I locked the back door, checked my bag, yes wallet there, turned and there was a dead bird on the path. I stared at it for a minute thinking about cats, then put my bag on the little table by the back door, went to the garage, got a spade, dug a hole and then buried the bird.
When I came to live here I made the decision not to have a cat because I wanted birds. When Nga Purapura was built next door, the grounds laid out in all kinds of native trees, bushes and grasses. My garden is a cottage garden, crammed with flowers and vegetables. I thought lots of birds was a certainty.
I was right. All sorts of birds, mainly introduced species but also a lot of tui and the occasional piwakawaka.
Now both our gardens are established and last spring, summer and autumn there were birds galore. Now they’re starting to appear again except for one who is now dead.
I wish cat owners would hang a bell around their cat’s neck and keep them inside at night. Friends of mine keep their cats inside at night and the cats are quite used to their cat door being locked around ten so they can’t get out until morning.
Yes, I know cats don’t only kill at night, but they kill a lot more at night and in the early morning so if they’re kept inside overnight that stops the carnage a little bit. However, if cat owners choose not to use a bell or keep their cats inside at night, perhaps they wouldn’t mind coming and burying the dead birds?
