Cats are born hunters. Their hunting instincts are not dulled even if they are domesticated. It is this that leads them to surprise and shock their owners with gifts of dead birds and snakes. Here are some interesting facts about the cat’s hunting habits.
Training The Hunter
Since cats are natural hunters, try not to teach your cat how to catch mice. Russian writer Anton Chekhov once narrated an anecdote about how his Latin teacher failed to teach his kitten to hunt. Whenever the kitten refused to chase the mice, the teacher punished the kitten. After the animal grew up into an adult cat, it always cowered in terror in the presence of a mouse.
The best teacher for a kitten is nature and the mother cat. The mother usually teaches a kitten how to hunt by first bringing it a dead mouse to eat. Once the kitten gets used to eating it, the mother brings it a mouse that is just barely alive. Eventually, the mother offers it a mouse that has strength enough to run, so that the kitten can chase and hunt it down. The mother cat never punishes her little kitten.
Some cat owners try the opposite: they punish the cat every time it hunts an animal. This, again, is of little use, as the cat merely stops bringing the owner gifts and simply hunts for pleasure and food.
Animals It Preys On
Studies indicate that:
- 60 to 70% of a cat’s prey is small mammals, 20 to 30% birds, and 10% other animals
- 14 to 30% of the wildlife patients of most wildlife rehabilitation groups are victims of outdoor cats
- If each outdoor cat only killed one bird per year, it would equal close to 40 million birds annually
Rural cats kill 39 million birds every year in Wisconsin alone.
Myths And Misconceptions
Cat owners have several myths and misconceptions about the cat as a hunter and how to deal with it. Here are some of the most common myths:
A well-fed cat will stop killing birds: Not True. The cat’s need to hunt is independent of its urge to eat. Cats hunt for the sake of hunting.
The hunting instinct of a cat is natural, so, it should be left free to hunt: Not true. The cat does have natural hunting instincts, but cats are not naturally found in such large numbers in the wild. The local wildlife has not evolved to deal with such large numbers of cats. Letting your cat out to hunt naturally in your backyard would disrupt the delicate balance.
Cats need fresh air and exercise. Indoors, they would be depressed or go crazy: Cats have been seen to be perfectly content indoors. One way to let your cat exercise is by keeping two cats. They can enjoy chasing each other indoors. Plenty of sunshine in the house, a view of the world outside, and occasional outings should suffice.
Tying bells around a cat’s neck and de-clawing a cat would reduce its ability as a hunter: It may be effective, but most often isn’t. The cat moves with such grace that it can hunt despite the bells. De-clawing, on the other hand, is cruel as it makes the cat vulnerable to other cats and animals. Besides, a cat can kill even without its claws.
What Can You Do
Try to keep your cat indoors as much as possible.
Educate your friends who own cats about how cats can be a danger to the local bird population.
Remember, While outdoor cats commonly have a life expectancy of fewer than 5 years, indoor cats can live for up to 17 years.
Don’t feed stray cats. The food also attracts native predators, such as raccoons, skunks, foxes, and opossums.
Feeding stray cats is bad for the birds and the cats. The cats you feed will still kill birds and other wildlife. Feeding cats can also cause their populations to explode, resulting in a high density of non-native predators.
