For the past decade or so, Mark Fellowes, a professor of ecology at Reading University and his team have been analysing the impact of cats on UK wildlife. Extrapolating figures from a study of suburban cats in Reading, Prof Fellowes says the UK’s 10.5 million pet cats could be killing up to a million animals a week.
While wood mice are their favourite prey, birds are also commonly taken. He has even seen footage of kitties bringing a critically-endangered hazel dormouse through the catflap.
He says there is a paradox at play, whereby we entice birds into our gardens with food at the same time as nurturing a predator highly skilled at killing them. Indeed, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, domestic cats have been ranked among the 100 worst non-native species in the world threatening biodiversity.
“People own cats because they love animals,” Prof Fellowes says. “But it is about using common sense.”
Those seeking to minimise the carnage do not have to go as far as what is being suggested in Australia. Bells on collars act as an effective early warning system, while only allowing cats out at night (when birds are roosting) can also help protect them.
With the average cat roaming some 300 million from his home, Prof Fellowes and his team are also currently investigating whether the tactical planting of some species can act as a natural barrier reducing their range. Spiky pyracantha, for example, whose berries are beloved of that newly-red-listed garden bird, the greenfinch, are effective at keeping out cats. So too conifers and dense grasses, which cats dislike clambering through.
Beyond feline prevention, there is more we can all do to stop the looming Birdmaggedon in our midst. Regularly cleaning feeders will help prevent the spread of the lethal disease trichomonosis, which is proving especially deadly among the aforementioned greenfinch.
A lack of suitable nesting spaces, meanwhile, is impacting on species such as swifts and house martins. Bodies such as the Totley Swift Group in Sheffield are working to retrofit suburban homes with specialist nesting boxes and have installed more than 90 in the past two years.
Another vital thing we can all do is to install a pond of any size in our gardens. The smallest body of water will dramatically boost ecosystems, encouraging insect life and offering a regular spot for birds to drink and bathe.
Plus, as any cat aficionado will tell you, even the most malevolent of mousers will scarper at the mere thought of getting wet.
