This is a high quality picture of my cat and the pigeon that he killed while I was out at the gym. He kills pigeons by suffocating them with a throat bite much like lions killing large prey. Usually domestic cats kill birds with a neck bite which breaks the spinal cord. The cat ‘feels’ the vertebrae with his vibrissae (whiskers) and inserts his canine teeth in between them.
It is not nice to see and I don’t like it but I have to accept it. All cat owners do. For him it’s as natural as walking in the garden which is surrounded by a cat confinement fence. It’s also good for him as it is stimulating and a way of expressing his natural desires.
The danger for pigeons is that they spend time on the ground eating bird seed which has fallen from the bird feeder. Pigeons appear to be less alert than other birds. My cat has killed three now, all in the same away; a stalk and rapid rush to a bird which is blissfully unaware of the dangers until it is too late. Without wanting to be too gory, it takes about 2 minutes for the bird to die of suffocation. My cat had made no effort to eat it. The bird was completely intact. This is inline with what people who dislike cats often mention; domestic cats kill for ‘fun’ and ‘torture’ their prey. They don’t torture prey and they don’t kill for fun. The cat is programmed to hunt whether hungry or not. Humans are programmed to do lots of things which might be seen as strange to an alien such as being addicted to smart phones and text messages or allowing themselves to get fat and unhealthy. Oh, and slowly destroying the planet that keeps them alive.
I have said it before and will take this opportunity to say it again, birds are not the primary prey of the domestic cat. Rodents are easier to catch and are preferred.
My cat thanks you for the compliment.
Yes, the exaggeration on bird predation by cats is legendary. The ornithologists will use any way possible to cull feral cats and force legislation changes to make all domestic cats indoor cats. Hope you are well.
Super portrait.
Frog. Ticked Tabby (Tabbinese Tiger)
I consider pigeons flying rats. And all I could thinks was what a pretty ticked tabby you have. I’ve seen as many dogs kill birds as I have cats. Cats have inbred hunting instincts and many breeds of dogs were bred for hunting and still retain that trait.
My ever ignorant SIL and her husband brought home about 10 gazillion pigeons and then when they got tired of caring for them simply released them. I have a long stick I use to tip the nests as I’ve found it’s the best way to control the population. We had cats coming here to hunt and I was glad of it. They made a mess of the bird feeders and everything in the yard.
The quick little songbirds and other native species were seldom victims.
Another problem with this problem of blaming cats is people’s enhanced tendency to exaggerate, stereotype, generalize, snap judge, think in terms of black and white and generally just be pissy. I know that’s not a word but we get it.