On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:52:18 -0600, HeyBub wrote:
Van Chocstraw wrote:
Trouble with cats is the also go after the birds. If you hate birds
then it's ok.


Yes, they do. Leaving aside the fact that most birds are really rats
with feathers and the observation that the only birds cats manage to get
are those walking around on the ground (dumb birds), the state of
Illinois (yes, that Illinois) once tried to prevent bird slaughter by
passing a bill requiring outdoor cats to be leashed!

A few years back the BBC aired a program where cat owners retrieved and
kept (frozen) all of the birds that they could from their free-roaming
cats. Every owner was astonished at the number and variety. Keeping in
mind that the cats likely captured many others that the owners never
found out about.

The majority were song-birds and they showed footage of cats capturing
many of these both from branches and actually plucking them from the
air. You grossly underestimate cat's skills if you think they can only
capture slow birds on the ground.