This is a pretty epic bird watching video.
2 Likes
As a bird lover I am constantly unhappy with the cat lovers who insist on feeding cats at the big park I go for hiking and walking. There are some cats which live right at the edge of the park at a buddhist retreat type place. During the day they walk about 100 meters into the park to a rest area with tables. They have attracted people to give them food. This has gone on for years. But about 5 years ago we talked to one of the park managers who said the park was aware of how bad the situation had become so they put up signs at that rest area and the one nearby…specifically to say do not feed the animals.
Well, last week I saw a couple feeding the cats. The no feeding animals sign was directly behind them. I told them the park does not want people feeding the cats. Her reply…“No, is okay. These are not wild cats but cats who have been kicked out of their homes.” My reply…“They live nearby. The park does not want people feeding the cats who kill birds.” Her reply…“Oh is okay. They told us if we are not messy we can feed the cats.” (Showing me her two bowls she brought to use to feed them)
Not one time did any of the cat lovers I talked to cared one little bit about the birds. I have seen these cats reject food as they are so full they only lift their heads to sniff the food being pressed to their mouths. These are not hungry, homeless, suffering cats. I have even seen cardboard boxes with towels inside left underneath the table to house these cats. Of course, they do not use them. Some people leave a large container of food under the table so they can just put out a portion everyday.
Reminds me of my sister-in-law in the U.S. She let out her cat every night for years. He was basically a wild cat until she “adopted” him. Every week he would bring back baby rabbits to the house. Who knows how many birds he killed every week. But when I mention this to my sister-in-law she is like “Oh, he does not kill anything just plays with it.”
And also reminds me of my neighbor here in the countryside who has to put his small baby chicks into the garage at night. He forgot one time and the next morning 8 chicks were headless. Yes, the cat was just playing.
I would think feeding the cats and perhaps keeping them entertained will keep the birds alive. There are also a lot of rats in the sewers, which the cats could probably be of help.
Unless you are suggesting catching and euthanizing the cats or poisoning them, I don’t actually see why feeding the cats would be creating problems. Especially if a rapport can be established that would make it easier to bring them to vet and get them spayed or neutered.
The problems is with those who don’t take care of their pets and left them on the streets to become strays.
In most other countries, cat owners would let their cats out and about on their own, which really isn’t a thing in Taiwan. In places where cats were introduced less than 200 years ago with a fragile eco system, like New Zealand, I find that more ludicrous than feeding feral or stray cats.
Both my cats came from the streets, and all the halfway houses that make the effort to get cats off the streets, or at least TVNRed out of their own pockets are only able to do so because they form an relationship with the cats.
Cats don’t catch birds for food…they catch for fun. The well fed cats then have the energy to roam around the hill near the tables. These cats would be no match for a real rat in this park. Besides the rats should go to feeding the snakes. This is a big park not inside a city.
Living in the countryside we have cats roaming all over the place. I kicked one out of my warehouse yesterday. Looked like my nearest neighbor’s cat…the one he lets run around as he is away from his house for weeks at a time. That cat got his foot caught in a trap and came home without a foot after being gone for 3 weeks.
I caught 3 cats at my house (released them somewhere else) in the first year then just quit trying…too many. Maybe in the big city people keep cats indoors but not in the countryside or small towns like where my mother-in-law lives…the whole neighborhood is overwhelmed with cats. At least 10 live within 30 meters of her house.
If I could make the decision I would first ask the buddhist place if they really want to keep the cats that hang out there then they must keep the cats inside. If no, then capture them and see if can be adopted…of not then kill. To me the lives of these cats is not more important than the birds in this “protected nature preserve” which is what this park is supposed to be. With all of the illegal poaching of animals in this park would hope more action could be taken to protect what is there.
Hence building a rapport and try to TVNR will eventually decrease the number. If the cats are treated as vermin, good luck catching the ones doing the actual breeding.
I hope you are planning to send them to your municipal’s animal shelter. If they decide to euthanize the cats they’d just he following protocol. Killing them yourself is probably illegal.
https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=M0060027
Article 12 section 4.
1 Like
Am I expect these neutered cats to stop killing the birds in my yard? Two dead and two injured so could not fly. Or to not kill the rabbit I tried to save one night. I saw this fluffy white rabbit on our road…obviously someone’s pet they let loose. I picked up and brought to our house (under construction). Put the rabbit in a cardboard box and provided a water bowl. Seven hours later I return to find the rabbit’s throat bloody and dead. And how about the nightly fights at my mother-in-law’s house?
Most people think of so many ways to protect the cats without any concern at all to the damage they cause. By the way, I haven’t killed any of the cats. And do wonder why the cats I can capture would not be doing any breeding as well.
The cats have been released by irresponsible owners, and that’s the unfortunate effects of human actions, and not the fault of the cats themselves. No amount of shaking your fists at the cats would change any of it.
If you do not wish them to be in the area, make friends with them, which will allow you capture them, and give them to a shelter or if you must, the authorities, where they are as good as dead. The fluffy pet bunnies can do just as much ecological damage, there are wild hares in Taiwan, despite not being seen as often like bunnies in the US, or other Western countries. These pet bunnies could contaminate their gene pool if they are not neutered, just like the cats could contaminate gene pool of Formosan leopard cats.
Anyway, I returned to the thread because last night I saw this bird in the local park. She was fluttering but didn’t really fly. I wasn’t sure if she was hurt. However, when I bent down and stretched my handed towards her, she actually flew closer, and pecked at my hand. Is that normal wild bird behavior? Or is this an escaped pet bird?
She looks like a light-vented bulbul.
1 Like