Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Cats Just Want To Have Fun

When I was a kid, I found a baby robin on the ground. I got the standard rescue equipment: a shoebox, some Kleenex, and a worm to be named later. Then I went to look for the worm in our compost pile. We had a compost pile because Dad was a liberal.

But I was squeamish about worms. I gripped it best I could and dangled it over the gaping chick, but the worm veered away at the last moment and I freaked out and dropped it and it went squirming around the little bird's feathers and I ran off with the willies. I don't remember if anyone intervened but I suspect the rehab effort resulted in a backyard burial.

What did I know? I know I thought one big worm would be quite enough for a little bird, but that's not actually true. I know this because of our chickadees Marge and Studley Windowson, and because of my friend Julie Zickefoose, who keeps getting wheedled into taking care of baby birds because she knows how. If you're going to make an entire bird out of the little goober that emerges from the shell, and fast, you need to really shovel in the groceries. Julie reports that your basic baby bird needs to be fed every half hour all day long for weeks, which is quite the imposition on an adult human with other stuff to do. Marge and Studley, who are likely to have four babies going at once, are bombing into the nest box every other minute with bugs, all of which they had to find themselves. It's exhausting. The year the weather went all wonky and the bugs were scarce, both of the Windowsons looked like shit. They ran themselves skinny.

The skinny year
It's a really big production. Months. Even before you get the eggs going, there's this elaborate nest to make out of grasses and stuff all woven together perfectly without using any fingers. That takes weeks. There's a little cup in the middle of it that has fluffy material like fur worked in special, so as to be cozy. Then come the eggs and the incubation period, during which Studley has to find double the usual amount of food to feed himself and Marge, and then the truly heroic business of cramming bugs into the chilluns all day long. Every year, I am immensely proud of them.

Marge and Studley are Dave's particular favorite little buddies. Well, and everyone who looks like Marge and Studley, which is basically all of the chickadees. He it was who built the nest box for them. We have had our pets--three, including two happy cats who have been advised they are invasive species, and are not allowed to stalk birds. The chickadees are the closest wild items that might qualify as Dave's pets. He loves them.

This year everything was right on schedule. The nest was started in early April, incubation a few weeks after that, and then, in mid-May, both Marge and Studley were flying in and out of the box. I opened my window in case I could hear peeping, but I couldn't. It takes a few days for it to become audible from my window. And then, that soon, activity ceased. I never saw both Marge and Studley at the same time. Finally Marge, or possibly Studley, flew to the nest box with a caterpillar, looked inside, hopped in, and hopped out again a minute later, still with the caterpillar. And flew away, and never came back.

When the flies showed up, I had Dave take the box down and we looked inside. The nest was perfect. You could still see the cup with the fuzz around it, almost in pristine condition, because nobody got big enough to stomp it down. There were four tiny desiccated bodies.

My birder friend Max said this is what happens when one of the parents dies.

CatBib
I have two neighbors whose cats roam my yard. The cats' names are Anjali and Sid. Like Marge and Studley, they get to have names because someone cares about them. Personally. Both neighbors know how I feel about outdoor cats. They're both apologetic. I'd even gotten an email from one of them when she decided to start letting her cat out. "I can't keep Anjali in anymore," she said. "She wants to be outside so badly. But let me know if there's anything I can do to keep her from hurting your birds. Anything."

"You could put a CatBib on her," I said. I'd even bought a dozen to give away. "It's highly effective. It doesn't keep them from moving or climbing, or shitting in my tomato patch, but it interferes with that last pounce when they're hunting."

"Oh, that thing looks weird. I would never hang that on her collar," she said.

"Or you could give her one of these wide, bright collars to wear. It's not quite as effective, but it makes it a lot easier for the birds to spot them," I said.

"Oh, no, I couldn't make her wear that. It's so undignified."

Not long after, I found the tag and collar of the other woman's cat. Sid. It was directly underneath my bird feeder. The chickadees in particular like to take their seeds to the low branches of the nearby azalea. I returned the collar to the owner. She looked remorseful, and yet, somehow, helpless.

I don't have four new chickadees. Sid doesn't have his collar. But he and Anjali have their entertainment. And their dignity. And maybe they have Marge, too.

This is personal, now.


