Fish and Wildlife warns about cats BARRE — The Department of
Fish and Wildlife is warning Vermonters about letting their cats
outside. The department says a new study from the Smithsonian
Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has raised concerns about the welfare of Vermont’s
wildlife populations. The study says cats are the single
greatest cause of human-caused mortality to birds and mammals,
killing around 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion mammals each
year in the U.S. “Cats pose a threat to Vermont’s songbirds,
such as robins, bluebirds and cardinals,” said Vermont Fish and
Wildlife bird biologist John Buck in a statement from the
department. “Cats may even restrict the statewide recovery of
some rare birds. The whippoorwill, which is a state threatened
species, can easily fall prey to roaming cats during their
nesting season.” The department said cats can also lower the
populations of other animals such as ducks and rabbits.
Biologists in the north central part of the coun