Feral cats are cats that have no home. They are out on their own with no owners. Some are born wild and are able to survive in the wild. Unfortunately, many others are just dropped off by careless owners without the necessary skills to survive in the wild. Most die within a year from diseases, cars, and the elements. Feral cats cause problems for native wildlife that is unadapt to the cats due to their relatively short existence in North America. Feral cats also pose a threat to people by being carriers of rabies and other diseases. Feral cats are a problem that must be dealt with now before further damage is done.
There are 70 million feral cats according to the National Geographic Society. The SPCA says there are tens of millions such cats. Their populations are hard to estimate because feral cats are so elusive, but the general consensus is that there are between 20-100 million of them in the United States alone. Their population is often effected by weather and food accessibility. If someone is feeds them, the population explodes.
There are a multitude of problems caused by feral cat, but the worst problem of all is the staggering amount of birds and other wild game consumed by cats. According to the Audubon Society, cats (including domestic cats left outside) kill an estimated 2.4 billion birds every year. They also kill great numbers of rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, voles, mice, and other small mammals. Cats also spread diseases including the deadly rabies virus. On top of all that cats are non-native animals much like the stinkbug or wild boar all of which have cause unrepair able damage to both the economy and the environment.
There are many ways to deal with feral cat infestations, one of the best being to stop feeding them. Other options included trapping them and adopting them out to people after a visit to the vets’ office, and trapping, neutering, and releasing or TNR for short. Unfortunately, both of those methods are short term, expensive and don’t put a permanent dent in the population of feral cats. Neither do they stop the slaughter of birds and other small animals.
I suggest that we have a discussion on the feral cat population and develop a plan that will stop the killing of birdlife by cats and not upset animal rights groups such as Alley Cat Allies and the SPCA. Whatever the plan will be, we must put an end to this feral cat epidemic before more damage is done.
Thanks and Good Birding,
Eli DePaulis