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economist suntribune the environment saturday may n 2002 york regions unknown killers people don t realize the damage their cuddly cats do to wild animals part two in a series on animal and human coexistence by mike adler staff writer you may unknowingly be shar ing your home with a creature that kills more wild animals in york region than any other its the common house cat yes naturalists and shelter staff say that fuzzy lump that seems to spend its days sleeping and rubbing its face becomes once you let it outside a natural born killer of birds and small mammals this week sylvia penny held in her hands cupped palm the victim of a probable cat attack a rabbit about 10 days old found with blood around its nose last week by chil dren in richmond hill after a few weeks at wildcare wildlife rehabilitation centre a vaughan shelter that survives on donations the rabbit will return to the wild but ms penny said the damage cats do to small animals often proves fatal these little guys once they have a puncture wound you can just say goodbye they dont make it she said as the tiny rabbit hun grily sucked formula from a syringe fitted with a dropper not so fortunate was another young rabbit brought to wildcare on friday by a cat owner in markham whose pet had maimed it that rabbit was put down said ms penny a supervisor at the shel ter his skin was torn away from his leg and he had a fractured leg some people tell the shelter their cat was involved and some dont said csilla darvasi a wildcare supervisor for 10 years people will swear up and down that oh hes never caught any thing before and you know the ani mal has owners need to be taught their cats are predators said nathalie karvonen executive director of the toronto wildlife centre in downs- view who believes domestic cats are the number one reason animals are brought to the shelter its a phenomenally bad prob lem she said the problem escalates at this time ofyear a lot of birds especial ly fledgling birds being fed on the ground are vulnerable because they cant go anywhere young rabbits are not well hid den in their nests and once a cat knows where a nest is it will keep coming back and ms darvasi said for every mouse or garter snake or baby bird a pet cat brings home it leaves staff photorob alary photoanne salvagna stouffvilles anne salvagna was surprised to find her old housecat bobo quietly getting along with a toad that happened to hop up on the familys outdoor swing most house cats arent this benevolent with wildlife many more some place else it should be a crime for any cat to be allowed to roam free dan stuckey a naturalist at the kortright centre for conservation in vaughan said this week domestic cat attacks are some thing we can control and just as most people now expect dogs will not run at large they should accept that cats belong indoors he said people should do it willingly first because ultimately i think it will be legislated what makes cats more danger ous to wild mammals and birds is that they have an important advan tage their owners people protect cats from dis eases and other things that limit animal populations in the wild wellfed cats ranging out from their homes or barns are actually more effective hunters than wild animals could ever be they represent an over abun dance of a toplevel predator said mr stuckey adding that on any given day he sees two or three cats roaming around kortright suppos edly a sanctuary for wildlife just how many wild creatures are killed by cats can only be guessed at a study by the mammal society released last year estimated britains nine million cats kill 100 million birds and small mammals a year in nova scotia a local biologist counted 1600 mammal or bird kills by a single farm cat over an 18- month period cats represent an over abundance of a toplevel predator a group called alley cat allies however says estimated cat kills in the british study are unrealistic because it assumes catches by urban catsequal those by rural cats brian herishaw a senior ecolo- gist for gartner lee limited a markham consulting firm said more study is needed on whether roaming cats are affecting our eco systems in 2000 he studied bird popular tions in pickerings altbna forest comparing data as far baclc as jl949 before residential development encroached on the forest it didnt strike me that the cats were a major player there said mr henshaw adding he saw a cat in the forest only once during a twoyear period he said there may be many rea sons for a dramatic decline noted for certain birds in the forest including increased levels of noise and urbansponsored predators blue jays crows and gray squir rels supported by backyard bird feeders often in ecology there isnt one smoking gun still mr stuckey and others want the feline carnage to end they argue letting your cat out isnt doing it any favours since the pet will be exposed to cars not to men tion natural predators such as coy otes andbifds of prey dr gilbert plummer a vet at the nobleton veterinary clinic in king township said he knows a lot of people who are missing cats in some cases the local coyotes are suspected his advice is to try to cats inside or outside on a leash or baiter ii tj glass is the hardest product to recycle from page 1 sylvia penny of the wildcare wildlife rehabilitation centre in vaughan takes care of a baby rabbit that was likely injured by a housecat mr bergart said building a glass recovery and processing plant at the regions planned recycling site in east gwillimbury would divert glass and create substantial savings for the municipality glass is the hardest product to recycle in your material recovery facility mr bergart said glass is 50 per cent of the weight of a blue box system regional councillors will investi gate the proposal a number of alternatives that could eventually be oh the table the region pulls in most rev enues from recycling paper prod ucts with aluminum the second most lucrative resource pet plas tics such as 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