Humans, not cats, present the greatest challenge to wildlife, writes Gill Caradoc-Davies, of Portobello.
I am as concerned as Gareth Morgan about feral cats and our precious native birds. An ODT photo showing a feral cat sneaking up on a yellow-eyed penguin chick made my blood run cold.
Cat fanciers are outraged by his remarks. Emotional hyperbole from both sides of the argument blurs the real focus, which should be asking how we preserve not only our birds but our other wildlife.
Then could we get back to Gareth Morgan and economic innovation. Please?
Dogs were domesticated about the time when man changed from being a hunter/gatherer to herder. Psychologically, dogs defer to the alpha animal. They can be trained to be obedient, as long as the alpha human is strong and in control. If not, some dogs may become unreliable.
Cats have never been domesticated. In ancient Sumerian times they walked out of the desert and took up with humans, killing rodents and purring for handouts, strokes and cuddles. Cats are with us to stay, like it or not. This relationship is based on us being equals, at least in their eyes.
They are athletes, quintessentially well adapted for hunting. I've seen my Maine Coon cats go from a sprawl on the lawn to heel-tapping a rabbit running at full tilt in six paces. They can leap more than 2m horizontally.
Cats hunt because they want to. Inside every pyjama-case Birman beats a tiger's heart. They have all the tiger's compassion for their prey, and a tiger's moral sense. Zero.
Should we stop them?
I attended a meeting of STOP a couple of years ago on ''Unforeseen Consequences''. A reserve had been established on the Otago Peninsula to preserve jewelled geckos, with a ''predator'' fence. All the geckos in that area disappeared over a short time. Mice and rats were the significant predators in that area; excluding stoats and cats was not enough.
My working cats catch a rabbit, rat or a mouse every day. Compute that in gecko protection. I have set many traps, but never caught a rat. I do catch mice, but certainly not every day.
Cats like twilight hours for their hunting. Most birds roost at night, apart from owls. I know for sure my cats will not tackle an owl. Some cats do take roosting birds when they can.
Fledglings? Cuckoos, possums and myna birds in the North Island take fledglings. Fledglings fall to the ground and are caught. This is nature. How many of the fledglings cats bring in are those who have failed Flying 101?They usually bring their kills to me. I have never seen a bellbird, a tui, a kereru or other native bird among their kills. They take less of the introduced birds than a NZ falcon would take in a week for food. Being a native bird does not mean it has human morals either about killing.
''Nature red in tooth and claw.''
Like cats.
Even our ancient 20-year-old moggy brings in birds. She puts in her dentures, gets out her walking frame, and staggers outside and proudly brings in the dead birds that have flown into our windows.
That is the point. We humans, not cats, present the greatest challenge to our New Zealand wildlife.
I've tried unsuccessfully putting kereru-alerting stickers on my windows. Mating competition in spring increases aggression, and they panic and crash into the window. Most recover. Man, more than any other predator, plays a much more important role in the loss of biodiversity because of habitat reduction. Saving birds is about saving wetlands and planting trees, not necessarily only native trees and shrubs, but trees to offer year-round nectar. Tree lucernes are very good for nectar eaters and are dearly loved by kereru.
This property was barren paddock 20 years ago. We planted trees, and soon there was shelter, food and high perches. Birds started increasing in number. We winter-feed with sugar water, and have seen a population explosion of tuis, waxeyes and bellbirds. We have both kinds of cuckoos, and almost every example of introduced species. The kereru have recently increased. The number of cats overall on this property has been unchanged during this time.
Mankind is trying to shift responsibility on to cats. We need to front up to human impact and take responsibility. But cats do also need to be controlled. Should we keep cats inside at night? Some cats will tolerate being kept in better than others. Should we register cats? It's important to allow some moggies to breed for the gene pool. We could microchip and register them, and make sure they are neutered and spayed.
Fiercer penalties for dumping cats and kittens appeals. Personally, I favour dropping culprits naked in Fiordland. Dumped cats breed prolifically.
We need to plan for biodiversity thoughtfully, thinking of the whole ecological interaction. Rodent control includes effective, neutered and working farm-type cats free to do what they offered to do, way back all those years ago, in exchange for a pat and some snacks. Now, please can we get back to some serious dialogue with Gareth Morgan about financial issues, such as the discussion about Basic Income?
