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Cats and their prey
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Elizabeth Segel's "Animal Tales" piece ("Crows, Hawks, Geese Can Make the Mind Take Flight in Winter," Jan. 30 Portfolio) was something to crow about! It thrills me, too, to see large flocks of any kinds of birds. I always open my window to catch the haunting calls of passing geese in classic "V" formation. But a murder of crows is equally fascinating -- there's a large vanguard followed by smaller groups, then stragglers bringing up the rear.
As to Cooper's hawks, I had the misfortune to find one dead on my front walk, likely a victim of my car window. The intricate pattern of its feathers was gorgeous. Carnegie Museum naturalists identified it as a juvenile female Cooper's.
But my real reason for writing is the PG's other article about cuddly and deadly cats ("That Cuddly Kitty Is Deadlier Than You Might Think," Jan. 30). In the last decade, roaming neighborhood cats have decimated most of the wildlife I used to enjoy on my property. It's about time that the cycle of trap, neuter and return be seen for what it is -- the primary cause of the decrease in populations of small wildlife that cats prey upon.
J. GREY
Shaler
First Published February 2, 2013 12:00 am
