Cats as Viable Pigeon Control Approach

You may have a pet cat or cats inside your house and have them for the sole purpose of having company and finding comfort in their soft plush furs. However, felines may serve another role than keeping you from being alone inside your loft. Unlike dogs, which happens to be man's best friend and are often found to be extremely timid and docile; cats however, are natural born killers. They have been always the predator as they always are in the wild and you may as well assume that domestically, they are the same. You often find your cat pouncing over a loitering rodent or tagging a snack of some lost bird in its mouth. Cats will always have these tendencies of jumping into something that moves and killing it as they go. Therefore, they would most likely not take any semblance of pity or mercy to a wandered pigeon on the porch or inside your house. With that said, we can then therefore assume that cats can actually be viable pest pigeon solutions.

The History of Cats as All-Time Predators

As we all know, cats are not only pets to humans but they also are very handy utility animals as they clean up our rodent mess inside the house. And they have been doing this job ever so effectively since time immemorial and therefore have fostered a sense of trust and reliance from us. We have somehow found a sense of comfort, convenience and reprieve from them knowing that they could take care of certain problems for us and we needn't lift a finger at all for them to get it done. As we are all aware of, one of the most common problems inside the household is having pests around and there are different varieties of pests which could plausibly concur in one place and a time. Cats have been known to take care of some of these problems, making our lives quite easier. We now have grown into fondness and likeness of them and ever since humanity have always considered domesticating a cat from its smallest forms to the largest ones.

In the past few recent years, statistics have shown that there are a growing number of domesticated cats in the U.S. alone and that it has doubled in last 30 years. Having becoming massively populated they have somehow posed threat to the wildlife conservation endeavours. One thing we have to understand is that we're actually referring to two different types of cats. One type of cats belongs to human individuals as pets and the others that are found outside the house (homeless, wild and or feral).

Cats were introduced to domestication sometime around 1700's in Hawaii wherein they board sailing ships. They are somehow employed by ship personnel to deal with the rodent problems up on deck. Ever since their found usefulness, they have been traded in ports as viable pest control pets. Naturalists have also noted that cats are extremely capable of preying on birds in the forests especially, feral ones whom have found their individual comfort far from human homes.

Cats are highly adaptive, and they could blend in as efficient and powerful predators in wherever they are placed. That means they are capable of preying on different variety of animals, including different types of birds, even if they are the types that take flight, they still are not safe from the claws of this scary predators. Cats are almost found everywhere these days. Not only are they found inside human dwellings preying on rodent meals, feral cats are also found to populate the urban street areas wherein they find the convenience of accessing many types of meals for the day. Pigeons are amongst their most favorite dish as they are conveniently accessible in places where they frequently flock. For example, a residential rooftop is among the most frequented places for pigeons and those areas are just within the range of access of cats. The entire hunt will simply go down ever so easily.

In certain areas wherein, particular types of birds have evolved without mammalian predators, cats that dwell as well in these areas would find these types of birds as easy preys.

Apart from pigeons of course, seabirds are among the most frequented meals for cats. They are particularly vulnerable since they are commonly found nesting on the grounds. Naturally, that would put them within cats' reach. In Big Island, a 9,000 ft elevation on Mauna Loa, cats are still prevalent in hunting down these types of birds. Now, seabirds are no longer commonly found nesting on the grounds in these areas as they are now seen nesting offshore where they are far beyond reach of cats and mongooses.

At present, there are now a lot of advocates that support managing and or domesticating cats in order to use them to control rodent pest issues. But eventually they later on realized that the presence of domesticated cats also has impact on the bird population inside the urban areas. It gets even scarier for urban birds like pigeons, when you consider that cats often wander around looking for food even if they are already fed. At this point, they no longer kill for a meal but they are just simply trigger-happy in hunting down and killing other weak creatures. Come to think of it, cats don't just eat rats or mice and their claws could definitely find their way to the pigeons nearby.

Generalization

Cats are indeed viable options for a pest pigeon control approach. However, they could become quite uncontrollable when in you come in terms of their predation behaviors. They could almost eat anything they find killable and therefore making different types of birds unsafe from their presence. If you happen to have bird pets around, it may not be safe for them to be there anymore. You would have to pick one this time which one will you preserve to live. But overall, if you want to get rid of the pest pigeons in your house, cats may just be your kind of friend.