General News
8 August, 2025
BARRY'S CORNER: Birds
This is the time of the year when you have to be careful and not accept a pet kitten as a gift. We are losing our wildlife at a horrendous rate, and the dear little kitty will only add to a cat fattening menu of lizards, birds, and insects.
No matter how well you might look after said kitty, they will find a way to put their natural hunting instincts to the test.
Kitten season is upon us, and there will be new litters that surface literally from nowhere and immediately go to work catching birds and small lizards, they may not eat even if they are well fed at home.
One of the worst management decisions that can be made is to let the cat outside overnight.
This gives the cat a free rein to wander when and where it chooses.
There is plenty of evidence to demonstrate that a cat will move quite a few kilometres during the course of night hours and be back on the veranda mat by the time the family rises for the day.
Small wrens generally roost in low bushes where they pick a branch low to the ground, and they settle in for the night with their heads under a wing.
A stealthy cat can easily sneak in and pick a bird one at a time, it does not give the birds a chance to escape.
Whole bird families can be wiped out in minutes.
There is no mercy for the birds.
This efficient killer is attacking our indigenous wildlife.
It does not make sense that there are volunteers all over the country busy establishing vegetation plots to attract wildlife back into the district.
We condone allowing our most effective killers to roam freely.
It was a costly mistake to have cats brought into the country.
A cat has the natural tendency to move and play with anything from a ball of wool to mice as food.
How proud the cat is when it brings home a catch to play on the veranda and show off what a good cat he is, not realising it is a rare species he has just caught, and he can't tell the difference between a superb blue wren and a sparrow.
There is no good answer to my plea and an appeal for the dwindling numbers of biodiversity.