The Invasive Species Sleeping On Your Sofa

A 2013 study conducted by the Smithsonian Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service credited domestic and feral cats with killing billions of wildlife every year across the nation.

Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, hosts of Stuff You Should Know, dive into the debate surrounding one of the world’s worst invasive species and their impact on local ecosystems.

“If you ask the head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, he will say very clearly that there should be zero tolerance for free ranging cats,” Bryant said.

While feral cats often receive most of the blame, the pair point out that any house cat that spends time outdoors is significantly contributing to the overall problem. The environmental shock is especially bad when cats are brought to islands like Hawaii.

“If we have about 86 million cats as pets and 25 - 30% are roaming outside, that’s a significant number,” Clark said. “Even if those free roaming cats only bring a little present to their owner’s door three times a year, that’s a massive amount of dead wildlife.”

“I hate cleaning out the litter box, it stinks, but I love birds and chipmunks more,” said Bryant.

Then there are feral cats. As Clark points out, there is no way for researchers to account for how many feral cats there are in the United States, making it impossible to determine how many birds and mammals they kill each year. What is possible to account for is the diseases spread by the wild felines as well as their shorter life spans.

“Feral cats struggle to live. They get hurt, they get run over by cars, and most don’t make it to six months old,” said Bryant. “If you love cats, you shouldn’t be feeding strays. It’s hard to wrap your head around it, but if you want a healthy population of cats you need to stop feeding them.”

The full conversation and the solution put forth by expert biologists can be found on “Cats: Invasive Species?” located on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to be sure you’re listening to the podcasts everyone else is checking out, iHeartRadio has you covered.  

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