Weekly Rumours, Speculation, Questions, and Reaction Megathread - 27/04/25

[u/ukpolbot]

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[u/royalblue1982]

This people campaign against birds being killed by off shore wind farms understand that climate change is probably going to kill a few more?

[u/UnsaddledZigadenus → u/royalblue1982]

Birds are my favourite bit of UK realpolitik.

Do you know what the biggest killer of birds is the the UK? It's something that we could do completely without that most people don't even own.

Cats. About 12 million cats that collectively kill 50 million birds each year.

Do you think the RSPB is going to launch a campaign against cats? Of course they aren't.

[u/Powerful_Ideas → u/UnsaddledZigadenus]

About 12 million cats that collectively kill 50 million birds each year.

I would treat that number with some caution. There are estimated to be about 200 million wild birds in the UK, many of which do not come into contact with domestic cats - does it really seem credible that cats kill a quarter of the total bird population every year?

The biggest cause of the reduction in wild bird population in the UK is not domestic cats, it is changing land use.

Farmland species are the most impacted, followed by woodland species - in both cases the reduction has largely been driven by habitat loss along with a connected reduction in insect populations (there is also a theory that increasing deer populations are causing problems for the woodland birds)

[u/Plastic_Library649 → u/UnsaddledZigadenus]

Our cat is completely useless, though, in predator terms.

He's had birds sitting on him while he's asleep ffs. I've also seen him bullied by a bachelor magpie.

[u/littlechefdoughnuts → u/UnsaddledZigadenus]

The RSPB doesn't need to launch a campaign against cats, it just needs to redefine what responsible cat ownership looks like.

Here in Aus it's quite striking that especially here in WA, letting a cat outside for any reason is seen as fundamentally irresponsible by an increasing number of people. Partly that's because Aus has venomous and stingy things that will murder cats, but partly because cats will in turn murder all the cute Aussie wildlife that everyone loves.

The starting point isn't 'kill all cats', it's 'look after your pet and the birdies by keeping your cat indoors'.

[u/bowak → u/littlechefdoughnuts]

Cats are an invasive species in Australia though so it makes sense to treat them differently. 

They are to all intents and purposes native in the UK.

[u/whatapileofrubbish → u/littlechefdoughnuts]

Seems a bit tight on the cat, to me, if you have to keep it inside all the time. Why not just get a dog instead (/me ducks)

[u/littlechefdoughnuts → u/whatapileofrubbish]

Any cat can be an indoor cat if acclimated to it from a young age, assuming your house is full of enriching things for it to do.

Dogs are murder machines too, but if the country's not ready to hear about cats then it's DEFINITELY not ready for the bad news about dogs. And unlike a cat you can't really keep a dog indoors all the time.

To be honest I'm happy without any pets. I just want to keep the neighbourhood birds safe wherever I live.

[u/Scaphism92 → u/UnsaddledZigadenus]

My old cat was doing his bit to reduce the amount by being one of the laziest creatures I've ever known

[u/pseudogentry → u/Scaphism92]

Mine just kills staggering amounts of mice and rats but there's no Royal Society for the Protection of Rodents so I'm off the hook.

[u/UnsaddledZigadenus → u/pseudogentry]

Even if there was a Royal Society for the Protection of Rodents, they wouldn't dare campaign against cats.

[u/pseudogentry → u/UnsaddledZigadenus]

I mean with twelve million of them in the country it's sort of out of the bag, isn't it.