Saturday, June 23, 2007

'Osprey cam' leads to rescue

It wasn't exactly like rescuing a cat from a tree for the Milford Fire Department, but it was close.
Or call him one lucky baby osprey. This bird's particular problem was first picked up by a Connecticut Audubon Society "osprey cam" watcher in Maryland.
"We do cats in trees, swans on ice. We take care of animals," said battalion chief Brad Ross. The fire department's rescue unit provided a ladder long enough Saturday afternoon to rescue a month-old osprey entangled in bubble wrap in its platform nest near Milford Point. "We got a call about bubble wrap stuck on one of the babies," Ross said of the 1 p.m. report. "We called in a ladder truck to bring in an extra long ladder, and it did the job. I didn't know you could see this bird from all over the world." Ken Elkins, director of education at the Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center at Milford Point, said he got a call from a Maryland resident who saw the bird's problem on the Internet. A small television camera shows real time activity on the nest both through a television monitor at the center and on the Internet LINK
"He said he tried e-mail in the inquiry but the mailbox was full," Elkins said. "We hear from people all the time who like to watch the nest on the Web." Ospreys are also called fish hawks and are slightly smaller than eagles. Like eagles, they were an endangered species in the 1950s and 1960s due to DDT spray causing fragile eggs to crack when females sat on them. But the birds have been making a comeback since DDT has been banned.
Two young birds on the osprey cam nest are being cared for by a mother and father osprey that circled nervously during the rescue operation but returned to them once it was over. "I ran back into our TV monitor and saw the problem," Elkins said. "The bird somehow got tangled in bubble wrap and kept falling every time he stepped on it. We weren't sure if he was being strangled but we had to do something." The center did not have a ladder long enough to reach the platform, so the fire department was called. The rescue operation consisted of two canoes from the center pulling a rubber Zodiac boat carrying the 20-foot ladder 100 yards out to the platform nest perched on a small island. Matt Hoyt, former CAS animal handler helping as a marsh canoe trip volunteer, climbed the ladder and cut off the offending wrap in several seconds, all covered the on the osprey cam TV monitor. "It was uneventful," said Hoyt, a science teacher at Wilton High School. "The bird was entangled and was exhausted by stepping on the wrap. It definitely looked relieved after I cut it." Frank Gallo, CAS coastal education director, said a dozen calls came into the center from Internet watchers, and he appreciated their concern. "We certainly thank the Milford Fire Department and the people who took the time to call," Gallo said.

Cat predation normal? Not hardly!

There is nothing normal or natural about an alien domestic pet predating on our native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians!

Cats could be scaring birds out of our cities

ARE cats frightening birds so much that they don't breed? Andy Beckerman and colleagues from the University of Sheffield, UK, think fear of cats may explain the ongoing fall in urban bird numbers.
Many accusatory fingers point to the cat, and in areas of high cat density, predation may indeed be the sole reason for the decline. It might not be cats' only effect, however. Beckerman's team built a model that took both kills and the fear factor into account, and found that apprehension could explain the decrease even where predation is low. A reduction of just one chick per breeding pair per year per cat can lead to a fall in bird numbers of up to 95 per cent (Animal Conservation, DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2007.00115.x).
"What's cool about the model is that with no mortality you still get a large decline through mechanisms of fear," says Beckerman.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Feds to Cape May: Birds trump cats

I like this federal ruling! They set the priority as it should be.

CAPE MAY – The city must end its trap, neuter and release program for feral cats, and amend its ordinances to prevent people from feeding wild cats, city manager Luciano Corea told City Council Monday.
He said the city received a letter from the federal Fish and Wildlife Service requesting the change, out of the division’s concern that the cats impact the endangered and threatened birds that nest on Cape May’s beaches.
The city program is aimed at reducing the overall cat population. Cats are trapped, spayed or neutered and then re-released on private land where a resident has offered to feed them. Supporters say the program is a model for the state and has helped keep Cape May’s cats out of the county shelter system.
But Corea reported that the state is concerned about feral cat colonies along the beach. The cats are not a native species, and can kill or injure endangered birds, he said. The state has indicated that the city would be considered legally liable for any endangered bird injured or killed by a feral cat, Corea said.
Some members of the public and council members had concerns, however. Harry Bellangy said the city’s existing cat control program is a model for the state, and Councilwoman Linda Steenrod said it sounds as though many of the cats sent to the county shelter will face euthanasia.
“I think we need to look around for some alternative solution,” she said.
Mayor Jerome Inderwies said he wants animal control officer John Queenan to report to council at its next work session, which will not take place until the first Tuesday in August.

