Something is eating the baby birds in my yard!

[PoultryQueen29]

I know this isn't about chickens but I need some help. I am a huge bird lover and every year I take time to locate nests and I watch as they are built and the eggs are laid. I always keep my distance from the nest so I don't attract attention, but the last few years none of the nests have been surviving. Every single nest close to the ground, except wren and mockingbird nests, gets raided. The wrens are very sneaky and even I can't find them and the mockingbirds attack everything that comes near their nests. So far I have lost a mother cardinal and her two babies, another mother cardinal and her three eggs, and just last night I lost a mother song sparrow along with her beautiful nest of five babies who just opened their eyes and got all of their feathers in. Right now I have one more cardinal nest that is fairly exposed and has two eggs being incubated that I want to save, and I think it is my neighbors cat who is to blame for the deaths, She is an outdoor cat who has broken into my screened in porch at night before and who I constantly see sneaking around my yard. She roams the neighborhood even though that is against our HOA rules and I have seen her pouncing at birds before, but never raiding a nest. Any ideas as to whether the killer is her or not or how I can protect my nests? Please help!

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is no telling what it is. There are so many different possibilities. In nature, songbirds, their eggs, and chicks are prey for snakes, raccoons, possum, skunks, foxes, other birds, rats, abd other things. Even squirrels will raid bird nests. That’s why they lay so many eggs. A small percentage actually makes it to adulthood.

Still that cat or another one is really high in the suspect list. It’s circumstantial evidence but the cat is really pretty high up there.

Legally I don’t know what you can do. Even if the cat is not supposed to roam by HOA rules, you could be putting yourself at legal risk if you harm the cat in any way. Each city, county, and even state have their own laws about that. Some people will say you should be able to do this or that, but "should" doesn’t do you much good when you’re trying to raise bail on an animal cruelty charge. Reality can be quite different than fantasy.

If you complain to anyone, you set yourself up as a prime suspect if anything happens to that cat.

You have different options, none of them really good. You could talk to the owners but reality is they probably won’t do anything. I have no idea what your HOA might do if you talk to them. They might just be waiting for a complaint to enforce their rules. They might totally ignore you.

You could talk to your animal control. They probably don’t care what the HOA rules are but will go by city or county laws. Since it is wild birds and not your pets, they probably won’t do anything, though they may loan you a trap.

There is a faction on this forum that will tell you to SSS, Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up. In appropriate circumstances that can be a pretty good option. I’ll admit nothing but under appropriate circumstances that can work. The problem with the Shut up part is not that it applies to you but also anyone that might see you. I can control what I say but that busybody down the road, well, I sometimes need to be careful. That “Shoot” could mean many things other than actually shooting it, like trapping.

Some people will even come on here and tell you how you can shoot it in the middle of suburbia and not get caught. Now that’s mature, shooting a deadly weapon within range of mothers with babies in their arms, especially when it is often people with no experience with guns they are telling how to use them. I’m not anti-gun at all. I use a gun. I’m anti being stupid with guns, which threatens our rights if it gets enough people thinking we’re all like that.

I think you have two viable options. One is to complain to your HOA. That may or may not do any good.

The other is to trap the cat and get rid of it. This might have legal implications for you, even if you trap it on your property and turn it in to animal control. Permanently removing it can have really severe penalties if you get caught. Or it may be perfectly legal where you are. I don’t know.

I really don’t think you can do enough to harass the cat and keep it away. You can’t be out there 100% of the time protecting the nests.

Good luck! It’s not an easy problem, especially with someone else’s pet.

 

[heidisue]

You could try talking to your neighbors or report it to your hoa or the pound. It is most likely the cat. Studies have shown even well fed house cats average just over 100 kills each year if let outside

There are scarecrow sprinklers you could try. They work well against cats and dogs, but they might spray the birds too. They shoot water at movement so it will work like a water gun.

 

[GoldieChicken]

I'm sorry about your birds. It may be the cat - very likely is. Blue Jays are also known to eat baby birds. It is a shame...they are lovely to look at but learning their dietary habits soured me on them and I can't stand the sight of them now.

As for the cat, I would recommend talking with its owner and nicely reminding him/her that the cat needs to be confined to the home and not allowed to roam the nighborhood. Also, check into your rights. If something is coming into your yard and killing something else, you are within your rights (at least by my HOA) to terminate that something. It is strongly recommended to communicate with the neighbor first, then call animal control, but if it occurs again, you are likely within your rights to take further measures. Nobody likes to cause bad feelings in their neighborhood, but sometimes individuals don't take HOA rules seriously or simply don't think anyone will say anything.

We had a situation occur here a month ago. Our neighbors dogs kept getting out and running the neighborhood. They squeezed through my gate, killed one of my hens and injured another. The owners were well aware of the leash law and were unapologetic when I took the dead hen to visit them, strongly advising them to lock their dogs up. It took two visits from animal control, who warned them that we were well within our rights to kill any animal that comes onto our property - and that the HOA firmly discourages animals being left to roam at will. So check your HOA handbook and see what your rights are before proceeding.

Good luck!

