp-shinned, and Coopers’ hawks all live in my Denver neighborhood) will all take a songbird if they can. Mostly, the bird folks’ numbers come from guessing, or extrapolating from a very small sample. The Stanford article (I think I put a link to it in the article, links are in red with this program) goes into detail about how the bird people get their numbers; it’s pretty interesting, but also frustrating! The guy in the Jon Stewart clip did say “100s of millions” instead of the usual whacko “1 billion” a lot of them claim, but he still missed the point completely that cats are not the major component of bird mortality.