Birds need help from cat owners

This writer knows how cats are!
As related last week, domestic and feral cats are a huge threat to wildlife species, even in urban and suburban areas.
While loss of habitat and fragmentation due to human development is the leading cause of declining bird populations, The American Bird Conservancy states that invasive species including cats are the second most serious threat to bird numbers worldwide.
A study in Wichita, Kansas found 83 percent of the 41 study cats in an urban area killed birds, despite owners often not being aware of the predation. In fact, a de-clawed cat killed more animals than any other cat in the study.
A four-year Wisconsin study estimated that rural, free-roaming cats kill at least 7.8 million birds (and perhaps as many as 217 million) birds a year in that state. Suburban and urban felines would add to that total.
I've got to believe most cat-lovers also appreciate wildlife. They just need to be aware that when they release Fluffy out into the yard, the cat's natural instincts kick in and he or she becomes a killing machine.
Unfortunately, cats and habitat loss are not the only things making nesting season a dangerous proposition and endangering bird populations.
The duck nest I mentioned last week? Well, either a cat or raccoon killed the hen (I observed both feeding on the carcass) and consumed the seven or more eggs in the nest in the process - literally the day after I wrote last week's column.

A better idea for both cats and plovers: Trap, neuter, adopt

I Can't imagine all the cats will be adopted, but it's sheer murder to abandon them to kill again!

The conflict between cats and shorebirds in Cape May and in other communities along the Atlantic Coast does not have to end in tragedy for either species. We can save both cats and shorebirds.
The American Bird Conservancy has established that cats kill beach-nesting birds. The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife identified feral cats as the predominant piping-plover predator in developed shore communities like Cape May. At New York's Gateway National Recreation Area, one adult cat and five kittens were found with the remains of 17 common terns. In 2005, a feral cat killed three piping plovers in New Hampshire. Cats also destroy nests and cause nest abandonment and failure. Even well-fed cats hunt and kill.

Cats freed in the country suffer

Picture this: A family moves to Sonoma County and it can’t find affordable housing that accepts pets. Dad decides to drive the family cat out to a Sonoma County country road to “set it free.” He’s not worried about Spreckles, the cat. This cat can take care of himself. Dad’s seen Spreckles catch gophers and birds. Lots of gophers and birds out there. No problem, right? Wrong.
It’s a big problem for Spreckles who, if not run over by a car, will likely starve to death, be savaged by raccoons or badgers, be poisoned, shot, or, so debilitated from her day-to-day struggle to survive, finally killed by diseases like feline leukemia. There’s a reason our pet cats are called “domestic” shorthairs, “domestic” longhairs. Most don’t have the hunting abilities or the cunning of their “wild” cousins and will not survive.
If Spreckles is really unlucky, she will get pregnant and give birth to dozens of kittens who will also suffer. Spreckles could have as many as three litters of kittens each year. Average litter size: six. The tragic equation is 18 new, abandoned lives per year. You see, our profile family never gave a thought to “fixing” Spreckles because kittens are so cute. And besides, children should see the miracle of birth, shouldn’t they? This family didn’t know more than 5,000 “excess” cats and dogs are killed in Sonoma County shelters each year. They didn’t realize spaying and neutering your pets saves lives.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Golden Gate Park

So do tourists visit California to see the feral cats?

The arboretum harbors what may be San Francisco's last flock of California Quail. Once common throughout San Francisco's parklands, this bird has nearly been extirpated by feral cats that roam the city. The arboretum offers many other interesting plant communities. California native species (great for butterflies), redwood forest, dwarf conifers, and the succulent garden are but a few of the exhibits. The latter can be excellent for hummingbirds. Blooming eucalyptus trees in the area attract warblers, including the occasional American Redstart. A paved path going east from the Eugene Friend Gate can be productive too. If nothing else, the flowers will attract your attention. Rhododendrons are seldom out of bloom there.

