A Smithsonian website ran this article about presence/absence of house cats and coyotes. The gist of it is, coyotes act as a predator of house cats, and in woodland with a coyote population you don't find house cats out catching birds. The survey is based on placing numerous camera traps in DC area parks like Rock Creek. A real wilderness situation that. They go one to mourn about the predation by cats upon birds, which they deem as terrible. The site links to several more anti-cat pro-bird articles. As a cat person I am appalled. Far as I am concerned, any bird so slow and unwary as to be caught by a cat deserves to get eaten.
More interesting questions, totally un addressed by the article: How do coyotes keep the cats out of Rock Creek Park? Do they catch them and kill them? Do cats sense the presence of coyotes (smell perhaps?) and stay away? Does a house cat have a chance against a coyote, perhaps by climbing trees? For that matter did their camera traps look up at likely spots in trees?
Anyhow, it is clear where the Smithsonian's sympathies lie. Good objective scientific attitude there. Probably took their science training from the global warmists.
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