From: robgood@bestweb.net   
      
   On Wednesday, August 26, 2020 at 11:20:39 PM UTC-4, bil...@shaw.ca wrote:   
   > On Wednesday, August 26, 2020 at 12:59:28 PM UTC-7, Questor wrote:   
   > > On Tue, 25 Aug 2020 18:43:04 -0400, Boron Elgar    
   wrote:   
   > > >Can we paint the cats black, too? They get billion of US birds   
   > > >annually.   
   > >   
   > > I just don't buy this at all.   
   > >   
   > > I've looked at a couple of these studies. A recent one was only based on   
   > > several other studies. They looked at those studies -- some decades old --   
   and   
   > > revised the estimates given based on their own assessment. In other words,   
   it   
   > > was estimates all the way down. (After all, how can you measure such a   
   thing?)   
   > > I note also that these studies are touted by conservancy and birding   
   groups --   
   > > hardly unbiased sources.   
   > >   
   > > The numbers don't add up either. There are about 95 million pet cats in the   
   > > U.S. The number of feral cats is estimated at 60 to 75 million. Taking the   
   > > high number, there are about 170 million cats in the U.S. For each billion   
   > > birds supposedly killed, every cat must kill about six birds a year. But   
   there   
   > > are tens of millions of indoor cats, or cats like ours, which although she   
   goes   
   > > outside every day, hasn't gotten a bird in many years. This raises the   
   average   
   > > for all the other cats. In order to reach the three to four billion dead   
   birds   
   > > suggested by some studies, every bird-killing cat must kill somewhere   
   between 25   
   > > to 35 birds every year. That simply doesn't comport with my experience of   
   pet   
   > > cats.   
   > >   
   > > I was raised in community that could be catergorized as largely rural.   
   There   
   > > was lots of small game, and in warmer weather our cats roamed outside   
   freely.   
   > > And yet they rarely caught any birds. Their kills were mostly rodents and   
   > > rabbits. (And as far as I know, they never caught an adult rabbit. It was   
   only   
   > > juveniles, particularly during rabbit population spikes.) They simply did   
   not   
   > > catch anywhere near one bird every two weeks -- or more frequently, if you   
   > > factor in the winter months.   
   > >   
   > > I don't believe this claim about "billions" of birds killed by cats every   
   year.   
   > > It simply doesn't match what I've observed over decades of owning cats.   
   > Feral cats might be significant bird killers, but I agree with you that   
   > pet cats usually are not. Only one of the three or four cats I have been   
   > owned by ever brought home a bird. We got a little bell to hang from her   
   > collar and she never got another bird. I think and hope that most cat   
   > owners would respond similarly.   
   >   
   > bill   
      
   I'll never get over Old Tommy's wide-eyed look when the bird that'd been   
   playing dead took off from his paws.  Grampa Nick and I laughed.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)