89 



other rodents; (3) to catch birds and game for their owners; 

 (4) to catch mice and rabbits to protect orchards; (5) to keep 

 birds away from strawberries. 



The keeping of cats as companions or pets, however impor- 

 tant it may be, is a matter of sentiment and does not come within 

 the scope of this paper, except as it tends to increase the market 

 value of the cat. Many cats are carefully housed, confined and 

 bred for exhibition at cat shows, and some of them sell for high 

 prices, but we have the testimony of some cat breeders that most 

 of these high-bred cats have little if any desire to catch rats or 

 mice. Angora cats are said to let birds alone, but I have evi- 

 dence from several observers proving that some Angora cats are 

 very destructive to birds. 



People who keep cats which are trained to bring in birds and 

 game have no right to the possession of birds or game protected 

 by law. They are law breakers and should be treated as such. 



Farmers who feed grain to cattle, horses, pigs and fowls often 

 feel that they must keep cats to catch rats and mice in their 

 barns and poultry houses, as they find it less troublesome and 

 expensive to keep a few cats that are practically self-supporting 

 than to attempt to catch or kill rats. Many farmers see only the 

 good that cats do as ratcatchers, and do not realize how much 

 they may lose indirectly through the killing of insectivorous 

 birds by cats. All who raise chickens desire to protect them 

 against cats. Many cat lovers are bird lovers also, and many 

 people who keep cats as pets wish to prevent them from killing 

 birds. In response to many inquiries I have received much 

 advice regarding these matters. The replies may be summarized 

 as follows: — 



Method recommended. 



Number 



recommending 



it. 



Kill the cat, 



Confine the cat, 



Feed the cat well 



Feed the cat raw meat, 



Feed the cat no raw meat, 



Keep the cat on leash 



Bell the cat 



Use care in placing food for birds, 



Bird-boxes on iron pii)e, ........... 



Cat guards on trees and nest-box poles 



Barbed wire on trees, 



Thorny shrubs or vines to keep cat out of grounds or away from bird-houses. 

 Deep nesting boxes, ............ 



Nesting boxes placed high 



Keep only light-colored cats, 



Chicken wire about food tables 



Air gun, stones, tin cans, torpedoes, etc., . . . . . 



Electrocution, 



Dogs, 



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