On 02/08/2011 13:39, Kathy wrote:
"Spider" wrote in message
...
On 31/07/2011 13:54, Kathy wrote:
"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2011-07-30 22:34:24 +0100, "Bertie Doe"
said:



"Roger Tonkin" wrote in message
...

Another pile of bluetit feathers this morning!

Whilst I accept that sparrowhawks need to eat and survive, I feel
that
by feeding the tits, I am encouraging them and giving the
sparrowhawk an
easy meal.

Many years ago (N.London) a sparrow hawk attack was thwarted by the
squirrel-proof bars on our peanut feeder and the BTs lived to fly
another day.

Last week (now E.Cornwall) a sparrow was not so lucky. As I emerged
from the kitchen door a SH pounced. On seeing me, it was unable to
perform an instant kill, so flew off carrying the hapless sparrow
....... alive!!

I'm told that they don't actually kill. They eat their prey alive.
Fluffy-wuffy Naturekins doesn't exist, I'm afraid!

I was once told that the reason cats play with their catches is to see
if it's fit to eat! Apparently, if it dies too quick, there may be
something wrong with it, and make them ill. Don't know if there is any
truth in this, but it might explain why sometimes I am confronted with
an unmarked corpse and at others an unidentifiable heap of innards.


There may very well be some truth in this, but cats 'play' with birds
as a training technique. A mother cat will deliver a healthy (or
slightly wounded bird) to her kittens in order to train them how to
kill/hunt. A female (neutered) cat of mine rarely killed birds, but
held them captive between her paws until I rescued them. *I* was
supposed to be the kitten, of course, but I 'failed' to learn the
killing technique (usually a neck bite) and released the bird instead.

Cats are efficient. Owners who understand their cats may be more so. I
have lost track of the number of birds and mice I have mercifully
released unharmed.

Unmarked corpses and unidentifiable innards often simply denote
hunting for food v hunting by inexperienced and ineffective kits. Cats
rarely hunt for sport.

My two are no longer kits, though one is fairly thick. Alfie is the main
hunter, and usually kills quickly and efficiently. He is also the one
who leaves me the icky presents. Charlie brings everything in alive and
lets it go. If I can get to it before Alfie, it's safe.

Mind you, bending down to change their water one morning and finding a
very large, ****ed off frog residing in it was a bit of a shock :-}



:~) Oh yes, I've rescued a few frogs in the past. Unfortunately,
Panther returns straight to the pond to fish for it again. Haven't seen
any frogs for about three years, and I don't think it's all Panther's
fault. We have seen lots of crows/ravens here (still can't tell the
difference!), so maybe they've been picking off the poor little critters
:~(.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay