Sure is good to see what all that money I spent on this years hunting scrolls gets spent so wisely on game species! WTF do birdwatchers or bunnyhuggers contribute to WDFW?
Kind of like football subsidizing all other sports at the college level.
Do you suppose the "bird conservancy" is pro hunting??
I think I see some FAT to be trimmed in the state budget!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.govCROSSING PATHS NEWS NOTES
Don't help cats hurt wildlife
Wild birds and free-ranging cats are not a good mix.
As a backyard wildlife enthusiast, you control your own cat and talk to cat-owning neighbors about doing the same.
But feral cats - those untamed strays that now total up to an estimated 10 million throughout the United States - can, and have, seriously damaged wild bird and other wildlife populations.
While domestic cats are solitary animals, colonies of feral cats often form around food sources like bird feeding stations, garbage dumps, or places where people deliberately leave food for them. In fact, many colonies of feral cats are supported by well-meaning but misinformed advocates of what's become known as "TNR" management: Trap, Neuter, Release.
The theory behind TNR programs is eventual reduction of feral cat colonies. But sadly, such claims are not substantiated and research shows continuing negative impacts to wildlife (as most recently documented by Darcee Guttilla and Paul Statt from California State University in the Journal of Mammalogy
http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1644/09-MAMM-A-111.1 .)
Cat colonies often serve as dumping grounds for other unwanted cats. The food provided usually attracts more cats. Contrary to TNR proponent beliefs, colony cats do not keep other cats from joining the colony. As time goes on, some colony cats become too wary to be caught, so rarely are all spayed or neutered. With females capable of producing up to three litters of four to six kittens each every year, it doesn't take long to grow a feral cat colony.
Well-fed cats, either feral or domestic, become "super-predators" of birds and other wildlife. The need to eat and the instinct to hunt can and do function separately. Any cat owner can attest to this fact with stories of "gift birds" laid at their feet by feline companions.
Almost one-fifth of all injured wildlife brought to Washington's wildlife rehabilitators across the state was harmed by cats.
In addition to their threats to wildlife, feral cat colonies pose human health risks. Even TNR-managed colonies can spread disease such as ringworm, toxoplasmosis, cat scratch fever, and rabies, since every cat is not captured regularly for health care.
Free-roaming cats usually have short, miserable lives, due to collisions with motor vehicles, attacks by other domestic and wild animals, accidental poisoning or trapping, and parasites and diseases. The Humane Society of the United States reports that the expected life span of an indoor cat is at least triple that of cats that spend their lives outdoors.
TNR management of feral cats is clearly not in the best interests of anyone, and it often overwhelms the ability of well-meaning people who genuinely want to help animals. It also undermines efforts of responsible pet owners who keep their cats indoors.
For more information, see the American Bird Conservancy's "Cats Indoors!" campaign at
http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/index.html .
