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I went out to my backyard and discovered something absolutely heartbreaking. I discovered 2 dead red Cardinals behind the shrubs behind my bird feeder. I am heartbroken. The stray cat that is always in my yard or my neighbor's got them I'm sure. They were my pride & joy, I loved them.

Oh Man! I dread a loss of a cardinal too! Can the Animal Control people come for that BAD cat?
Its likely the cat or a hawk? Once the cat is gone you can try putting our cardinal seed sold
in the nurseries & you may have some new takers?
That is an awful sight! I have seen that but never two.

So sad. Unfortunately birds are part of the food chain like everything else altho it's difficult to see especially if they have been hunted as sport and not for food.

When a stray cat adopted us we let him stay outdoors during the day and he started stalking the birds that came to the birdbath on the patio. He was getting one almost every day so DH put the birdbath on a 6' post so they were safe. The cat later became prey to a bird (owl, eagle, or hawk likely) and had his head ripped open so he's now an indoor only cat so he and the birds are safe.

Aw shoot! Don't you just hate when that happens. Wasn't a cat that got mine but a hawk. Saw it happen and it just tore me up. DH takes those things in stride and thinks I should too. Afterall he says it just nature doing what it's suppose to do......

Not pleasant to look at but it is nature.
And just think about how over-population would affect any species if some weren't "taken" every year.
This way the strongest/smartest live to reporduce.

I'm sorry about your cardinals Wavy...alas, I agree with the others...this is the law of nature and food chains. If it was a stray cat, those birds kept it from starving....survival of the fittest.

Nature has it's cruel (to us) side too. Hugs to you.


ve

I think the cruelty started with the original cat owner who didn't spay/neuter the cat that produced the stray. That's not nature. That's negligence.
Conservationists are saying some areas are showing marked decreases in bird populations due to roaming cats. And not all of those cats are strays, but pets allowed to roam at will.

IMO, a hawk kill is "nature", but not the cat.

It's always a bad feeling to know that one of your birds has been killed, either by a cat or by a hawk.

Were the birds still there, or just the remains? Even cats don't usually kill without eating at least part. If they were just dead, then something else must have gotten them. Are there any kids in the neighborhood with pellet guns?

Hate to see a dead bird, especially a dead cardinal. Don't know why people let their cats out. They really do harm the song birds. I find it hard to take it in stride since I enjoy seeing them so much.

Wavy...
I noticed the last you wrote before it disappeared. This catastrophe is in NO way your fault. Just as you wouldn't take the blame for putting money in a bank that later becomes a target for a robber, you can't take the blame for wanting to attract those beautiful creatures to your garden by putting food out for them. Please don't feel guilty.

I imagine you might be on your last nerve anyway, what with the storm damage all around you. Do your best not to take on another burden that isn't yours to bear.
Do take care...

Nettie,
How kind of you, thank you! Yeah, I do feel guilty, I just can't help it. I deleted my post cause I thought it was embarrassing for me to be carrying on so much after I thought of Vera Ellen's grandson. It's just that when I saw the 2 Cardinal's beaks I lost it. I used to always look at their distinctive beaks and it was so shocking and I was angry and very sad.
I am so thankful for a lot of things. I am very thankful I was able to garden this year. (I was hit by a car last Dec.) I am thankful I did not suffer the losses many others have suffered from Hurricane Sandy. I am very thankful for all the wonderful people I have 'met' on these message boards. I do try not 'to sweat the small stuff', I'm just too sensitive about e v e r y t h i n g. Thanks again for your kind words!

Wavy, I'd feel bad too. I wish those cats would stay inside!!! Or round up those strays.
BTW, the grandson has been found and is safe now!

Please, the jury is still out....let's not convict the tabby just because some people are cat haters.
While I wouldn't put down the idea that it was, in fact, a cat that got a bird; but seeing two victims does suggest something other than one attack.
If a cat catches a bird, very common is to see other birds go after the cat in an attempt to get it to let it loose. But unless the cat is hunting he's not likely to drop one to go after another; instead he'll run away with his prize.

I cant see a hawk doing the same thing---having got one victim, dropping it in a selected area and going after a similar prize and dropping it in the same area.

I can see a bird possibly hitting something in flight...such as a window, maybe limping away and dying. "A" bird...not two doing the same thing--even if they were a pair flying together.
But I can see someone poisoning food set out and dying later on.

I'm a cat lover and a pet friendly person who thinks our world is much better for them being with us.
Like we wouldn't want to be penned up, neither should our feline friends.

I am the proud mother of my own two darling, sweet cats. My girls are strictly indoor cats. Cats live much longer when they are not allowed to become "indoor/outdoor cats". They do attack birds and I've seen a skwirl in a cat's mouth a couple of yrs. ago in my backyard. I was beyond horrified and disgusted. I know they gotta eat. I don't want my backyard to become "the killing field".... I do believe it was the cat that I always see in mine and my neighbor's back yards. I just saw this cat under the birdfeeder a few days before and chased it away. These birds were found where the cat hangs out behind the shrubs behind the birdfeeder. I don't know what happened. It seemed unusual to see two birds close to each other like that. I was just really upset and still am. The sparrows don't interest me. I have tons of them and loved seeing other birds.

i'm so sorry for your loss, wavy, and don't blame you for being upset. there is something so special about red cardinals. i remember them feeding at my aunt's window sill back in NY. it was a special treat to see them because i don't get them here in CA. what a shame it is about yours.

i keep a small metal tin of coins.. probably about 30-40 pennies.. and shake it at the door when i want to chase something away. only thing it doesn't work on are raccoons. those brazen things hold their ground and just stare at me.

There are other hunters that will go after a bird as well as many other small prey.
We have a resident fox, a beautiful animal, lovely red coat with its long bushy tail, he saunters down our road or around bushes and often, meeting up with us,he just pauses for a moment, stares at us, then moves on usually into one our hedges. He has no fear of humans...that's the problem. If he was to encounter a young child who might like to pat this friendly visitor, he might take to biting---and foxes are notorious for having rabies. I'm sure he prowls for food and taking a bird, or a squirrel, or skunk, or chippy, he wouldn't hesitate in coming back for more.
We call him a resident because we keep seeing him two, three times a week.
WE could call the SPCA to hunt him down but we actually enjoy seeing him, he's such a beautiful animal.
But he too, I cant see hunting, capturing one meal, dropping it, and looking for another, then leaving it.

At this time of season when animals are storing food for the winter, leaving a carcass for somebody else just doesn't fit what I think of hunting animals.
I've never seen so many squirrels as this year as well as the numbers of frogs and toads must be well up. That speaks then of few snakes.
If they are constantly out at this time of season then I can see us having a mild winter--they know it, and are not taking the calendar seriously. Maybe the birds are landing on the ground more often, picking up food there and leaving themselves open to attack.
Sylvester wouldn't pass up a meal--so I suspect it wasn't a cat that did the deed.