But I have been rehabbing wild birds for 25 years, and have seen the dead-eyed shrugs of those who hand me bloody, shredded little birds, say “it’s just nature,” and drive away feeling as if they’ve done something heroic. Once again, if it can cut down on the carnage, it’s better than nothing. “If owners of outdoor cats choose to use Birdsbesafe® collar covers, a significant factor in the decline of songbird populations would drop precipitously.” “The conservation implications are clear,” writes researcher Dr. Her product could have an impact on pet cat-caused bird mortality rates. The woman who invented it was a responsible cat owner who never let her cats outside she then married a man who let his out all the time, leading to an invention instead of the usual piteous hand-wringing. Will the people who determinedly allow their cats to slaughter wild birds use it? I desperately hope so. And I am a serious environmentalist, and my heart bleeds every time I take my old car batteries and leftover rat poison and dump them in the river.ĭoes Birdsbesafe work? It might be better than nothing. “My cat is a ferocious birder … and I am also a serious bird lover.” Sometimes two or three a day!”Īll these tender, tormented people, spending years crying crocodile tears about maimed and butchered birds, when all they had to do was close the door and keep their lethal property inside. “… our cat … has been tormenting us daily with dead birds on the back porch. “Before we ordered Birdsbesafe collars, our two cats… were bringing in birds frequently, and it was breaking our hearts.” I found it so distressing to see them bring me back dead birds.” “Three of my eight are prolific bird killers. “It was heartbreaking to watch (my cat) bring home between one and four birds a week.” The testimonials all credit Birdsbesafe with reducing the number of birds killed by pet cats. “The Birdsbesafe® collar is highly effective at reducing bird deaths,” she writes. Susan Willson, who led a field study involving pet cats in 20. Lawrence University associate professor Dr. Birdsbesafe was invented in 2009, has a website filled with testimonials, and has received high praise from St. The idea is that brilliant colors will warn birds that something is coming, and they’ll fly away.īells don’t work cat bibs sometimes do, but cat owners rarely use them – saying they’re “too restrictive.” The same cannot be said about Birdsbesafe, which allows the cat as much movement as it wants. Created by Nancy Brennan, Birdsbesafe looks like a stiff, brightly-colored Elizabethan collar – not the long plastic post-surgical cones that pets occasionally have to wear, but a small donut that fits around the cat’s neck without getting in the way. Another product has been invented that could supposedly cut down on the number of wild birds killed by domestic cats.
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