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Mr. Henry Nehrling, a well-known writer on American birds 

 and bird protection, goes so far as to say: "They do more harm to 

 our familiar garden birds than all other enemies combined." 

 Baron Hans von Berlepsch, perhaps the greatest authority on 

 bird protection, asserts: "We may as well give up protection of 

 birds about our gardens and houses, so long as we tolerate cats 

 outside the buildings;" and concludes: "Therefore, against all 

 cats found loitering outside of buildings, the most relentless war 

 of extermination." 



Destruction of Mammals and Lower Animals by Cats. 



During such research as I have been able to make through 

 the literature of the subject, it has become evident that natur- 

 alists and writers on rats and ratcatching, and writers on sport 

 and gamekeeping, almost invariably belittle the cat as a rat- 

 catcher, but admit that it catches many mice and much game. 

 Even the health authorities in various countries who have had to 

 take up rat destruction in the seaports of the world in order to 

 check the bubonic plague do not, as a rule, seem to appreciate 

 the cat's assistance. Occasionally one is found who gives the 

 cat credit for good work, but this is the exception, and I find very 

 little evidence anywhere that cats destroy other predatory 

 animals. No one of my correspondents records a hawk, fox, 

 raccoon or mink as killed by a cat. One records one attack on a 

 skunk. It was not repeated. Three tell of weasels killed by 

 cats, one of a woodchuck and one of a muskrat, but the harmless 

 or useful mammals appear to be killed in great numbers; also 

 squirrels and rabbits. 



Squirrels. 

 We find that 196 observers report many squirrels killed by 

 cats. Mr. William Brewster says that almost all the chipmunks, 

 most of the red squirrels and many gray squirrels are killed an- 

 nually wherever cats roam freely and numerously. Cats have 

 exterminated the chipmunks on my farm, but have not been 

 numerous enough to make much impression on the numbers of 

 the more arboreal squirrels. I have seen cats carrying very large 

 gray squirrels, but the larger ones will sometimes whip a cat and 

 drive it away. 



Hares and Rabbits. 

 The number of observers reporting that cats kill many rabbits 

 is 149. The majority of these rabbits (hares) are young cotton- 

 tails, but many adults are killed, and some of the larger northern 



