Germany's bird population is declining on many fronts, both in absolute numbers and the number of species considered unstable. Habitat decline is the primary reason, of course, and migratory birds are under pressure outside of Germany. Decline is especially pronounced in ground-nesting birds. The practices of centuries past, when there were fewer people and more undeveloped land, must be reevaluated in terms of modern realities. On Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 11:39 PM, Garak <garak@code-garak.de> wrote: > Thanks to all of you for all that valuable information - to sum it up: > Offering cat grass and maybe separating Amaryllids and cat until he's a bit > older indoors will be enough, there shouldn't be any outdoor problem. I was > mostly concerned since I saw how a neighbor's cat "loved" my Actinidia > chinensis nearly to death until i fenced it off - so no magic attraction > between cat and Hippeastrum&co. > > As for the slightly off-topic comments: Thanks for the hints with the > collar - I'll have a closer look at the cats around, but I think most have > a transponder chip for identification these days, so maybe no need for a > collar. Neutering was already on the to-do-list - our animal shelters > actually insist on doing so when giving away cats. As for keeping the > fellow completely indoors: that would need a second cat and make simple > things like air circulation in the house difficult - besides, most do not > consider pure in-house keeping as species-appropriate. I actually don't > fear for the balance of other species - In the rural parts of Germany, cats > roaming the fields and gardens are commonplace for centuries. We have a > very active bird population, and considering the "gang" of about 50 > sparrows that rules the area, we shall see who's fleeing from whom - > They're absolutely fearless and won't flee even if you pass the hedge they > occupy noisily in one meter distance... > The trouble with mis-using gardening materials as latrine is one thing I > actually hope to reduce by introducing a resident cat of my own -I've been > told they don't do that in their own garden and others start to respect the > territory of the resident. Well, that one is at least worth a try ;) > > -- > Martin > ---------------------------------------------- > Southern Germany > Likely zone 7a > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >