THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
367 
AN ORIGINAL SUGGESTION 
September 11th, 1915. 
Editor “National Nurseryman''— 
I notice in the “New York Globe” of September 10th, 
the following article by Dr. Frank Crane, which, it seems 
to me, is of considerable interest, in its relation to the 
destruction of insect pests, and might with propriety be 
brought to the attention of the Entomologists of our Agri¬ 
cultural Department, particularly in its reference to 
tree lice, gipsy moth and bed bugs, although the latter, 
being a matter of more personal concern, might not in¬ 
terest the general public so much. 
CATS, BIRDS AND INSECTS 
By Dr. Frank Crane 
I have already written of the birds, of our duty to protect 
them, and of the immense value they are to us in destroying 
insect pests. 
At the risk of hurting the feelings of many people, it is 
necessary to emphasize the corollary of this truth; to-wit, that 
the greatest enemy to bird life is the cat. 
Cats appeal to us by their hominess, their affection for us; 
they are favorite household pests. But they are of the cat family 
just the same; blood will tell, and that family are natural born 
murderers. 
They are the thugs and gunmen of the animal world. And 
the chosen victim of the cat is the bird. 
Birds are absolutely necessary to protect us from being 
overrun with insects. 
Recent advance in scientific sanitation shows that many 
diseases, heretofore ascribed to other causes, are due to insect 
infection. Malaria, once thought to be caused by vapors from 
marshes, is now known to be communicated to us by the bite of 
a certain mosquito. Yellow fever and dengue fever are the re¬ 
sult of insect activity. The sleeping sickness in Africa is due to 
the tsetse fly. The tick fever is conveyed by ticks, and another 
form of fever by sand flies- The plague, the scourge of mankind 
for centuries, is caused by the rat flea. Leprosy has been attri¬ 
buted to bed bugs, and it is now supposed that the disease of 
measles is caused by fleas. 
If to this danger to human life we add the enormous damage 
to fruit, corn, wheat and shade trees, the case seems pretty well 
established that insects are the arch enemies of men. 
Against these foes the birds are our best defensive army. 
“A yellow throated warbler will consume 10,000 tree lice in 
one day; a scarlet tanager has been watched closely and seen to 
devour gypsy moths at the rate of thirty-five a minute for 
eighteen minutes at a time,” says Mr. Dobson of the Illinois 
Audubon Society- “By sparing the cat,” he continues, “we are 
murdering millions of birds every year and giving life to hordes 
of insects.” 
Those who own and love cats will find it difficult to believe 
this. But the facts as to bird destruction by cats is too well 
established to admit of denial. 
It’s all a question of which you prefer. Will you foster the 
cat for its purring ways? Count the cost! The average number 
of birds slain by one cat is conservatively given as fifty a year. 
You may never have seen your cat kill a song bird; but the 
feline is very sly and knows how to carry on his assassinations 
when your eye is not cn him- 
Says T. Gilbert Pearson, secretary of the National Associa¬ 
tion of Audubon Societies: 
“There is no wild bird or animal in the United States whose 
destructive inroads on our bird population is in any sense com¬ 
parable to the widespread devastation created by the domestic 
cat. 
“This creature captures wild birds at all seasons of the 
year, but it is particularly active in catching young birds imme¬ 
diately after they have left the nest and before they have yet 
gained sufficient strength of wing to escape. It is idle for lovers 
of cats to contend that it is only the half wild and unfed animals 
which indulge in bird killing. It is as natural for a cat to want 
to kill a bird as it is for a child to want candy.” 
The department, as we all know, is admirably equipped 
with a large force of inspectors through the whole coun¬ 
try, each of whom goes over his territory periodically, 
making inspections. I would suggest that to the duties 
of each of these be added that of "Gat Catcher,’ and thus 
catch the cats which catch the birds which catch the in¬ 
sect, pests. This employment would be right in line 
with their present duties. It would be no radical inno¬ 
vation. We already have, in some sections, "Dog 
Catchers” (no reference to the “yellow dogs,”) and why 
not "Cat Catchers? The benefits resulting from this 
scheme, if thoroughly worked over the entire country, 
are practically incalculable. 
To illustrate: Supposing we have one thousand in¬ 
spectors, and each destroys one cat; tin* article referred 
to estimates that this one cat would have destroyed, in 
one year, fifty birds. Now, Mr. Dobson, of the Illinois 
Audodon Society, states, (according to this article,) that 
“one bird will destroy ten thousand tree lice in one day,” 
which,—allowing the bird one day in seven to rest,— 
would figure up 156,500,000,000 tree lice destroyed each 
year by the fifty thousand birds whose lives will be 
spared providing each inspector destroys only one cat per 
year. 
Again: From the same authority we learn that another 
bird, “watched closely, has been seen to devour Gipsy 
Moths at the rate of thirty-five per minute for eighteen 
minutes at a time.” Calculating the active efforts of this 
bird at one hour per day,—thus giving it time for diges¬ 
tion,—it would devour 2100 moths per day, or. (allow¬ 
ing one day in seven for rest as before), 657.300 per year, 
and it of course follows that the saving of bird life by the 
destruction of one cat per inspector per year, on the basis 
mentioned above, would result in the destruction of 32,- 
865,000,000 Gipsy Moths in one year. 
It seems to me this is a matter of more than ordinary 
importance and one which should be given the most care¬ 
ful consideration. If my premises are correct—and I 
have tried to follow the text carefully—this plan is far 
cheaper than spraying, and much more effective. Of 
course there may be some minor difficulties: For in¬ 
stance, to corral a vigorous full-grown cat might require 
some strenuous exertion, but as many inspectors are 
fresh from college and football, I think they would be 
equal to the task. In cases where cats may take refuge 
in cellars or hay-mows, and stubbornly refuse to come 
forth and be killed, such cat-infested houses and barns 
might be burned; the owner, if not sufficiently public- 
spirited to bear the loss for the public good, might be in¬ 
demnified. Even allowing a wide margin for such ex¬ 
pense it would be far cheaper than spraying. 
But, I fancy I hear some one say. “if cats were all de¬ 
stroyed we would be over-run with rats and mice, which 
leads me to suggest that the usefulness ol the inspector 
might be still further increased by making him a Rat¬ 
catcher” as well. This. I understand, is already a recog¬ 
nized vocation in some sections. I his arrangement 
would be an advantage to the inspector in many ways; he 
could devote his time during tin 1 rainy days in summer 
and the cold days in winter, to indoor work catching cats 
and rats and mice, and the fine weather to field work, 
thus giving him useful employment during practically the 
entire year. 
These ideas are entirely my ow n. I have not applied 
for a patent, and shall not do so. Ion are at liberty to 
use them in any way you see lit. for the benefit ol the 
public. Very Respectfully, 
A. Subscriber. 
