Cats and Birds

We have barn cats here at the farm. I was watching them through the window this morning (there’s more to the story later) and started thinking about an article I’d read recently. It outlined a research project (Cat Tracker) tracking the movements of cats (those that roam outside). See the National Geographic article here http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140807-cat-tracker-pets-animals-science-gps/ Buy a GPS device, attach it to your cat’s collar and let your cat roam as usual. This is only recommended with cats that already go outside. Adding a GPS to your indoor cat and letting it outside is not a good idea. Download the GPS information to an online program and it displays a map that shows where your cat has been visiting. It seems part of the reason for this project is to track how many wild birds and animals are being killed by cats. I understand the concern, but living here on a farm opens your eyes to the amount of birds, mice, voles, rats and other animals that live out here. Imagine how many are living right in your shrubbery.

Back to my cats this morning... There was a loud ‘clunk’ on the window and their heads all spun in the direction of the noise. Whoosh! Two of them flew by the window so fast I could hardly keep up with the motion. Just a blur of fur and tails. My eyes focused. They were snacking on a Cardinal! It had hit one of our windows and fallen to the ground. Perhaps these researchers should include bird killing windows in their research…

The cats carried the bird to my front porch. This area now doubles as a kitty-cat-café. As I swept the feathers away to blow in the wind, I realized there were valuable lessons learned this morning:
Our windows need decals...
Birds don't see glass...
Cats don’t eat beak...