Roaming cats ruthless hunters of region’s little birds
ONE million a day . . . that’s the latest estimate of the number of birds killed by cats in Australia.
More than 350 million small birds, along with an incalculable number of other fauna, are killed by cats each year.
This is not just the feral cats’ toll, it includes that of the pets that live in our leafy suburbs for they too are deadly hunters.
One of the first written records of the hunting ability of cats came from the diary of Anne Drysdale, an early settler in Geelong.
On November 5, 1841, while living at her property Boronggoop just on the eastern edge of the township, she wrote:
“I dined on a couple of quail caught by the cat, who is a complete Puss in Boots; she brings every day numbers of quail, miner, a variety of small birds, besides lizards and iguanas, this apparently for the pleasure of hunting, as she seldom eats them, but lays them down to anyone she meets”.
We have no idea now what impact this hunting had on the local small birds and other wildlife, but since there would be a similar level of hunting by cats at every farm and other property in the district, it must have been huge.
Cats were encouraged to hunt mice, inadvertently brought here by the settlers and thriving in the colony, but clearly their prey was far wider than vermin.
When they began to move away from human habitation and created feral populations, cats hunted the native fauna with incredible efficiency.
They are now found in every corner of the continent, and we have so far found no way to control their populations and thus reduce their devastating impact.
What we can do is minimise the impact our domestic pets have on birdlife in our home gardens.
By keeping them indoors, or in enclosed places where they cannot hunt birds, we can minimise the harm they do. Wildlife information and questions can be sent to ppescott@optusnet.com.au My new book Birds and Botanists is now available by ordering at the email address above, $35 delivered.