A feral cat in the wild
I woke up this morning to find a puddle of blood on my back porch. To the right of it was a smaller area of blood. Looking up upon my back wall I saw what was left of a mutilated bunny. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out it was a feral cat that killed the poor little thing.
This hasn’t been the only animal my husband and I have found lately in our backyard ~ a red cardinal ripped apart and other rabbits ripped apart.
My husband’s first reaction is to be mad at the cat for killing the innocent bunny. A few years ago, we were attempting to take care of a pigeon that was injured. We do know what we are doing to take care of him. But the one big mistake we made was to keep “Pidger” outside in a secured box with some holes for air. It was summertime and he was in that box on our table on our back porch.
I remember my husband waking me around 5 something in the morning to tell me that “Pidger” was dead ~ completely ripped apart. We were attached to this bird. He liked us. He was finally able to fly for short distances but always came back to feel safe. He always stayed in the vicinity of our house but he was getting better. He knew us. He liked us. We knew the day would come when he wouldn’t fly “home” anymore.
When I saw what was left of Pidger I felt so sick knowing it was a cat that did this deed. How did we know for sure it was a cat? For one , their was cat fur in the box. You could tell it was a nasty death for the bird. Secondly, my husband put the same box out the next night with baking flour inside of it. The next morning ~ what did we find ~ white cat footprints all over our back porch. He was looking for the few remaining scraps of Pidger but we buried him. We did catch the cat in a live trap the next day.. It was a pure feral cat who was so nasty and uncontrollable. He was taken to the Humane Society.
My husband’s response as I said was to hate the cat this morning. My response is one of anger towards the people who won’t take responsibility for their cats. If you have a cat, keep him inside. You are contributing to the feral cat population and all the damage they do. They are prolific breeders and you have free roaming cats everywhere. They have to fend for themselves. It’s not their fault by killing these creatures – it’s what they do to survive.
By letting your cat outside you are exposing your cat to many diseases that can make them sick or die. They also can bring back into your home illnesses that can affect you. Some examples are rabies, mange and mites that have to be exterminated professionally if brought into your home.
What is wrong with people? If you take a feral cat to a shelter, it will be euthanized. They don’t have the resources to rehabilitate them. I saw it firsthand. As soon as people would bring in feral cats, they went directly back to the euthanasia room. It’s heartwrenching and I hated to see it.
If you have a cat, keep him/her inside and have them spayed or neutered. It is estimated that there are 70 million feral cats in the U.S.
I don’t blame the cat for what he did to the bunny but I am angry at those who won’t take responsibility for the cats they do have!