Keep Your Cats In-Doors

Here's another site asking you to:

Keep Your Cats In-Doors
I was feeling like getting some negative email so I thought I would mention a topic that gets some people a little catty: house cats as predators. It's kind of like the issue where some people think we need more assault weapons on the streets. But first, let me be clear, bad as the problem is, habitat loss is the number one factor driving down wildlife populations of all types and species. Cats are an important secondary issue, however, and there is a very simple solution that everyone can do: keep your cat in your house where it belongs.
Cats represent a super predator with a major impact. Hunting is instinctual and something they do even if well fed. Unlike wild predators, they have a steady source of food that they don't have to work to obtain. Because of that food resource, the fact that many people have multiple pets and cat ownership is widespread, the density of cat predators becomes much higher than the formerly natural environment where the predators are held in check by availability of prey. Also, many wild predators are constantly dealing with illness, injuries or parasites for which most domestic cats immediately receive care. All of these factors make domestic cats a much more effective predator.

Bottomlands project given $20,000 grant

ANGLETON — To help with the acquisition of land for Columbia Bottomlands, a $20,000 grant was donated by the winning team of the 11th annual Great Texas Birding Classic.
“The timing came together really well,” said Mike Lange, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “We’re hoping to add an additional 46 acres.”
The grant money was donated to the Bottomlands project by the Reliant Energy Environmental Partners, the first-prize-winning team of this year’s Great Texas Birding Classic, coordinated by the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory.
Money raised by the birding classic helps fund land protection efforts and public viewing enhancements down the Texas Gulf Coast, said Cecilia Riley, the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory’s executive director.

Florida investigating deaths of sea birds along east coast

HOBE SOUND -- State wildlife officials are investigating the deaths of scores of sea birds being found along Florida's east coast.
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has received reports of more than 200 dead or sick shearwaters found along beaches from Hobe Sound to Ponte Vedra Beach since the weekend, the agency said Tuesday.
Scientists are also finding numerous emaciated and dehydrated birds. Commission biologists are trying to determine the cause.
Preliminary findings indicate many of the birds died of starvation during migration, the agency said.
"As only one species appears to be affected and the sick and dead birds have similar symptoms, we believe the seabirds are suffering from the same ailment," said commission biologist Dan Wolf. "In 2005, a similar, but less severe shearwater die-off occurred."
No cause was determined for those deaths.
Shearwaters spend most of their lives far offshore at sea until they breed and need land to nest.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Feral Cat Blues

Download this song, Birders and anyone who cares about our ecology!

Written and performed by Pamela Jo Hatley, accompanied by J. Steele Olmstead on harmonica. Inspired by Professor Tom Ankersen, University of Florida College of Law.
Feral Cat Blues

Pamela Jo Hatley, P.A. Attorney in Tampa Florida practicing environmental, land use and zoning, and real estate law.

Euthanasia v.TNR

JAVMA study shows ethanasia more effective than TNR for controlling feral cat populations (PDF)



REASONS FOR FERAL/STRAY (henceforth referred to as feral) CAT CONTROL
1. Feral cats are animals that are no longer under human control, but live and reproduce in the wild, usually in close association with humans. Humans have neglected these animals, which live exposed to disease, hunger, weather and attack from dogs, humans or other cats and animals. Some of these cats may survive for several years before succumbing to starvation, disease, dogs, other animals or motor vehicles. Failure to prevent or control a feral cat population amounts to inhumane treatment of animals.

2. Feral cats can harbor and transmit a variety of fatal and non-fatal diseases to domestic cats and other pets. These diseases include rabies, plague, parasitic worms, external parasites such as fleas and mites, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline leukemia virus (FeLV), feline distemper or panleukopenia, feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), and various bacterial infections.

3. Feral cats can also harbor and transmit fatal and non-fatal diseases to humans. These include rabies, plague, ringworm, internal and external parasites, toxoplasmosis, bartonellosis (formerly known as cat scratch fever), allergies to cat hair, and secondary bacterial infections from cat scratches and bites.

