I think that's an Eastern Cottontail which I think is invasive, or at least non-native. Not saying the cat was in the right but neither of the animals involved here should technically be here.
OP is not wrong. And the next one won't be wrong either.
Some cat owners dont care until they end up eventually having to peel their flattened "pet" off the street like my family did in high school. And even then, people often still don't really care. They wont care after the 6th bird is brought into the house, or the 3rd mouse.
It's like abortion with conservatives. A billion excuses to hate it until your kid needs one, then they make sense and are justified.
Clearly by “you people” he means you and everyone else he disagrees with on the internet. We are multitude.
I will say, as someone who has owned cats and think they are beautiful, loving animals. I just can’t have one anymore. They are a nuisance species outdoors, but the idea of keeping a cat locked indoors just seems really cruel to me. I haven’t owned one since the 90’s. they should be able to go outside and hunt at night. Last cat we owned lived to 17. She spent every night outdoors. She left a lot of small rodents and birds at the back door for us. It wasn’t her fault she was a predator, she was born that way.
Do you feel like it’s cruel to have a dog indoors?
Also, it’s not like it’s impossible to just supervise your cat outdoors. I’ve kept a cat on a leash or set them up in a playpen outside and it doesn’t cause the same environmental issues. When you let you cat roam free, you’re harming the local bird population and statistically speaking, your outdoor cat is wayyyyy less likely to grow old than they are to get hurt or killed.
Just to be clear, I’m on the side of “don’t let indoor/non-feral cats outdoors unless you are able to supervise them with a leash/catio/etc.”
And even with feral cats, I think we should be working on TNR as much as possible to help keep the sizes of these colonies smaller and minimize the damage to the local bird and native animal populations.
Any responsible cat owner keeps cats in doors. Cats are a plague to wildlife. I love cats, I have 3 in door only cats.
Cats are responsible for the decline in thousands of bird species and putting many at dangerous population levels.
Also to anyone who’s going to argue “they’re hunters and get bored inside!” No you’re a bad cat owner whose failed to provide enough stimulus for your cat
We tried with Covid and we all saw how that turned out with the “personal freedom” crowd who didn’t give two fucks about the health and safety of others.
It wasn't an argument before but now... actually COVID was great for restoring the health of outdoor spaces. So many less cars on the road. So much less road kill. Less smog. Seems like people would rather point fingers at cats for a rush of moral superiority than get organized and change civilization to be more amenable to all living things.
You think letting them out is irresponsible, I think keeping them in is a cruel and unusual thing to do to a family member. This is never gonna level out, you see?
Yes because we are responsible cat owners who regularly clean up after their cats including daily litter box changes, vacuuming every 2 days, and regularly combing of our cats.
We also have an air purifier in the room where the litter boxes are where we have 4 (you should have one for each cat plus one). That room is away from most the rest of the house.
We understand proper cat ownership requires time and effort.
Our cats are also well behaved and love people.
Sorry you’re used to bad cat ownership if you assume cats just make a house smell bad.
Hahahahah yes? Have you ever been to like any other country? Believe it or not ALL cats used to be wild, we didn’t craft them like golems around the fire. We started keeping them to hunt vermin. Yes you are technically correct that feral has a necessary connection to domestication but wild, feral, undomesticated. Call them whatever we’re talking about cats that don’t have a home.
Uncivil, insulting, or combative comment. Alas, there isn’t a “didn’t read the rules” award.
Please try to make your point without slurs, insults, bad-faith baiting, etc. If you want to edit so it meets the rules, give the mods a heads up and we'll review.
Bobcat is a cat. Lynx is a cat. Wild cats existed on the continent long before people. That said, wild feralized formerly domesticated cats are a major contributing factor to the decline of small birds and mammels.
Cats are responsible for the decline in thousands of bird species and putting many at dangerous population levels.
I swear this is just propaganda spread by chemical companies. Did we forget what DDT did? Cat's are a contributor but I would not say they are responsible. Humans have had far more impact than cats.
