Originally posted by BruceBanner Feral cats are one of the major invasive species in Australia and have been linked to the decline and extinction of various native animals. They have been shown to cause a significant impact on ground-nesting birds and small native mammals.
Bird/nature lovers in the USA have been pointing out for a long time that domestic cats, whether house pets or feral, are a major threat to small birds. The insidious thing about the lovable felines is that they cannot be fed out of interest in hunting and killing. As with humans, they kill for the fun of it.
Our present kitty, Annabelle, has largely aged beyond active hunting, although she cannot resist a fledgling bird that's on the ground. A fluffy Persian we had, Laura, was a ruthless hunter and as good at it as many a more svelte feline (she was plump, we called her the "pear with hair"). One good side - she did get numerous mice that entered our house. On the failed side, she knew about mice that were living in our roll about dishwasher, but never managed to catch them. And they'd scurry out in the wee hours to steal Laura's dry cat food!