URGENT caring for fledgling sparrow - cat wants it dead!

tanith

Izbizzle wrote: »

Thanks guys Took your advice tanith, right now it's under a big plastic planter with a brick and a heavy ceramic pot on top - it can easily get in and out underneath it though, to come and sit in the flower bed as it's been doing. The cat did sniff around it for a bit, but she's lost interest for now as she can't get to it!

The bird has no injuries - it appears healthy in every way, has been very noisy and hopping around the garden. I will check on it tomorrow!

Great, it just needed somewhere safe where the parents could find it. I'd forgotten till OH mentioned it we had a similar thing with some Robin babies I used an upside down hanging basket.. we think they all made it eventually.... hope your's makes it..

Izbizzle

Well no sign of the baby today No other birds seem to be hanging around like they were yesterday, so it must have been munched. I like to think it's miraculously escaped though, of course!

savemoney

Funny enough I caught one yesterday it flyed into a old garage we have as a shed. I managed to get it out but then it wondered off into side of house which is hard to get too. Managed to scrap in between gap and caught it by which time it was wet as I tried to use a water pistol not aimed at the bird. Poor thing was shivering and I could hear mother calling all time. Put it on front lawn to dry out and left it went back 15 minutes later and saw another go into neighbours garage so got that and out it on lawn. I could see mother come and feed it. Went back later and both had gone. These were starlings

I was worried cat would get it luckily he was fast asleep on our bed. So I also locked garden gate so he couldnt get to front of house

marineville

lots of hatchlings spend a few days on the ground when they big enough to struggle out the nest and learning to fly. the problem is that the more cats there are, the more wild birds get killed. the estimate for death by domestic cats is bloody horrendous: millions per year.

leaving it on the floor sounds like a death sentence... trying to find the nest is pointless as you'll either terrify any other nestlings or else it'll drop back out next day.

if you have to let the cat out (personally hate cats now because i've seen them eat up two chicks this year so far... not their fault but think they're the feline version of 'coming over here and taking our birds, etc.) then you're limited. keep it in overnight will work but birds are feeding by about 5 in the morning. if you put it out in the morning the parents might keep it topped up to make up the hunger and then take it to a vet asap as they have an obligation to look after wild birds.

new neighbour's got five cats and suddenly the veg patch is a litter tray and the birds have found somewhere else to be... if i could get a bird that barked and had fangs i'd be happy to give the cats a taste of their own medicine...

personal rant over and no malice intended.

TonyMMM

Cats kill birds and small mammals, that's their nature ... if you can't cope with that you shouldn't own a cat, sorry.

Isis_Black

Or have house cats
Yes they cope living indoors all the time and or us the only option as by a busy road and lost other cats before.
You will never know if it's made it or not all you can think is at least you tried :-)

Budget_Gardener

It annoys me that people keep cats and don't confine them for the most part; they are killers and they know no boundaries so kill the wildlife in all the surrounding gardens and use those other gardens as their litter trays. People who have cats are inconsiderate if they let them roam freely.
The idea that they are 'naturally' going to eat birds is a false argument - if I kept a lion it would naturally eat your children, but that doesn't mean it's a reasonable thing to keep one. Bringing in an unnatural predator to an environment destroys the balance of nature. The numbers of most garden birds have taken staggering dives (song thrushes down by 90% in 30 years for example) and this is in large part down to the number of predators being brought into our gardens. If you keep a cat, make it a house cat or don't have one near other people.

demystified

Keep your cat in until it's flown away, if he doesn't get it the other cats in the neighbourhood or the local foxes will. The neighbours dogs will snap it up if it ventures into their yard. It's nature.

Budget_Gardener wrote: »

If you keep a cat, make it a house cat or don't have one near other people.

Jemma130

I hope the fledgling was ok! That's the worst thing about cats - they aren't natural predators in this country (except Scottish wild cats) and have a big effect on the bird population, but they can be lovely pets to have! I love birds and I love cats, what to do?!

davemorton

Budget_Gardener wrote: »

If you keep a cat, make it a house cat or don't have one near other people.

Just make sure that the HUGE amount of rodent poison that we will all have to put down if it wasnt for cats does not get eaten by any children of dogs.