Whisper it quietly, but you may have Jack The Ripper living under your roof. New figures released in the US reveal that while they may look like cute kitties, domestic cats are in fact sophisticated, cold and extremely prolific killers.
In America alone, cats kill a staggering one BILLION mammals and HUNDREDS of millions of birds a year, mostly after dark. Cats are so prolific in parts of the country they have reduced some birds to the status of endangered species. Action to rein in these killer kitties is already being taken in some states where cats are confined to quarters at night time. For a glimpse of how smooth and deadly a killer a cat can be, have a look at this new National Geographic film about how a mild-mannered puss called Molly is transformed into a deadly assassin by night.
1 comment:
Rats, the secret is out! Our plan for world domination via the desecration of the rodent/reptile/bird population is scuppered thanks to you. We will have to adopt Plan B (world domination via urine-soaked duvets) immediately.
Actually, to be serious, you are quite right. It is a shocking statistic. One billion mammals a year in the US. We have tried to find an equivalent statistic here in the UK but it really is hard to be accurate since so many cats do not have freedom to roam and therefore predation does depend greatly on access to outdoors at the appropriate times. The statistics that the RSPB released a few years ago caused an absolute uproar and a surge of resentment towards the cat. HOWEVER I couldn't find anyone who was asked to record the number of prey brought home/consumed by their pet. All that said, I do agree that humans disregard the impact of artificially elevated levels of certain species at their peril.
The good news is that in some states in the US cats are compulsorily kept indoors due to excessive predation. That has to be good for the prey but not for the predator sadly. Don't start me on my "there are too many domestic cats" or "should cats be kept indoors?" soapboxes.
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