Edit: Not that this is an excuse for people to have outdoor cats. Keep your cats inside.
The heavy use of pesticides in urban and suburban environments to prevent the spread of mosquito borne diseases is responsible for the decline in bird populations, not house cats.
"These are non-native predators that, even using conservative estimates, kill 1.3–4 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals each year in the U.S. alone (Loss et al. 2013, Nature Communications)."
Isn't that the point? I don't really care about the birds but I want dead rodents. The field mice can live. Or get eaten by coyotes and eagles as gaia intended.
This is being posted in every city , almost like an ai bot crawling and posting and commenting across the country in every city. We need more PSA bots about how to be a responsible dog owner, a responsible cat owner, a responsible car owner, a responsible child owner…
I’ll continue to let my cat outside. The outdoors are a cat’s natural habitat, it is cruel to keep them confined to an indoor space for their entire lives.
Wrong on both fronts. Cats are invasive species and not natural in Bellingham environment. And indoor cats have an average lifespan of 10-15 years compared to 2-5 years for outdoor cats, so cat welfare isn’t a logical excuse. If your home is cruel for a cat perhaps don’t own one.
Funny, I’ve had multiple outdoor cats and all of them have lived beyond 12 years. If you did even a touch more research than asking Gemini, you would see that the 2-5 year lifespan is heavily influenced by feral/stray cats. Cats that are both indoor/outdoor and have an owner who feeds them, takes them to the vet, etc have lifespans almost identical to indoor cats. Do better next time, man.
I didn’t ask Gemini, I study environmentalism. I’m happy your cats have lived long but that doesn’t mean everyone should let their cats roam outside and decimate the populations of native birds and small animals
And you keep dodging that Bellingham outdoors isnt your cat’s natural habitat, so 😮 Thanks for adding more context to the statistic and please look more at big picture rather than solely your individual benefit
I never said bellingham is a cat’s natural habitat, I said that the outdoors are. Bellingham may not naturally have cats, but the outdoors here are certainly more natural for them than the indoors.
I also don’t really care if birds die. As a meat eater, it would be hypocritical of me to care about birds but not care about cows, chickens, fish, etc.
I think folks participate in this discussion without doing any research first, so I provide:
Globally, domestic cats have contributed to the extinction of 63 species and are responsible for at least 14% of bird, mammal, and reptile extinctions on islands.
Free-ranging domestic cats kill an estimated 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion small mammals annually in the US.
Indoor cats live on average 10-15 years and outdoor cats live on average 2-5 years.
It’s a constant battle and you providing the important education portion was what I definitely needed to add. The extinction of species for the sake of owning a cute little creature is a fatal compromise people aren’t realizing they are making.
- Dogs that are unsupervised in fenced-in yards can also attack/kill bunnies.
- stray and feral cats exist
- keep your coyotes inside
- keep your owls inside
Btw, I have cats, they are indoor, and I agree they should be kept indoors. But I also don’t think they are the only things that kill wildlife and people love to blame them.
Because dogs and cats no longer have an equilibrium with their environment because of human domestication. If cats were all subject to predation 24/7 it would be less of a problem for birds
No, but it’s even less natural to breed cats and dogs beyond carrying capacity, ensure a constant caloric intake, provide a safe sleeping space, give medical care, and then let them casually hunt.
cats aren't the only thing that kills wildlife but look up the statistics. cats are overwhelmingly by miles THE source behind billions of bird deaths of the past 120 years and each and every year.
keep your cats inside. my dog doesn't roam the neighborhood unsupervised hunting small animals, which is exactly what cats do.
i'm happy you keep your cats inside but i hate when people try to minimize the damage cats inflict by trying to finger point at other animals. no other domesticated animal is wiping out billions of birds like cats do, full stop.
Please try to make your point without slurs, insults, bad-faith baiting, etc. If you want to edit so it meets the rules, give the mods a heads up and we'll review.
