On Fri, 30 Mar 2001, S.B. Feldman, MD, wrote
>
>The house cats are not native to the ecosystem of North America and as such
>when outdoors they pose a real threat to the many migratory birds that are
>endangered. It is natural for these cats to hunt, hungry or not, and their
>introduction in the 19th century for pest control has had a negative impact
>on these migratory species. <A
HREF="http://www.birdsource.org/birdcast/index.html">BirdCast</A> is a site
where this is explained as
>well as being one where you can participate in ornithologic radar
>developments.
   It's just possible that cats will soon no longer be such a threat to
migratory birds - at least in the suburbs of Dallas that used to be
farmland. There was a story on Channel 11 in Dallas on Friday night that
said that coyotes are eating pet cats & small dogs.
   Humans take the land from the coyotes. Household cats hunt the migratory
birds (and possibly the squirrels). Coyotes eat the pets. Sounds like we're
still maintaining the predatory musical chairs, & humans are reaping
payback time. Of course, we'll probably have a knee-jerk reaction & "solve
the problem" by killing off the "urban coyote," which will probably kill
off more pet dogs who can't tell the difference between real & poisoned
food because they really don't groove on "kibbles & bits."
   Oh, what a web we weave.

Mary Anne Unger