Cats kill up to 10 times more wildlife than natural predators -- so keep them indoors

[hunter]

11. We have coyotes in our neighborhood that are damned near invisible.

I tell this to neighbors who let their cats roam free but some don't believe me.

Automobiles are another danger. Worse, it seems to me that some drivers are sociopaths who run over animals on purpose.

When I was a kid my parents owned a small orchard with outdoor cats who roamed free. The coyotes took a quite a few of them and this was considered normal. You didn't want to get too attached to the outdoor cats, not any more than you'd get attached to the pigs.

Our indoor cats were wary of the outdoors. My grandma took her cat out on a leash.

We have a bird feeder, but sometimes I think it's really a feeder for the hawks and falcons. We attract a lot of collared doves (which are not a native species) that the hawks and falcons find quite tasty.

Keeping our garden friendly to birds seems to reduce insect pests considerably. We don't use insecticides.

Our dogs chase away any cats that might venture into our yard but they are indifferent to birds.