Outdoor Cats are the biggest threat to birds and small mammals. Watch Real World Green and learn how to keep your cat safe and the birds alive.

Video Transcription

Real World Green is brought to you by Primo Water. Bottles made form plants not crude oil learn more at primowater.com. Hey everyone! I am Eric Rochow and this is Real World Green. Got a question for you. What do you think is the largest killer of birds in United States today? If you're going to say those giant wind turbine things, you would be wrong. Even that there is a big controversy about that every one thinks are killing birds with these giant wind turbines. Actually, there are two other things that kill more birds than wind turbines. Wind turbines don't kill so many birds. Bulldozers and cats. Bulldozers because we are using bulldozers to destroy habitat of the birds living and then we build subdivisions. And then cats because when we move into these subdivisions we bring our cats and we let our cats out into the yard. Cats kill is estimated hundreds of millions of birds a year and the scientist estimate that cats kill a billion small mammals a year. Some say that having a cat on the yard, well that's just the laws of nature that's the way the animal kingdom works. But the reality is that cats are not native to north America. Cats are actually from Egypt and we brought them here in the 1800s. And cats have an unfair advantage to the animals out in the force towards your yard. Cats are well fed; they got to come in at night. They see a vat on a regular basis. So they are very healthy and robust and they are ready to go out there and hunt. Cats also well fed cats still have the urge to hunt. The feeding part is in a different part of the cat brain, than the hunting part. I learn this on the web there be a link here to learn about that. They did a study -- squeaking driving you crazy. The scientist did a study where they had six cats in a room. They put cat food out, the cats were happily eating and then they put a rat in the room. The cats stopped eating, killed the rat and then went back to eating the cat food. So there is two different things going on here. They want to eat and they want to hunt. So well fed cats will still hunt. Also, you may not realize this but a cat is being declawed this is my sign for declawed, will still hunt birds. In Kansas, they did a study at this and the declawed cat they had killed more birds than the cats with claws. So something to think about there. Also cats with bells on their collars. Well, birds don't associate bells with danger. And also cats that have bells on their collars learn to move silently. They are hunters that's what they do. They are like preying through the grass much like their ancestors in Africa preyed through the African desert. One cool thing about cats and pets in general is that people that have pets be they cats, dogs, parrots whatever are generally healthier people then people that don't have pets. I mean I have pets and you come home from work or whatever and you got your little buddy there and they are waging their tail or I think cats don't lift like their tail I know. But you know they are there and they acknowledge you and you sit in the couch and they sit on your lap. You know what's not to like about that and you just feel better. And I really like that about animals and people. There is this I know the word is coalescing or whatever but be it a cat or a dog but it's a really plus I think to have animals like that. I just think that we need to be responsible about having cats and dogs in the world. So the experts are great. An indoor cat is a lot healthier and a lot safer then an outdoor cat. Outdoor cats they can get lost, they can get sick, they can get things like rabies. The can get hit by cars, I mean it's a bad thing. There was one thing on the web that I read and I want to read it to you. A cat crossing the living room floor is a lot safer than a cat crossing a street. And think about that, you know you would want to come home, you want your little buddy to be there. You don't want to worry about they are lost, they get hit by something, something bad happens to them. This is one of those simple things that we can be happy and we can be healthy and we can also have an ecosystem that maybe flourishes a little bit. So the responsibility really resides with us. If you want to enjoy a wildlife and we want to enjoy our cats, we should keep our cats indoors. They are going to be healthier, they are going to safer. So keep your cats close, keep them safe and you both sleep better I am sure. Alright, come to the Green House, green-house.tv. Let me know what you think alright. Make it a great day. I'll see you later.