Here is an article that goes deeper into the specifics of the animals
killed, and includes a link to the actual study:
http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/130129.html
"Native species make up the majority of the birds preyed upon by cats.
On average, only 33 percent of bird prey items identified to species
were non-native species in 10 studies. Studies of mammals in suburban
and rural areas found that 75–100 percent of mammalian prey were
native mice, shrews, voles, squirrels, and rabbits, all of which serve
as food sources for birds of prey such as hawks, owls, and eagles."
--
Ron Payne
Middlebury, VT
On Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:27:29 -0500, Jane Stein <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Reading down to very near the end of this alarming-sounding article, it
> turns out that what they're calling "wildlife" is rodents-- "mice,
> shrews, voles, squirrels and rabbits." No doubt cats kill other
> small mammals from time to time, but not enough to have made their
> list.
>
> Maybe they treasure their mice and voles in the U.K. and consider
> them wildlife, but I sure don't, I consider them a destructive pain
> in the ***. The only bird species they mention is robins. All these
> species are very far from being decimated. They're thriving.
>
> When the article says, "the large magnitude of wildlife mortality
> caused by cat predation," it sounds scary as heck, but we need to
> keep in perspective what they're actually talking about. I for one
> have no problem with a "large magnitude of wildlife mortality" when
> it comes to rodents.
>
> We humans and our developments are by far the greatest perpetrator of
> wildlife mortality on the planet, and not just mice and voles.
>
> Jane
> (Shoreham)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 1/29/2013 3:50 PM, Lynette Reep wrote:
> > Wow, doing more than wanton habitat destruction ("development") to
> > decimate wildlife in the US? That is amazing.
> >
> > Lynette Reep
> >
> > Quoting v_t_frost <[log in to unmask]>:
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> >> 29 January 2013 Last updated at 11:25 ETShare this page
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> >>
> >> Cats killing billions of animals in the US
> >> By Rebecca MorelleScience reporter, BBC World ServiceFeline friend
> >> or feline fiend?
> >> Continue reading the main storyRelated Stories
> >> Cat parasite 'is killing otters'
> >> Cats tagged in bird killing study
> >> Time for cats to have curfews?Listen
> >>
> >> Cats are one of the top threats to US wildlife, killing billions of
> >> animals each year, a study suggests.
> >> The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between
> >> 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.
> >> Writing in Nature Communications, the scientists said stray and
> >> feral cats were the worst offenders.
> >> However, they added that pet cats also played a role and that owners
> >> should do more to reduce their impact.
> >> The authors concluded that more animals are dying at the claws of
> >> cats in the United States than in road accidents, collisions with
> >> buildings or poisonings.
> >> The domestic cat's killer instinct of has been well documented on
> >> many islands around the world.
> >> Felines accompanying their human companions have gone on to decimate
> >> local wildlife, and they have been blamed for the global extinction of
> >> 33 species.
> >> But their impact on mainland areas has been harder to chart.
> >> To find out more, researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation
> >> Biology Institute (SCBI) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service carried
> >> out a review of studies that had previously looked at the predatory
> >> prowess of cats.
> >> Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
> >> Our study suggests that they are the top threat to US wildlife”
> >> Dr Pete MarraSCBI
> >> Their analysis revealed that the cat killings were much higher than
> >> previous studies had suggested: they found that they had killed more
> >> than four times as many birds as has been previously estimated.
> >> Birds native to the US, such as the American Robin, were most at
> >> risk, and mice, shrews, voles, squirrels and rabbits were the mammals
> >> most likely to be killed.
> >> Dr Pete Marra from the SCBI said: "Our study suggests that they are
> >> the top threat to US wildlife."
> >> The team said that "un-owned" cats, which they classified as strays,
> >> feral cats and farm cats, were killing about three times as many
> >> animals as pet cats, but that their owners could do more to limit the
> >> impact.
> >> Dr Marra said: "We hope that the large amount of wildlife mortality
> >> indicated by our research convinces some cat owners to keep their cats
> >> indoors and that it alerts policymakers, wildlife managers and
> >> scientists to the large magnitude of wildlife mortality caused by cat
> >> predation."
> >> A spokeswoman for the UK's animal welfare charity the RSPCA said
> >> that a properly fitted collar and bell could reduce a cat's success
> >> when hunting by at least a third.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Posted by Veer Frost, Passumpsic
> >
> >
> > -----
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>
