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Hacker News
Now killing birds on the other hand...
"Feral and free-ranging cats are the leading human-caused threat to birds in the United States, killing an estimated 1.3 to 4 billion birds annually." (Google)
by xnx
>Cats typically prefer smaller meals of defenseless prey when available
I'm sure the authors are dog people, because their solution is remove cats rather than bigger cats. Dog people always seem to have an irrational hatred for cats.
by panny
The prevalence of humane people giving them cat chow destroys the food hunger incentive to hunt.
by newsomix9xl
This study might be missing some long-term thinking and testing of common knowledge.
It is known among farmers that cats reduce rat PRESENCE. the study concludes that cats don’t kill enough rats to reduce rat POPULATIONS (which is entirely different). Rodent control is not about killing rodents it’s about keeping rodents away.
The hypothesis to test would be that rats avoid areas with cats because it makes their young less safe. (A cat discovering an unattended nest containing rat kits will certainly go badly for the rats). I’d like to see the total rat counts in the area of study before arrival of cats and after. I’d guess from what I’ve seen that the population counts would be wildly different than can be accounted for by cat kills.
by tim-tday
Only a desperate cat would take on a rat. They're big and mean. Sure, the cat can kill the rat, but the chance of significant injury would be high. And in the wild a significant injury is often a death sentence.
The title really misleads -- cats can be great at urban mouse control. But for urban rat control you need something bigger.
by bryanlarsen
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- Hacker News
- Now killing birds on the other hand...
"Feral and free-ranging cats are the leading human-caused threat to birds in the United States, killing an estimated 1.3 to 4 billion birds annually." (Google)
by xnx - >Cats typically prefer smaller meals of defenseless prey when available
I'm sure the authors are dog people, because their solution is remove cats rather than bigger cats. Dog people always seem to have an irrational hatred for cats.
by panny - The prevalence of humane people giving them cat chow destroys the food hunger incentive to hunt.by newsomix9xl
- This study might be missing some long-term thinking and testing of common knowledge.
It is known among farmers that cats reduce rat PRESENCE. the study concludes that cats don’t kill enough rats to reduce rat POPULATIONS (which is entirely different). Rodent control is not about killing rodents it’s about keeping rodents away.
The hypothesis to test would be that rats avoid areas with cats because it makes their young less safe. (A cat discovering an unattended nest containing rat kits will certainly go badly for the rats). I’d like to see the total rat counts in the area of study before arrival of cats and after. I’d guess from what I’ve seen that the population counts would be wildly different than can be accounted for by cat kills.
by tim-tday - Only a desperate cat would take on a rat. They're big and mean. Sure, the cat can kill the rat, but the chance of significant injury would be high. And in the wild a significant injury is often a death sentence.
The title really misleads -- cats can be great at urban mouse control. But for urban rat control you need something bigger.
by bryanlarsen