4. Feral cats living in close association with humans can also damage buildings, contaminate food supplies, and kill birds and other wildlife. Parasites such as fleas are often a problem in areas inhabited by feral cats.

Cats and Wildlife

The first intake of 2007 at Portland Audubon’s Wildlife Care Center was an adult female robin that had been caught by a cat. The cat’s distraught owner had rushed the robin over to Portland Audubon in the hope that we could repair her injuries. We treated the robin for shock, cleaned her wounds, placed her in an intensive care unit, and started her on a course of antibiotics. However, by the time we arrived the following morning, she was dead. A post-mortem exam revealed that she had suffered numerous puncture wounds and extensive internal injuries. Sadly, this is a story that will repeat itself more than a thousand times before the year is complete.
Cats account for nearly 40% of the animal intakes at our Wildlife Care Center, the number one cause of injury by a wide margin. This statistic includes animals wounded in direct attacks by cats, animals orphaned after cats have predated on their parents, and healthy youngsters removed from the wild by citizens concerned about imminent predation by cats. Cats are also the number one cause of mortality at our Center. Because of the trauma and infection associated with cat predation, animals injured in cat attacks have only a 16% chance of survival, less than a third of the survival rate of all other causes of injury combined. Wildlife rehabilitation centers across the state and the nation report very similar experiences and what we see is only the tip of the iceberg; numerous studies conservatively estimate that cat predation accounts for hundreds of millions of bird deaths each year.1

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Wineke: Global warming lets cats out of the bag

It wasn't enough, apparently, for the Cassandras of global warming to warn us that the glaciers are melting, the seas are rising and the grasslands are burning. We took all that in stride.
But, now, we are to believe global warming is causing an increase in the number of feral cats.
Pets Across America, a national pet adoption organization, reports a 30 percent increase in animal shelter intake of cats and kittens from 2005 to 2006.
"Cats are typically warm-weather, springtime breeders," says Kathy Warnick, the organization's president. "States that typically experience primarily longer and colder winters are now seeing shorter, warmer winters, leading to year-round breeding. Basically, there is no longer a reproduction lull with cat-breeding cycles and, unfortunately, it seems more people are bringing boxes of kittens into our agencies during the winters now."

Protecting Cavity Nesters from Cats

Cats are natural born hunters. No one knows exactly how many birds are killed by cats each year, but estimates run in the hundreds of millions. One Michigan survey indicated on average a domestic cat killed between 0.7 and 1.4 birds per week. Next to habitat loss and fragmentation, cats are considered the most serious threat to songbird populations worldwide. In a few months, one feral cat can kill all the bluebirds you helped fledge in a year. Since some areas only have one or two pairs of nesting bluebirds, the loss of even one bird can have a real impact on local populations.

Some wildlife rehabbers find that #1 cause of admissions to their facilities is domestic and feral cat attacks. Well-fed cats will still kill birds and animals. A cat with a bell on its collar can stalk silently so the bell does not ring, and even if it did, a bird does not recognize the connection between a bell and a predator. A declawed cat can still climb, and one killed more animals than any other cat in a study in Kansas. A feral (wild, with no owner) cat that is neutered and released will continue to hunt and kill.

Cats can easily jump on top of a nestbox that is at least 5 feet high. Some can jump as high as 6 feet, and Keith Kridler heard a report of one that could jump 7 feet (especially off of a hard surface). A cat can use its curved claws to reach into the bird house and hook fledglings and nesting adults. An agile cat can leap into the air and catch a Tree Swallow dive bombing to protect its' nest.

More info at Sialis!

Residents on guard after attack by feral cats

Varsity House, a Moiliili apartment complex, has a warning sign posted on its laundry room door: "Warning: Humane Animal Trap in use on these premises."

The sign was visible outside the room where board members were meeting yesterday following an attack by a pack of feral cats on a woman and her dog the night before.

Resident Laurie Martin, who witnessed the attack, said feral cats are often fed outside Kirin Restaurant on South Beretania Street. The apartment and the restaurant are separated by a wall.

