Greetings, Cats and their feeding habits are interesting. My observations over the years is they differ so much. My family has two cats.. my daughters. And she and her husband love and care for them. The two cats are Sterling and Rossie.. a Silver tabby and a Bombay.. seemingly. Rossie, the Bombay, is very black, quiet, loving and peaceful. Has remained small in size not much larger than a juvenile cat... Adopted in Washington, D.C. one February and was not expected to survive. Ten years later she is still enjoying life in North Atlanta.. Is fascinated with nature and loves to inspect everything. But she is not destructive.. of wild life. I have never seen her stalk or try to catch a bird or animal even when the bird was on the patio right in front of her. All the family would agree with this. However, Sterling, the silver tabby, is our action cat.. Also small in size, we have seen her stalk a huge Doberman who lived next door at one time. Well fed at home, it doesn't matter. She brings in butterflies, grasshoppers, frogs, voles, mice and yes, at times regretfully birds. Oh and I left out snakes.. right through the pet door. She is loved and is loving. Loves nature and prowling at night.. My daughter got special treats so Sterling would come in when called. And when she is let out they try to monitor her.. But if a leaf moves she chases it.. So she is drawn to movement. A Cooper hawk could probably carry her away. She is just a little larger than a gray squirrel without the squirrel's tail. We all love birds, feed birds and my daughter has put her feeders in a position where they can monitor them especially when Sterling is out. But these cats are part of the family and we love them. I have noticed feral cats have certain areas in the fields around me that they go to stalk different animals. One gray and white cat has not been to my feeders this year but it ate a lot of juncos, doves, and two juvenile robins during one year's time. Another feral cat is often seen in the field evidently stalking mice and what ever lives in the holes there. The same cat is always seen in about the same field area. I have no idea where these feral cats live.. one neighbor cared for stray cats.. but that seems to have diminished over the last few years. The feral cat population seems to have diminished too. It is sad to see these stray cats. The kittens often are killed by one of the other cats.. It is difficult to get help to care for them in small communities. But I have found personality differences in cats.. and their behavior towards birds as well as their stalking habits. And perhaps this is wishful thinking, but I do hope that more cats are like the Bombay in our family and the field mouse stalker. And that maybe all cats are getting a bad name for killing birds due to cats like Sterling. Alsothe gray and white feral bird catcher.. this one ate them all but a few feathers. Thelma Hughes Cumbie Herndon Chapter, Elizabethton, TN Buladean, NC Mitchell County =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================