Would you keep your cat indoors during the bird nesting season.

[JoeS]

Our cat lives indoors anyway, she's 11 and has no desire to venture outside apart from when we're doing a bbq or some gardening, as soon as she gets her paws wet she's straight back in again like a shot.

[Berlin]

I don't have a cat.

[El Robbo]

Well if that floats your boat then so be it,but I'm not keen on going out into our small garden on a spring morning with my two and a half year old daughter to find half a Blackbird with its entrails splattered all over the place.

 

That's actually a very good way to teach them the basics of biology at an early age

[Bigthumb]

I have 2 cats and under no circumstances would I lock them in to stop them from doing what nature intended thats the circle of life

I have had moles birds mice frogs toads even a baby rabbit courtesy of my bengal:hihi::hihi:

 

We have a greyhound which seems to delight in killing cats. It is as you say all part of nature.

[HarmOKnee]

My 11 year old cat doesn't go out much & when she does she's only interested in chasing other cats out of our garden. She's only ever brought 1 bird home but didn't kill it & it was able to fly off unharmed.

[pem123]

We have a greyhound which seems to delight in killing cats. It is as you say all part of nature.

 

:hihi::hihi:

[horribleblob]

I have 2 cats and under no circumstances would I lock them in to stop them from doing what nature intended thats the circle of life

I have had moles birds mice frogs toads even a baby rabbit courtesy of my bengal:hihi::hihi:

 

It's arguable whether or not the domestic cat, let alone the sheer number of them, is entirely 'what nature intended'. In the past month I've had to clean up the half-eaten carcasses of 3 pigeons from the garden (and I don't even have a cat). However, isn't it the case that grey squirrels are just as much a danger to nesting birds as they raid the nests for eggs?

[foxy lady]

However, isn't it the case that grey squirrels are just as much a danger to nesting birds as they raid the nests for eggs?

 

 

I wonder if this is an urban myth. I have a garden that is alive with songbirds and squirrels. They seem to get on very well, often eating side by side on the bird table. The same cannot be said for the magpies which regularly attack smaller birds.

 

My experience would suggest that a squirrel might take an egg if it was starving, but as there is plently of natural food as well as fat balls, nut & seed feeders, nothing is starving and harmony is maintained.

 

As there are no cats round here our biggest problem is sparrowhawks. But this is a natural predator and just keeps nature in balance.

[liza D]

My cats are not allowed out at night so are not around first thing in the morning when most birds are out looking for food.

[horribleblob]

I wonder if this is an urban myth. I have a garden that is alive with songbirds and squirrels. They seem to get on very well, often eating side by side on the bird table. The same cannot be said for the magpies which regularly attack smaller birds.

 

My experience would suggest that a squirrel might take an egg if it was starving, but as there is plently of natural food as well as fat balls, nut & seed feeders, nothing is starving and harmony is maintained.

 

As there are no cats round here our biggest problem is sparrowhawks. But this is a natural predator and just keeps nature in balance.

 

Yes, you could be right about the 'urban myth', although I think the RSPB is currently researching this, and, as you say, magpies are a factor.

 

Even here in town, I've seen hawks dropping out of the sky to pluck a young sparrow off the lawn with stunning precision.

 

One thing I've noticed is lots more finches around this year