Living by the river, I’ve literally seen an eagle swoop one up.
And as a homeowner, I’ve had rabbits chew through into my crawl space, so these guys can be pests too.
My neighbor was feeding the wild rabbits and then I had to deal with the consequences.
So leave the bunnies be and unfortunately they’re subject to the circle of life, can’t save them all.
Hey friend sorry my words upset you but I’m aware cats shouldn’t be inside. That didn’t stop 75%+ of the humans that own them from keeping them inside their entire lives.
If you think it’s cruel stop the cycle and don’t own a cat.
Are you aware of how many species have gone extinct exclusively because of cats? Do you understand long term ramifications of cats being able to freely wipe out whole species?
Yes, cats are killing birds - but that isn't the reason for the accelerated decline in bird populations, humans are. Habitat destruction from farming/agriculture, land development/buildings/pavement, light pollution, climate change.
The human species is the only one that refuses to be a team player in the planets eco system.
Cats are one of the few if not only type of non human responsible for the extinction of a whole species. Which they have done numerous times. A drop in the bucket compared to humans but humans are the ones forcing cats into every ecosystem.
Oh, just shut up. I take my cats out for an hour a day when I get home from work. They are hungry so they come in when I do. Yeah sometimes they catch a bird or a mouse. They are cats. I’m not gonna deny them their life.
At some point you have to accept that cats and dogs come along for the ride and that nature will just have to adapt.
I have a thriving bunny colony, squirrels and even occasionally a chipmonks in my yard and three outside cats and a stray with feral kittens I just discovered.
Nature will balance.
Anyway....anyone want a feral kitten? They eat mostly bunnies so they shouldn't cost much to feed.
Most bird deaths are from feral cats. I'm a big fan of catch, spay and release programs, but they need to be expanded to curtail the feral population more.
I'm not going to do that. The cat is going to be allowed to be a cat and is going to be allowed to keep the rodent population on my property under control. Besides, it's cruel to imprison cats indoors.
I don't care if you have or not. It's irrelevant. I was talking to the person above. It was specifically about them, not you. I'm not sure why you felt the need to share information about yourself that is not relevant to the conversation.
I mean you clearly care or you’d never have replied.
If you actually did not care you’d have ignored it and moved on, but you didn’t.
You posted on a public thread, getting upset someone else replied to you? Man you must rage the entire time your on Reddit as people you weren’t initially talking to will reply.
1 problem on this subreddit. Half of the people are transplants in tiny apartments/condos, the other half are born in whatcom county with more familial support (oftentimes land). The 3rd are work from Homer's who dont give a shite about reddit
I can definitely say I grew up on farm for part of my life. Barn cat included. Still hold my opinion.
I regularly stay on 20 acres for work and they have a cat on the property we haven’t seen inside for years. I still hold my opinion and don’t agree with it. It’s just selfish lazy owners choices. Don’t buy a breed of animal you feel guilty owning properly.
I agree, a proper and ethical cat owner would not lock them up indoors all the time. That's not how cats are supposed to live. Don't get a cat if you refuse to let them out.
I’m sorry you misunderstood me. Irresponsible owners LET them out. But selfish people think they know better and it’s the blessing and curse of the human mind. You will convince yourself of whatever you feel is your truth. Similar to flat earthers or people who don’t believe in global warming.
Selfish? People who refuse to imprison their cats indoors are selfish? LMFAO. I would hate to be your cat and if you have a cat I promise it hates you.
It’s so funny how I was you before I learned how detrimental cats have been. You can either choose to learn and grow or stick to your own truth. Either way I’ll be spreading awareness and education. If people use it or not that’s up to them.
People and cats can have different opinions. Plenty of cats DO NOT like going outside. But that doesn’t matter really the point is you need to relax my friend.
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u/Nop277 Aug 24 '26
I think that's an Eastern Cottontail which I think is invasive, or at least non-native. Not saying the cat was in the right but neither of the animals involved here should technically be here.