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minor threats which --_000_6061BD67F62B4969B0326AD3CFDC63F2dalca_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable According to the most recent study, when it comes to direct causes of bird = deaths, cats are an order of magnitude above the next cause.... http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/9-leading-causes-of-bird-deaths-in-canada-1= .1873654 Sent from my iPad On Jan 24, 2016, at 1:52 PM, "Nicholas Hill" <fernhillns@gmail.com<mailto:f= ernhillns@gmail.com>> wrote: yes Darrell, they have an impact. My point is that this factor is overblown= and is not put in context of the many other factors that are truly reducin= g bird populations in the temperate region: climate change land use (e.g. short rotation forestry) pesticides oil? Cats, cars, windturbines, reflective glass would be minor in comparison and= I'd suggest we first focus on the major causes of decline and then look at= tempering the minor threats which we are not going to fully eliminate as t= hey are part of our life style: 1. Cat--keep cat in at night, fix feral cats and get them places 2. Car--slow down..I killed a swallow last year when in what I thought was = a hurry 3. Windturbines--research placement of windmills out of flight pathways 4, Glass--hard to know how to reduce bird impacts on existing windows, this= national geographic article discusses some ways http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141113-bird-safe-glass-win= dow-collision-animals-science/ We won't get anywhere legislating that cats be not allowed out but increasi= ng attention on barn populations and making people responsible (or finding = funding for) for fixing barn cats on their property, then suggesting that o= wners keep their cats in at dusk and night, will have impacts. Currently, t= his negative focus on cats creates the impression that a biodiversity crisi= s is the fault of cats not their humans who may also drive cars profligatel= y and eat crops grown using neonicotinoids. Nick On Sun, Jan 24, 2016 at 11:43 AM, <darrell@abolitphotos.ca<mailto:darrell@a= bolitphotos.ca>> wrote: I disagree Nick, any animal can become a pest and cats and their irresponsi= ble owners are exactly that. Myself, living in the countryside where cats a= re brought to barns and dropped off and many owners letting them roam free,= I have seen many birds killed. Seen one cat jump up on a cloths line to ki= ll a saw-whet owl. An impressive predator but way too many (all) at loose i= n the daytime and night. Dog owners are not allowed to let their animals/pr= edators roam free and neither should cat owners. No pet should be allowed t= o roam free to kill at will, period. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 11:24:43 -0400, Don MacNeill <donmacneill@bellaliant.ne= t<mailto:donmacneill@bellaliant.net>> wrote: I agree Nick. Don Don MacNeill donmacneill@bellaliant.net<mailto:donmacneill@bellaliant.net> On 24/01/2016 10:37 AM, Nicholas Hill wrote: Grayson and Calver (2004, Regulation of cat ownership to protect urban wild= life: a justification based on the precautionary approach. Royal Zoological= Society NSW 169-178) found previously that Cat Density was not a predicto= r of passerine numbers but that distance to bushland and the density of urb= an housing were (both negative factors). In the study cited above (regulat= ion of cat ownership etc), they conclude that "cat welfare is the key issue= in a precautionary approach for protection which respects interests of cat= owners". Cat welfare means keeping the beasts in at night and desexing the= m so that we do not have a feral cat problem. In the country here, people l= et cats breed in outbuildings and this leads to a desperate situation for t= hese cats and for wildlife. Other authors warned that conclusions drawn in Britain over the impact of c= ats (million birds and small mammals killed) were drawn from data on one si= ngle village study in Felmersham. This author (BM Fitzgerald, 1990. is cat = control needed to protect wildlife? Environmental Conservation 17: 168-169)= questioned the extrapolation which we should in a rural area like NS where= birdlife is spread widely over woodland and clearings We have 3 desexed rescue cats that are in at night and well fed. There is a= local impact on mouse, vole and shrew (no birds seen taken yet) but the po= pulation of these animals is greatly increased by the landuse round the hou= se..as was observed in Felmersham (rodents and house sparrows there). Surely all of the following factors need to be considered before we relegat= e the cat to the indoors: woodland edges..plant more trees brush piles..dont be tidy, a pile of woody debris is a refuge for small bir= ds and voles sustainable agriculture..minimize use of pesticide sprays (see the " Declin= es in insectivorous birds associated w hi levels of neonicotinoid" in Natur= e 511: 341-3 (2014) and http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/1= 40709-birds-insects-pesticides-insecticides-neonicotinoids-silent-spring/) Cats connect people to nature, to animals that still have independence and = aloofness and are not wholly removed from primary adaptations. This makes t= hem attractive in connecting and grounding us but it also is why I might be= hammering away in their defense as they are still predators. The elderly a= re given robotic substitutes for pets which only reinforces our need of con= nection with the rest of the living world. Nick On Sat, Jan 23, 2016 at 11:41 PM, Helene Van Doninck <helene.birdvet@gmail.= com<mailto:helene.birdvet@gmail.com>> wrote: Nice to see the endorsement for keeping cats indoors! Helene Helene Van Doninck DVM Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre 2220 Irwin Lake Rd Brookfield NS Canada B0N1C0 902-893-0253<tel:902-893-0253> helene.birdvet@gmail.com<mailto:birdvet@hotmail.com> www.cwrc.net<http://www.cwrc.net> Find us on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cobequid-Wildlife-Rehabi= litation-Centre/134671693239334> and Twitter<https://twitter.com/CobequiWil= dlife> On Sat, Jan 23, 2016 at 11:35 PM, N Robinson <nrobbyn@gmail.com<mailto:nrob= byn@gmail.com>> wrote: http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/city+vancouver+hopes+bird+strategy+will+= take+flight/10438095/story.html --_000_6061BD67F62B4969B0326AD3CFDC63F2dalca_ Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html> <head> <meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=