 

[blucoondawg]

If it is the cat what the neighbors are doing is very likely illegal, allowing a dog or cat to roam on property where it doesn't belong is usually illegal in most areas as well as it is illegal to allow your animal to attack and kill wild animals. Where I live it is even illegal to allow your hunting dog to attack an animal, it is only supposed to track and hold the animal at bay for the hunter to make the clean kill.

 

[Mattemma]

For me it has been house sparrows that kill off the blue birds to get the nests. If it is dogs or cats you should get rid of them.Song bird death from cats is a problem.Roamers should be caught.

 

[GuppyTJ]

Another option which I don't think has been mentioned is the anonymous letter. My neighbor where I used to live was sort-of the sheriff of our little part of the community. After I moved away, he told me how he resolved an animal issue that I remember well. He typed an anonymous letter and put it in their mailbox at night. The problem just mysteriously went away one day and I never knew why until my neighbor told me years later. He used this method because the neighbor in question was not nice and he was afraid the neighbor would retaliate if he told him directly. Yet, the problem needed to be dealt with and this was the method he chose. I'm not saying I necessarily agree with this method. Yet, I admit, I did nothing to try to resolve the issue except be annoyed and irritated on a regular basis. My neighbor at least did something, which is more than I can say for myself.

In addition, in your case, is it possible the person doesn't know their cat is going about killing things and would be glad to know this so they can stop the cat from doing it.? If it were me, I'd want to know in any way the person feels comfortable that I'm annoying someone. It's the things I don't know about that I can't fix. Those I'm told about, I can work on those.

Guppy

 

[Iluvmallards]

Where I live unwanted dogs and cats are dumped regularly, at one time there were so many they scratch the you now what out of the side of my truck trying to get on it to get warm, I have a neighbor that feeds them, they were getting up under my camper in the insulation and sleeping also, I trapped a few and took them to the pound, now i have chickens so I bought a BB gun give it few pumps not enough to brake the skin but give a sting, they now stay away from my house, I think they tell all their friends as well bc I haven't seen a cat down here in a long time

 

[Kuhlmaster]

There is no telling what it is. There are so many different possibilities. In nature, songbirds, their eggs, and chicks are prey for snakes, raccoons, possum, skunks, foxes, other birds, rats, abd other things. Even squirrels will raid bird nests. That’s why they lay so many eggs. A small percentage actually makes it to adulthood.

Still that cat or another one is really high in the suspect list. It’s circumstantial evidence but the cat is really pretty high up there.

Legally I don’t know what you can do. Even if the cat is not supposed to roam by HOA rules, you could be putting yourself at legal risk if you harm the cat in any way. Each city, county, and even state have their own laws about that. Some people will say you should be able to do this or that, but "should" doesn’t do you much good when you’re trying to raise bail on an animal cruelty charge. Reality can be quite different than fantasy.

If you complain to anyone, you set yourself up as a prime suspect if anything happens to that cat.

You have different options, none of them really good. You could talk to the owners but reality is they probably won’t do anything. I have no idea what your HOA might do if you talk to them. They might just be waiting for a complaint to enforce their rules. They might totally ignore you.

You could talk to your animal control. They probably don’t care what the HOA rules are but will go by city or county laws. Since it is wild birds and not your pets, they probably won’t do anything, though they may loan you a trap.

There is a faction on this forum that will tell you to SSS, Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up. In appropriate circumstances that can be a pretty good option. I’ll admit nothing but under appropriate circumstances that can work. The problem with the Shut up part is not that it applies to you but also anyone that might see you. I can control what I say but that busybody down the road, well, I sometimes need to be careful. That “Shoot” could mean many things other than actually shooting it, like trapping.

Some people will even come on here and tell you how you can shoot it in the middle of suburbia and not get caught. Now that’s mature, shooting a deadly weapon within range of mothers with babies in their arms, especially when it is often people with no experience with guns they are telling how to use them. I’m not anti-gun at all. I use a gun. I’m anti being stupid with guns, which threatens our rights if it gets enough people thinking we’re all like that.

I think you have two viable options. One is to complain to your HOA. That may or may not do any good.

The other is to trap the cat and get rid of it. This might have legal implications for you, even if you trap it on your property and turn it in to animal control. Permanently removing it can have really severe penalties if you get caught. Or it may be perfectly legal where you are. I don’t know.

I really don’t think you can do enough to harass the cat and keep it away. You can’t be out there 100% of the time protecting the nests.

Good luck! It’s not an easy problem, especially with someone else’s pet.

It is most definitely a garden snake, I have been catching them in the act! they can climb very fast, this has been going on for 3 days now! Don't believe that BS about the cat, they do not worry much about nests, its more about birds on the ground for them!

 

[Boooooo]

If it is the cat what the neighbors are doing is very likely illegal, allowing a dog or cat to roam on property where it doesn't belong is usually illegal in most areas as well as it is illegal to allow your animal to attack and kill wild animals. Where I live it is even illegal to allow your hunting dog to attack an animal, it is only supposed to track and hold the animal at bay for the hunter to make the clean kill.

You can buy statues that are motion and if something walks by them they scream or yell or better than a bird or cat getting your bird something just ate my three little Cardinals last night mom is gone the Daddy's gone and there's no egg no babies in the nest I'm so bummed out wish I would have got me a monitor a statue monitor then when something walks by it it makes a different kinds of noises