[NatureNS] Vancouver has new "bird strategy"

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"cat welfare is the key issue in a pre
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Really ?? A fox or Chicken Hawk to keep mice and rats out of the barn =
(or chicken coop) ?=20

Sounds like a government program dreamed up by lets improve the land =
registry by making it expensive, sluggish, misleading, destructive and =
inconvenient, lets build a better Bluenose, lets torpedo the Film =
industry and pay good money to learn how to increase tourism bunch.  =20
DW
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Patrick Kelly=20
  To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>=20
  Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:39 PM
  Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Vancouver has new "bird strategy"


  As Helene point out in her presentation to the Blomidon naturalist =
Society, barn cats can easily be replaced by raptors (given a few places =
to perch) , fox,, and other native predators=85=20






  On Jan 24, 2016, at 4:26 PM, rita.paul@ns.sympatico.ca wrote:


    Nick - that's what barn cats are for - keeping populations=20
    of rodents and flying rodents under control. Pigeons, starlings=20
    sparrows - the English kind are all rodents.=20
    The cats help keep a barn clean and do their best=20
    work at night when its dark!=20
    Imagion telling a farmer to lock up his cats at night - near as bad=20
    as the fellow who wanted the farmer to delay cutting his hay for =
some reason!=20
    Enjoy the winter=20
    Paul=20
    =20
      On January 24, 2016 at 1:37 PM Nicholas Hill =
<fernhillns@gmail.com> wrote:=20


      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 reducing bird populations in the temperate region:=20
      =20
      climate change=20
      land use (e.g. short rotation forestry)=20
      pesticides=20
      oil?=20
      =20
      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 they are part of our life style:=20
      =20
      1. Cat--keep cat in at night, fix feral cats and get them places=20
      2. Car--slow down..I killed a swallow last year when in what I =
thought was a hurry=20
      3. Windturbines--research placement of windmills out of flight =
pathways=20
      4, Glass--hard to know how to reduce bird impacts on existing =
windows, this national geographic article discusses some ways=20
        =
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141113-bird-safe-glass-wi=
ndow-collision-animals-science/=20
      =20
      We won't get anywhere legislating that cats be not allowed out but =
increasing attention on barn populations and making people responsible =
(or finding funding for) for fixing barn cats on their property, then =
suggesting that owners keep their cats in at dusk and night, will have =
impacts. Currently, this negative focus on cats creates the impression =
that a biodiversity crisis is the fault of cats not their humans who may =
also drive cars profligately and eat crops grown using neonicotinoids.=20
      =20
      Nick=20
      =20
      =20
      =20
      =20


      On Sun, Jan 24, 2016 at 11:43 AM, <darrell@abolitphotos.ca> wrote: =


        I disagree Nick, any animal can become a pest and cats and their =
irresponsible owners are exactly that. Myself, living in the countryside =
where cats are 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 kill a saw-whet owl. An impressive predator but way too =
many (all) at loose in the daytime and night. Dog owners are not allowed =
to let their animals/predators roam free and neither should cat owners. =
No pet should be allowed to roam free to kill at will, period.








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        On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 11:24:43 -0400, Don MacNeill < =
donmacneill@bellaliant.net> wrote:=20


          I agree Nick.

          Don


          Don MacNeill donmacneill@bellaliant.net=20
          On 24/01/2016 10:37 AM, Nicholas Hill wrote:=20
            Grayson and Calver (2004, Regulation of cat ownership to =
protect urban wildlife: a justification based on the precautionary =
approach. Royal Zoological Society NSW 169-178)  found previously that =
Cat Density was not a predictor of passerine numbers but that distance =
to bushland and the density of urban housing were (both negative =
factors).  In the study cited above (regulation 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 them so that =
we do not have a feral cat problem. In the country here, people let cats =
breed in outbuildings and this leads to a desperate situation for these =
cats and for wildlife. =20
            Other authors warned that conclusions drawn in Britain over =
the impact of cats (million birds and small mammals killed) were drawn =
from data on one single 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=20
            =20
            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 population of these animal