Forget Libya: Birds are Being Decimated by Cats!

Mar. 21, 2011

By Dan Hoffman info

Dan grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He went to college in western Massachusetts. He can be reached at ...

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Cats, famous throughout history because of the Egyptians and the website LOLCats.com, are coming under fire. A new study published in The Journal of Ornithology found that in the Washington D.C area, the number one cause of bird mortality was kitty predation. In fact, it has gotten so drastic that certain species of birds are having trouble replacing their numbers. Those kitties are misbehavin’.

Is this stray Bushwick cat a menace to the ecosystem?

Wind turbines, a more eco-friendly source of power, are commonly pointed to as problematic for bird life. But these devices, although they might slice birds in half, account for only 440,000 bird deaths each year, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, whereas kitties account for 500 millions bird deaths each year, according to the American Bird Conservatory (ABC).

Is this kitty misbehavin’ when she roams the streets?

In other words, our innocent love of cats is fucking up the environment more than some of our man-made machines. “[Kitties] are like gypsy moths and kudzu – they cause major ecological disruption,” said Dr. Peter Marra of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

“I hope we can now stop minimizing and trivializing the impacts that outdoor cats have on the environment, and start addressing the serious problem of cat predation,” said Darin Schroeder of ABC. TC mark

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  • annie

    People should keep their cats indoors and spay or neuter them. We domesticated them, we should care for them. The only reason there are strays is because humans are irresponsible.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1415031788 Sharif Youssef

    omg, go to hell Jonathan Franzen.

  • Sir ewok

    Spay or Neuter them, Yes…. Keep indoors,No!. Cats are outdoor, multi homed animals who own you, unlike a Dog who is entirely dependent. Cats may eat birds, but that is their natural function. Birds can fly and only very young, old or injured birds get caught, same as it ever was. Don't try to screw with nature, it will come back to bite you in the ass (just like some dogs).

  • PERFECTCIRCLES

    Cats eat birds or whatever, so doesn't this make sense? This is different than if we found out the #1 killer of cats was dogs. That would be disturbing.

  • http://twitter.com/MissKimball misskimball

    my cat only catches birds that have been killed by other cats (usually a long time ago)
    also 'decimated' implies that 4500 million birds are ok. how many do we need?

  • Scmeal Mackey

    no one is offended by this headline?

    • NEAL MACKEY

      I AM!!!

    • PERFECTCIRCLES

      No more offended than we are by what's actually going in Libya. And I'll let you determine what we mean by “going on.”

  • REALLY?!

    this article is ridiculous. for a number of reasons:
    1) The causal relationship with the internet's love of cats and cats killing birds is tenuous and needs further elabortion — the fact that people like to post kitties of cats doesn't suggest anything about ownership. What are you suggesting people do?
    2) Belittling a current affair as serious as the situation in Libya is not in good taste.
    3) Your name is now associated with content that seems insensitive and poorly thought out. Good luck getting a real job.

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