Using traps supplied by the Hawaiian Humane Society, Martin said tenants have trapped four or five cats in a week and a half.

On Wednesday night, Deena Frooman was walking with her dog to Star Market when both were attacked by five or six feral cats on the Kaialiu Street side of Kirin Restaurant. Frooman suffered a 7-inch-long scratch and claw punctures to her leg. Kekoa, her dog, suffered a punctured nose and scratches near his eye. An ambulance and police responded to the attack.

Linda Haller, director of shelter operations at the Hawaiian Humane Society, called the attack "highly unusual."

Kirin Restaurant manager David Ho said the cats, about 10 of them, do not live at the restaurant but come by about 5 p.m. when the employees are eating. He expressed surprise on hearing of the attack, saying: "Those cats are very timid. You make a gesture and they run like hell."

Cape May forced to choose: Cats or plovers

City officials may have to choose between endangered beach-nesting shorebirds or the feral cats that have found a loving home here.
That was the choice presented to City Council on Monday afternoon by City Manager Lou Corea.

The issue, according to Corea, has arisen because the federal government does not want the city to support feral-cat colonies anymore. The concern is that wild cats can kill shorebirds, including the endangered piping plover.

The city has an ordinance prohibiting the feeding of wildlife, except wild cats. The city traditionally has supported the cats with placement of “cat shelters” around town. There is even a program, dubbed TNR, to trap, neuter and release wild cats so they can't reproduce, giving them a healthier life in the wild.

In 2003, when council approved the placement of 10 shelters around town, the city estimated there were about 500 wild cats. While people feed them, there is also plenty to eat in a town of gourmet restaurants, fishing docks and soft-hearted animal lovers.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Cats a threat to Playboy bunnies

The controversy between the rabbits and cats arose earlier this month after the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key announced plans to capture the cats for the first time in its history.

In 2000, they estimated 100-300 Hefner rabbits roamed the refuge. It is unclear exactly how many remain, though the number appears to have plummeted.

A study from the late 1990s found that predators killed 53 percent of Hefner rabbits. Though some are natural predators, including snakes, alligators and birds of prey, the majority were feral cats.

Biologist Paige Schmidt said she's never seen a rabbit in her research because they're so rare. But she's seen plenty of cats.

"The decline of the rabbits is so severe, " Schmidt said. "They have suffered a lot recently. That's why we're trying to recover the population using any means that we have available."

A rare rabbit

The Hefner rabbits evolved about 10, 000 years ago as a subspecies of the marsh rabbit found in mainland Florida, after the sea level dropped and isolated the Keys, Morkill said. That means the rabbits are found nowhere else in the world.

Cats are cute -- but not in the park

While we understand Sonya Ferguson's sympathies for feral cats running loose in Wayside Park, the City of Gulf Breeze is doing the right thing in removing them.

Ferguson and other cat lovers should take advantage of the city's offer to let them try to find homes for the cats, if possible, as an alternative to putting them down at the Escambia County Animal Shelter.

While we understand why Ferguson and other cat lovers hope to save the animals, their sympathy for the cats is detrimental to other wildlife -- especially songbirds.

The group Neighborhood Cats ( says few feral cats depend solely on hunting for their food. But research shows that even fully domesticated cats, fed by their owners, still kill birds.

Researchers estimate free-ranging cats -- both feral and domestic -- kill hundreds of millions of birds a year nationally. University of Wisconsin researchers estimated almost 20 million birds a year are killed in that state alone.

There has to be a nest nearby somewhere.

Audubon: Common backyard birds becoming less common

Some of the most common birds seen and heard in American back yards are becoming a less frequent sight and sound in much of the United States, according to a study released by the National Audubon Society.

Twenty common birds -- including the northern bobwhite, the field sparrow and the boreal chickadee -- have lost more than half their populations in the past 40 years, according to the society's research.

"These populations are not yet on the endangered species list, but it is noteworthy, and we need to take steps to protect their habitat," said Carol Browner, Audubon chair and former Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

And like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, the health of a region's bird population is often a harbinger of the health of other wildlife and of human populations as well.

"The focus isn't really on what's happening to these 20 birds, but what's happening to their environment," said Greg Butcher, the society's conservation director.