33 comments:

  1. You know what I do when cats roam in my yard? (Which has a stockade fence around it. They don't just happen to wander in.) I have a Havahart trap and put a dish of cat food in it. When I catch the cat, I take him to the SPCA. I don't CARE if he's someone's pet. He's in MY yard, stalking MY birds. You don't want your cat taken away? THEN KEEP HIM THE FUCK INSIDE!!!! Yes, I get irate over this subject, especially when I hear a story like yours. Believe me, I've had personal experience in this matter, which is why I HATE outdoor cats. I'm so sorry to hear about Marge. You and Dave have my deepest sympathy. I know how attached one gets to the birds one sees every day. I got attached to the Windowsons, too, and looked forward to your stories about them. I will miss them. I hope that Studly finds another hen next year. And I hope your neighbors cats die a slow, painful death. Yes, cat lovers -- I KNOW it's their nature. And I don't care.

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    1. I'm a cat lover too. But in a very specific context. Incidentally Sid has already been trapped (or at least somehow taken to the pound) once already. Since my neighbors know how I feel about it, they no doubt suspected me, but I didn't do it.

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    2. IIRC, Laura Erickson got the Duluth City Council to pass a cats-must-be-kept-indoors-or-on-a-leash law by framing it as a public health issue (i.e., toxoplasmosis, cats now being the primary vector for transmitting rabies to humans, etc.). Do you think Portland would go for something like that?

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    3. I dunno. As far as I know, this isn't even on the radar. I think I'll look into that.

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  2. i I have rehabbed wild birds and rehabbed wild (feral ) cats and a few other odds and ends, but Nature is a cruel mistress. The main rule is, "where there is something to eat, there is something to eat it". I try not to let it get personal, but it still does anyway. I am sorry for your loss and sorry you don't have more responsible neighbors.

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    1. Yuh, the behavior is natural, but the situation is not. Cats evolved in a very small area of the planet and everywhere they've been carried (it's always been deliberate) they have wreaked havoc on the native populations. We haven't had them on this continent very long.

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  3. I am hopeful this will elicit a severe shame response from my husband who insists on feeding the neighborhood feral cats and our backyard birds.

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    1. It might not, but I think this is a matter of education. It will take education to turn this particular problem around. When I got my kitty (Saint) Larry from the Humane Society 28 years ago, I assumed I'd be letting her outside. I assumed cats' predation was unfortunate from my standpoint but natural. I was then educated about the fact that cats in our environment are like pet pythons set loose in the Everglades. I was able to see things in a new light. Of course, I do have a science background, so maybe it was easier for me to accept this new-to-me information. But I'm not despairing. Thirty years ago I would never have believed people would routinely pick up dog poop either.

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  4. Coincidentally I was reading yesterday about how cats came to be all over the world. Their genetic material is basically all the same, so this means they were actually taken with humans as they moved around (as you said). The "why" is because they kept down the rodent population. The collateral damage is the bird population. There is no arguing with cat owners who say "it's in their nature" or "there are lots of birds" or "I just can't take away his masculinity" (re neutering) or "her freedom" (re being outside). Their minds are made up. Don't confuse them with the facts. Gah. I'm sorry about the wee birds, and their mom/dad.

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    1. And I'll add that it's also a problem when cats eat mice and such. That's hawk food!

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    2. When I worked at Lincoln Park Zoo there would be the occasional news story about some captive big cat somewhere escaping an enclosure or jumping a moat and mauling someone and the papers would ponder whether the animal had a rap sheet or history of vicious behavior. In discussions around the staff room the absolute bottom line was always this: it's human error. It's always, every time human error. MImi and others have developed quite an entrenched hatred for a blameless animal. I'm really really sorry about the Windowsons. I know how you feel. We lost a nest of scarlet tanager eggs this year to a large black snake and that was probably my once In a lifetime chance to observe that. Sigh.

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    3. As you might remember, last year I had a horrible experience watching a scrub jay make off with MY baby nuthatch on its maiden flight and it was just horrible, but I certainly put that in the proper category. It was legit. I just was personally disappointed in that particular jay. But cats are a whole different deal. Their predation is a human error.

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    4. True dat.
      I'm a cat lover for sure, but cats belong indoors.

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  5. Educating cat owners to be responsible pet owners is hard. I would be likely to use a cat trap if I had a yard. Working with your city to limit outside cats to being on a leash would also be useful. And capture of all feral cats.

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    1. Boy, I gotta say, the choir has showed up here today. At least I don't feel all alone. I even thought about trying Tater on a leash but I can't imagine how she'd do walking around this city where dog ownership and indulgence is just about mandatory! Fortunately she's content with what she already has. She's even old enough for supervised patio privileges.

