Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Are you a cat owner on Falkland/Fairfax?
Apologies for the graphic detail, but things are getting messy in my garden. Pip and I found the leg and wing of our favourite blackbird on the lawn a month ago, and a large pile of wood-pigeon feathers minus a pigeon a few weeks later.
Today brought another pile of feathers - this time unfortunately with a rather badly damaged and frightened wood pigeon cowering under the hedge. The poor bird was alive but one of its wings had been stripped to the bone. We got it in a box and took it down to the local animal hospital by Finsbury Park, but, predictably, the nurse explained that putting it down was their only option.
The likely culprit for all of these incidents (definitely the last, as he was caught in the act by our next door neighbour) is a rather cute slightly fluffy grey and white cat which is likely to live in either the SW half of Falkland or the NW half of Fairfax and is frequently spotted hanging around at the bottom of our garden. Both of us like cats (particularly cute cats) and appreciate that hunting is what cats do - however dealing with the aftermath of wholesale bird destruction is not fun.
We are pretty sure that the reason this mighty hunter seems to be having so much success is down to the fact that he has no bell to alert the local birdies to his presence. There seems to be at least a possibility that this cat's owner might be a Harringay Online reader, so this post is really an open request just in case... if you think that this medium-haired grey and white cat might be yours, would you consider putting a bell on it? Some of our friends on the road solved the problem of their cat's frequent bird 'gifts' overnight by adding a collar and bell. Here's hoping...
Today brought another pile of feathers - this time unfortunately with a rather badly damaged and frightened wood pigeon cowering under the hedge. The poor bird was alive but one of its wings had been stripped to the bone. We got it in a box and took it down to the local animal hospital by Finsbury Park, but, predictably, the nurse explained that putting it down was their only option.
The likely culprit for all of these incidents (definitely the last, as he was caught in the act by our next door neighbour) is a rather cute slightly fluffy grey and white cat which is likely to live in either the SW half of Falkland or the NW half of Fairfax and is frequently spotted hanging around at the bottom of our garden. Both of us like cats (particularly cute cats) and appreciate that hunting is what cats do - however dealing with the aftermath of wholesale bird destruction is not fun.
We are pretty sure that the reason this mighty hunter seems to be having so much success is down to the fact that he has no bell to alert the local birdies to his presence. There seems to be at least a possibility that this cat's owner might be a Harringay Online reader, so this post is really an open request just in case... if you think that this medium-haired grey and white cat might be yours, would you consider putting a bell on it? Some of our friends on the road solved the problem of their cat's frequent bird 'gifts' overnight by adding a collar and bell. Here's hoping...
Tags for Forum Posts: among, bell, bloodbath, carnage, cat, pigeon, please, the
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Anette on
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Not on Falkland / Fairfax, but want to bump this post up a bit as I think this is a really sensible suggestion. Am a cat owner myself, and it's refreshing to see a post like this that's sensible and even offers a solution rather than just attacking cats in general. Maybe someone knows the owners of this cat and can have a word if they're not HoL members? Here's hoping indeed..
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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I've heard that if you keep cats in at night, it radically reduces their hunting activities.
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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maddy* ''I've heard that if you keep cats in at night, it radically reduces their hunting activities''.
Isn't that obvious or are we missing something ?
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Permalink Reply by Sandi on
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In my experience, keeping them out at night does reduce their hunting activites. I have a young male who parties all night and sleeps all day. Debris on the mat in the morning radically reduced.
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Said beast and an all white counterpart are always welcome in my garden where they mercilessly slay rats and mice. I imagine they kill more rodents than birds which, in this area, is a good thing.
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Excellent news Lisa, can you convince them to stay in your garden munching mice and leave the birds alone then? I reckon they will still be able to kill mice wearing a bell (the grey cat is after all, a very clever cat and mivce can't fly away!) so that would be a double bonus :)
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Bells do help, cleverer cats learn to hunt better though.
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I know, our friends just added another bell for each 'gift' until the cat stopped bringing them home. I fear that the grey cat might need to sound like a belly dancer though before it stops but worth a try...
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Permalink Reply by tigha on
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I agree bells are a must-my cats wherent impressed when they first had to wear them but they soon get used to having collar on, thankfully my cats dont catch birds they are too fat to get them anyway, but the male one does love bringing live mice into the house which I have to rescue and take to the park before it dies of fright
As for keeping them in at night,easier said than done-tried that with my cats and they basically knocked my dustbin over and pulled the cat flap off the wall with their determination to get out-its their natural instinct to go hunting at night
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