My sister was just on vacation from her residency (she is a veterinarian) and visiting out east.  Per usual, the topic of conversation swung in the direction of animals.  I commented on the total absence of chipmunks this summer from the wooded areas where we used to see them.  My sister’s first thought was of all the predatory cats outdoors.  It never occurred to me that cute kitties could be responsible for massacring even cuter chipmunks. But my sister played the “dr” card so I believed her… but decided to some research on the side.  What I discovered is summarized in the title and here:

That’s right your mr.fluffy-kitty-angel turns psycho killer once it gets outdoors.  A recently released study employing kitty-cams at the University of Georgia found that  30% of cats killed when released from the house and that the time they spent outside had nothing to do with the number or frequency of kills.  It seems that 30% was just out to kill!  And they were successful – killing about 2 critters per week.  Of those, birds were the least successfully hunted.

Indeed, small mammals were the second largest group killed.  I guess that explains the chipmunks… Or it could be the deforestation. Not surprisingly, chipmunk population is correlated to acorns.

In all, there are about 170 million cats in the U.S.  None are native.  It is relevant to mention here that cats are a predator species – they hunt other animals – and that they are not native – giving their prey (and so the entire natural environment) an extraordinary disadvantage in terms of adaptation.

Approximately 1/2 of cats are domesticated (with owners and homes).  1/2 of those are indoor cats – the owners keep them inside. 1/2 are outdoor cats, allowed out to prey on native species.  The stray and/or feral cat population are all outdoors hunting.  For feral cats, there seem to be two not so great options: trapping, neutering and re-releasing ferals keeps them off the streets for a short time and from becoming repeat offenders down the line, while trapping and euthanizing feral cats is permanent (though more difficult).  It seems the easiest thing we can do – at least the cat owners among us – is to keep our cats inside.

Quick tip to preserve the natural environment: Keep cats indoors especially in rural areas or areas where birds nest in the ground (such as our local piping plover).  Read more about cat care for nature lovers at the American Bird Conservancy.