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  6. I recently lost a 40-year friendship over the issue of outdoor cats. I had tried to discuss the problem with this person on many occasions in the past, and she was always sympathetic but of course she could never keep *her* cat indoors all the time because the cat *wants* to go out. Then she sent me an Easter card with a note that included the "amusing" story of how she had let the cat out "to hunt" and how, twice that week, it had come home with half a baby bunny. I was stunned that she thought that was an appropriate story to relate to me when she knew how strongly I felt about outdoor cats, and I told her how upset it made me, and that it made me wonder whether our friendship meant as much to her as it did to me. Apparently it didn't, because I haven't heard from her since.

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    1. Either amazingly tone-deaf or deliberately cruel -- in neither case would I consider this person a friend!

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    2. Somehow the topic of half baby bunnies seems particularly inappropriate for an Easter card. I think you are better off without this "friend."

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    3. Sounds to me like she was deliberately getting back at you for that story, daring you to object, and I don't usually have that degree of suspicion.

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  7. Cat lovers need to be educated about the fact that cats live much longer when they are kept indoors. That should be reason enough for keeping cats from roaming outdoors.

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    1. I'm pretty sure the Humane Society uses that very tactic to persuade people that cats belong indoors, and although it's true--I think it's selling people short to imagine that that's the only thing that will interest people. There have to be people like me who understand a bit about ecology and balance. In fact that was more persuasive to me than the safety-for-the-cat issue.

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  8. Now I really don't like cats! Or maybe cat owners, it is not a cats fault for being a cat. Would a bell on the collar help? That is not undignified.

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    1. Not much. I think the bell has been shown to reduce bird mortality by about 5%. Anjali has a bell. The fat colored collar does second best (and much better) and the CatBib takes the prize.

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  9. Have you thought about a little instrumental conditioning for these errant cats? Perhaps filling one of those Super Soakers with a hot pepper emulsion (the kind you would mix up to keep aphids off your house plants) and keeping it by the door. When you see one of the cats in your yard, you have it handy and you can give it a good soaking. Your yard will soon get a "reputation" among the cat population, and they will avoid it. At least in theory. And it may dissipate some of the desire for revenge.

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    1. Supposedly a super-soaker filled with white vinegar does the trick. These two cats skedaddle if I so much as open the door. They're onto me. I don't know how crafty I could be to even hit them with the hose.

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  10. So heartbreaking, for you and Marge and Studley. And so needless. Your neighbor isn't a very good neighbor.

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    1. They're both good neighbors, but they've got a blind spot. It's a common one.

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  11. This is so sad and I'm very sorry to read it. That nest is a work of art. I used to worry about my Angel when the birds were around, but he has a bell on his collar so they hear him coming, apart from that, he is so well fed he shows no interest except watching them from a distance.

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    1. There are cats that have no interest in hunting, but it's not the rule, and sometimes cats don't bring prey back and the owners aren't aware of their predation. Bells are not very effective. Most cats learn to move without ringing the bell. The CatBib is very effective. The colored collar is called BirdBeSafe. Incidentally, being well fed doesn't seem to matter at ALL. Most cats hunt for fun, not food.

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  12. P.S. Angel does spend most of his time inside asleep on my bed. As he gets older he's more inclined to sleep away the days, he's only three and a half yet, but my bed is his favourite spot.

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  13. Not all cats hunt. My cats think their only food is in their dish. As long as birds don't look like dry cat food, they're safe. As for the studies showing that cats decimate bird populations, know that they don't always account for feral and barn cats. Even the people who did this often cited study admit that their research is flawed. http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/02/03/170851048/do-we-really-know-that-cats-kill-by-the-billions-not-so-fast

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    1. PS I'm a bird lover and a cat lover. Hence, the avatar. :)

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    2. I've read that piece. Most people of the "cats belong indoors" mindset are super aware of the problem with feral cats. You're right, though, that some house cats have no inclination to hunt. It's also true that many cat owners think their cats don't hunt, but they're wrong. Someone just did a study outfitting cats with cameras and showing the surprised owners just what they were up to in the middle of the night...

      Not sure about barn cats, but urban cats are maintained and subsidized in numbers far denser than might otherwise be natural. Although I hesitate to use the word "natural" for an introduced species.

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