Community Corner

Not Just a Sweet Kitty Cat: Study Finds Cats Are "Natural Born Killer"

Mice, chipmunks and birds fall prey to furry felines—and not just feral cats. Domestics can be just as lethal.

All those cute cat pictures floating around the Internet—well, maybe not pictures of Grumpy Cat—could be misleading. Kitty kitty is a killer, a new study shows. 

"Everyone knew cats were natural predators, but researchers were shocked by the carnage recorded by cameras attached to 60 cats turned loose during a 2012 University of Georgia study," a post on the McCook Daily Gazette reads. 

Use the "Upload Photos and Videos" button to the right to share pictures of your cat—your upload could be chosen as a Patch Photo of the Day. But we'd prefer to not see photos of your cat killing small animals ... 

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, found that if let outside, a house cat spends about a third of the time killing smaller animals. Don't get us started on feral cats—if you want to read about them, click here at your own risk. 

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Why do researchers care about the killing nature of cats? Because about a third of the 800-some species of birds in the United States are endangered, threatened or in significant decline, according to the American Bird Conservancy. And they're turning into cat meals. 

Click here to read the full story. 

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You might also be interested in checking out Sam, the cat with eyebrows

Are you a "cat person"? Do you own a cat? Are you concerned about what it's up to outdoors? Tell us about your cat in comments and post a picture of your feline friend.  


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