Yes it is! I actually have dogs but this girl just showed up one day in the beginning of March and had kittens so now she stays in the greenhouse until mid April or so. She’s very well behaved 
She also likes to take walks around the garden with me so you might see her in some pictures of the trees as well as I keep posting on other threads too
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@IL847 I thought your comment was of under the citrus post of her laying in my greenhouse lol! Sorry I got a bit confused!
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She’s so adorable! Can tell I am a cat person, but don’t discriminate dogs. I had a Tom cat who lived with us for 8 years. He was big helper in my yard controlling mice, voles, rabbits etc. I let him in and out house freely in the summer time. He spent afternoon in my neighbor’s house. My neighbor’s kids petted him, fed him treats… treated him like a king. After he got enough attention( more likely his belly was full), he came home for his nap. Now rabbits are running around in my yard, I couldn’t grow anything without installing some kind of protection. I miss my cat a lot.
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Sorry to be a downer, but outdoor cats are by far the leading cause of bird deaths—somewhere between 1.3 and 4 billion per year. It’s best not to encourage feral ones to stick around or let your own outdoors if you have one.
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I really don’t mind having less birds in my yard eventhough I love birds too. No netting on fruits, less of bird flu risk is a plus, not to think of West Nile virus. I don’t favor birds over cats or vice-versa. I believe nature balances itself
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I understand where you’re coming from, but the issue is more complex than just natural balance. Domesticated cats are not part of the natural ecosystem in the same way that wildlife is. While nature has its own balancing mechanisms, humans have significantly disrupted that balance, especially with outdoor cats, which contribute to the decline of vulnerable species already facing threats like habitat loss and climate change.
In a world where human actions have so profoundly altered ecosystems, it’s not really a matter of nature balancing itself anymore. We have to actively work to reduce the harm we’ve caused to help restore some of that balance.
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That’s great! I’ve wanted a cat to patrol my yard because I do have moles and rabbits, but I didn’t want to have a little box, and I have a family member with a cat allergy so I didn’t want to make it so they couldn’t visit. Otherwise, cats are great!
This cat was so clean, so sweet, so well behaved it’s obvious she was someone’s in and out cat before, and I suspect she got dropped off on our road since there are a lot of farms here. I almost feel like someone dropped her off at my gate - no fleas, no ticks, even smelled great.
We’ve basically adopted her at this point, she even has a flea collar on so she will be a in and out cat as well (at least in the greenhouse). Definitely not “feral”, she even made friends with my dogs and my chickens. But I’ll be fixing her!
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While I do love birds half of the year, I’m really not a huge fan when they start stealing my fruit!
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As you said human are major cause, please focus on fixing human’s greedy first
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Me either! That’s why I net my plants. Problem solved.
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My cat was someone’s pet then released to the wild. It’s fixed and very well behaved. We found him in a state park, and he wanted to come home with us. He had no collar, no chip. Luckily, he was not de-clawed so he was able to survive on his own for a while. He had great hunting abilities, and brought in many mice, chipmunks, occasionally Robin. I don’t know where those rare birds live but I don’t think they’re in my areas
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As much as I’d personally love to prevent and reverse all human greed, I cannot. However, we can all educate ourselves on best practices for reducing harm that has already happened.
I noticed we both live in Chicago. Chicago sits in one of the major bird migratory routes in North America. The more people learn about the destructive nature of domesticated cats outdoors, the fewer birds will be killed. Many bird species are already at record low numbers. Anything we can do to reduce further harm is helpful.
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Yes! I think the birds have so much food, shelter, water in my yard because of what I’ve done and planted that I can honestly say that I feel not the least bit guilty for adopting my new kitty, even though I really don’t think she cares too much about birds anyway.
I don’t feed feral cats and I try not to encourage an unhealthy feline population. With our yappy dogs we never get cats in our yard.
But I love a farm cat, I think they can provide great benefits to controlling the rodent population.
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I tried that last year, but nets are a pain to me, and can damage new growth.
Last year, I planted mulberry bushes and I’m hoping to encourage the birds to eat there (Issai mulberry is Everbearing but not our favorite flavor). I have 5 large bushes. Fingers crossed!
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You really need to be specific about which bird. Don’t sermon people like you are doing
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It’s not one bird, it’s literally hundreds of species and billions of birds. But if you’d like a few specific examples, I’m happy to provide that:
Studies show that 250-300 bird species migrate through Chicago alone, and many of them are at risk from domestic and feral cats—especially ground-nesting and small songbirds. Some of the most vulnerable include Piping Plovers, Wood Thrushes, Kirtland’s Warblers, and Black-crowned Night Herons, all of which either forage or nest in areas where cats hunt. The Piping Plover and Kirtland’s Warbler are both endangered species and the Black-crowned Night Heron is a threatened species. These are just a few examples but there are many more.
Also, to be clear, none of this is my opinion—it’s backed by research. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates that cats kill billions birds annually, making them the #1 direct human-caused threat to birds. That includes species already struggling due to habitat loss and climate change.
The goal isn’t to “sermon” anyone—it’s to talk about the real impact of outdoor cats on wildlife and provide factual evidence.
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OK enough on cats and birds lets get back to buds, flowers and fruits here please.
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Sounds good to me. Sorry for the off-topic posts.
As a peace offering, here’s a photo of native black raspberry leafing out today in my garden in Chicago. None of my other cultivars have leafed out at all.
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Looks like all but two of my 9 fruit trees old enough to fruit habe set at least a couple.
Less Sweet Treat Pluerry than I’d thought (still waiting more sweel to see).
More Plum Parfait Plumcot than I’ve had (this was delicious last year, though only about a jalf dozen fruit).
Loads of Flavor Grenade Pluots…major thinning in my future. A very few first time Cot-n-Candy Aprium, if they mature.
Two multi grafted asian pears, though only Hosui, 20th Century, and Shinseiki flowered amd set.
Fig needed serious pruning and just now re-budding after our 11 degree morning after our snowstorm (man, that feels weird to type that and be serious about it having happened!).
Grafted varieties: two different trees grafted with a Shiro branch, both 3rd leaf, in need of thinning.
A few Beauty and Excelsior Japanese plums and a few Arctic Star Nectarine. All of those on the plumcot.
Maybe a Splash on my Flavor Grenade, 2nd leaf.
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