Reprinted with permission. While many studies have shown that cats do not have a detrimental impact on wildlife on continents, there are several who feel that cats are to blame for the depletion of songbirds and other animals. Some groups use these studies in misguided effort s to discredit our work to humanely control feral cats. Cats are opportunistic feeders, eating what is most easily available.
Feral cats are scavengers, and many rely on garbage and hand-outs from people.
Cats are rodent specialists. Birds make up a only small percentage of their diet when they rely solely on hunting for food. Cats may prey on a population without destroying it. If this weren't so, we would no longer have any mice around. Even though some cats can become efficient hunters and do kill birds, many international biologists agree that only on small islands do cats possibly pose a severe threat to the wildlife populations.