North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Hans Brinkmann <hans-brinkmann@t-online.de>]

Hallo Rivka,

let me add the following:
The 500 years ago ecosystem, we could never compare with the complete 
changed ecosystem now-a-days!
I think also your American cities are usually surrounded by artificial 
agriculture and everyone knows the results of it.
In Germany they say Coyotes at USA have a positive influence to 
bird-populations, because coyotes "control" sometimes cat-populations.


*Wisconsin Voters Back Plan to Hunt Cats **     *               February 
15, 2007
"Estimates of the number of songbirds killed each year by feral cats in 
Wisconsin alone range from 8 million to 217 million,
though the number is actually believed to be around 39 million, said 
Steven Oestreicher, the chairman of the congress."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=662272&page=1


   Number of unowned free-roaming cats in a college community in the
   southern United States and characteristics of community residents
   who feed them.

Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary 
Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.

"The free-roaming cat population was estimated to represent 
approximately 44% of the population of cats in the county. CONCLUSIONS 
AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that unowned free-roaming cats 
may represent a substantial portion of the total cat population in a 
region. Public policies and education programs aimed at reducing cat 
overpopulation should include provisions for neutering unowned 
free-roaming cats, and efforts should target the general public, not 
only pet owners, because not all households that feed unowned 
free-roaming cats own pets."


"But it has been estimated there are well over 100 million owned and 
feral cats in the USA able to prey on wildlife, which translates to a 
substantial number of potential kills." In Germany they estimate 12 to 
15 birds/year per cat.

ciao Hans






road's end farm schrieb:
> Actually, there's nothing there that really addresses my question.
>
> Let me rephrase it: for example: the population of this area, say 500 
> years ago, included bobcat, puma, fox, wolf, several species of the 
> weasel family, hawks, owls, eagles, and probably some predators I've 
> left out.
>
> Some of these species are gone entirely; others are greatly diminished 
> in numbers. Coyote have moved into the area, filling some of the 
> predator space, but presumably not all of it.
>
> What was the likely bird mortality rate from predation then, compared 
> to now? (Specifically from predation: leaving out of the modern data 
> habitat loss, automobiles, pesticides, etc; and preferably from a 
> comparison in a similar area, currently a rural area.)
>
> I agree that in certain specific situations the presence of cats may 
> be a disaster for certain bird populations. I don't think this 
> necessarily means that the presence of cats is always, in all areas, a 
> disaster for bird populations.
>
> If it's any comfort to you, my cats are all spayed/neutered and 
> inoculated; and the barn swallows raise and successfully fledge two 
> clutches in my barn every year, despite the frequent presence of the 
> cats in the barn itself.
>
> On Feb 14, 2007, at 5:09 PM, Jackie Jameson wrote:
>
>     Here's a good start:
>
>     http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/
>
>     When on that page, click on the hyperlink in the first paragraph (
>     Domestic cat predation on birds and other wildlife) and it will
>     open a four page pdf which discusses these  questions.
>
>
> --Rivka
> Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly
>
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