Why kill THAT bird?

On Mar 20, 10:49*pm, "dejablues" wrote:
"dgk" wrote in message

...



On Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:54:18 -0400, "cybercat"
wrote:

"dgk" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:48:51 -0400, "cybercat"
wrote:

"dgk" wrote
I really don't think the bell is very practical. One came with the
collars and was annoying enough (three cats) for me to remove it.
Their collars stay on all the time because their name tag and RF
tracker is on them. So, in the house it just makes too much noise. To
save one cardinal every six years is just too much noise pollution. I
figure lots get fat on my bird seed so the +/- ratio is still way up
there.

I've watched Espy's hunting technique. He hides under the Azalea which
is about 6 feet from the bird feeder.

Dude. Move the feeders out of the fenced in area.

Not practical. The fenced in area is the small backyard. I can't put
up a bird feeder in a neighbor's yard, nor could I easily get there to
put in food. There's also a heated bird bath to contend with.

Well then get used to seeing birds buy it. It's a matter of priorities,
right?

Right. I like letting my cats have some outdoor time and they sure
seem to like it. I try to do this when the bird feeder is empty but
most of the time they're yowling to go out and there is still seed
left. The birds take off when I bang on the door and are quite aware
of the cats.

But they come back.
Birds are hungry, all year round. They know where seed might be found,
whether or not you were felt like providing it.



I've been feeding birds and letting the cats out for maybe ten years.
I think three birds have been killed. That's really a pretty low ratio
I'd say. Considering I go through 20 lbs ( 9 kg) of seed a week, I
think I save a huge number of birds during the winter.

They also have killed three or four birds during all the months that I
don't have the bird feeder going. I'm not keeping them inside all the
time just because they might kill a bird. They're cats, that's what
they do.

Oh well.
What you posted shows that you are pretty clueless about the behavior of
cats and birds.

We love cats but really don't like birds, to put it mildly; we also
have a feeder
bowl for squirrels in a place impossible for the cats to get to. We
don't care if
any birds fight the squirrels to sneak a bit of nuts from the squirrel
bowl.
It did not require rocket science to make this arrangement. The cats
do seem
to sense and be aware that their outdoor recreation area is actually
three stories
above the ground, which matters not to the birds and/or squirrels
above the
deck out of reach of the cats.
I do believe the OP can figure something out to avoid birds being
wasted, as in
"offed", not literally.