Dear Dr. Fox: I would like to offer a suggestion to C.B.S. of Salisbury, Md., who had the problem of neighborhood cats hanging around the birdhouses and feeders.
Try laying down chicken wire on the ground under them in whatever diameter needed. It's said that cats don't like the feel on their paws; and the birds can still feed off the ground.
My birds have learned to be somewhat aware of my cats -- I have eight. Luckily, the cats have outgrown stalking the birds, but I still try not to encourage ground feeders.
I used the chicken wire a few years ago when a Carolina wren insisted on nesting on my kitchen window ledge. All seven babies flew off safely, so it must have at least helped.
It's worth giving the chicken wire a try; but, truthfully, controlling outside cats is next to impossible.
S.R.C, GREAT FALLS, VA.
Dr. Fox says: Thanks for the good advice. Free-roaming cats that kill birds and other wildlife are an abomination. It isn't their fault, of course -- they are simply following their natural hunting instincts. It is the responsibility of the cat owner to raise cats to enjoy indoor life and perhaps an outdoor enclosure or cat-proof yard.
On a related topic: In colder states, protect birds during the winter by placing ½-inch wire netting over their birdbaths, so they can drink but not bathe. Birds have bathed in warm water, which was kept warm by an immersion heater, then have flown off and frozen to death in the very cold weather. In order to keep warm, birds need to drink a lot of water in the winter because their metabolism is up.
