Cats, Not Dogs Linked to Wildlife Population Collapse

We've heard that sometime in the distant past, Willard's Woods had lots more wildlife, especially lovely songbirds, than it does now. Unleashed dogs are presented as the probable culprits in this. Who wouldn't wish for idyllic scenes like this, just minutes away from the town center?

But as we stated some time ago, Willard's Woods was a burgeoning chicken farm, not an eagle rookery. As you can see, properly supervised dogs are not a threat to either chickens or children.

In fact, cats are the real problem.  Feral cats and cats from abutters.

According to the American Bird Conservancy:

Exact numbers are unknown, but scientists estimate that nationwide, cats kill hundreds of millions of birds, and more than a billion small mammals, such as rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks, each year. Cats kill common species such as Cardinal, Blue Jay, and House Wren, as well as rare and endangered species such as Piping Plover, Florida Scrub-Jay, and California Least Tern.

• Well-fed Cats Do Kill Birds.
• Cats With Bells on Their Collars Do Kill Birds.
• Most Birds That Seem to Escape Don’t Survive
• Cat Colonies Are a Problem for Birds and Other Wildlife

Ultimately, cats are not ultimately responsible for killing our native wildlife—people are. The only way to prevent domestic cat predation on wildlife is for owners to keep their cats indoors!