this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2026
581 points (97.7% liked)
Just Post
1230 readers
22 users here now
Just post something ๐
Lemmy's general purpose discussion community with no specific topic.
Sitewide lemmy.world rules apply here.
Additionally, this is a no AI content community. We are here for human interaction, not AI slop! Posts or comments flagged as AI generated will be removed.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The low and high estimate for cats are so far apart they may as well just shrug.
I mean I find 5-10 dove and robin corpses on my tiny lot every summer. Cats are very clearly an issue.
that is cats for you, they kill when they feel like it
Yeah that's exactly what I thought.
I've had several outdoor cats, and only 1 would actively hunt, and in all these years I only found a single dead bird. 3-4 outdoor cars on my block, never found anything dead. I don't get it when people say cats are such a scrouge.
Maybe they're so well fed now days they don't bother to hunt? Seems people used to be meaner to strays, haven't seen a skinny/sickly cat in ages.
I find at least 5 dead birds every year. I have blink camera videos of the local cats stalking the birds.
More than anything else, it's inconsiderate to your neighbors who might not want your cats on their property. My wife and I take great joy in watching the local doves nest and raise chicks, and we will absolutely defend them from feral pests and outdoor "pets" alike.
Around me they mostly kill mice, chipmunks and baby squirrels.
I think the point that most people miss is that these studies mix together domestic and unowned/ feral cats. It is highly likely that our domestic cats who are fed well don't hunt as much
Oh! Counting feral cats makes a huge difference. I was only looking at the issue from a pet-centric POV.
So letting my fixed/neutered pet out, no big deal. Makes way more sense now.
You should keep your pet indoors too. Lots of well-fed pet cats like to hunt small mammals and birds because it's what they're wired to do. Many many housecats bring their owners gifts of dead birds and mice.