http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/science/that-cuddly-kitty-of-yours-is-a-killer.html?ref=science
In the article, “That Cuddly Kitty is Deadlier Than You
Think”, the author discusses the new finding that cats are far deadlier than
anyone realized. Scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
and the Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that domestic cats in the United
States, both pets and strays, kill a median of 2.4 billion birds and 12.3
billion mammals a year; Most of the mammals are native mammals like shrews,
chipmunks and voles rather than introduced pests. These findings position the
domestic cat as one of the single greatest human-linked threats to wildlife in
the nation. The report even said that more birds and mammals die due to cats
than from cars, pesticides, and other anthropogenic causes. Because of these
reports environmentalists have been debating what to do about this issue. All
agree that pet cats should not be allowed to prowl around the neighborhood at
will. One idea to manage the 80 million stray or feral cats is to use the
trap-neuter-return programs in which unowned cats are caught, vaccinated,
spayed, and if no home can be found for them, returned to the outdoor colony
from which they came.
This is very interesting since it is important
that we do not allow certain mammals to become scarce because of certain
predators, one of them surprisingly being cats. It is important that people
learn to deal with this problem before it gets too out of hand.
I believe that the author did a great job with
the article. The article covered an issue that is very surprising but also
interesting. Overall I enjoyed this article because I thought it was very
informative.
I think that the reviewer did a good job of summarizing the issue at hand in the article: that many, many mammals are being killed every year by cats. She did a good job of choosing two important statistics that show just how large of a problem this is as they back up her claim (and the article’s claim) that something must be done. I also liked that she mentioned a possible solution to the issue. As one of the major contributors to the problem is the large amount of feral cats on the street, it is important to address that problem directly, and the implementation of trap-and-neuter programs was one solution the article suggested.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, one of the main things that I took from it was that it isn’t so much the household pets responsible for the large numbers of animals being killed, it is mostly the feral cats on the street. While the reviewer mentioned that these cats were a big problem, providing the actual statistics (29% of birds are killed by household pets; 11% of mammals are killed by household pets) would have been useful in backing up her claim. In addition, I think providing more details on the Kitty Cams would have been a useful tool in explaining how some of this research was conducted.
I knew that cats were responsible for killing wildlife, but I did not know that it was such a big issue. I think, however, that the article failed to point out that animals killing other animals is a part of nature. So, while it may not be ideal from the frog’s perspective, if all frogs were able to live happily ever after, the world would have a frog infestation problem. However, the large number of cats on the street is a problem that must be fixed and hopefully the trap-and-neuter programs will prove effective in limiting the number of cats wandering the streets. While I do not have a cat, I do not think I would allow my cat to roam freely outdoors as I would fear for its safety. Although I doubt it will come to fruition, it will be interesting to see if there are any notable changes after this article, such as more cats going for walks on leashes.
The reviewer did a good job of concisely summarizing this article and demonstrating just how deadly cats can be. Her use of statistics to back up the assertion of the deadliness of cats is vital to the development of their argument and is very well done. It was equally as essential for her to add commentary on a potential solution for the widespread death caused by cats, as without it, the reader would have been left wondering about even just one way to solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the review was well done, there are a number of things that could have been done better. First, the number of deaths caused by cats was exemplified in a statistic; however, no context was given as to how many cats are causing such deaths. The statistic would have been more meaningful if one had had that knowledge. Additionally, I felt the the reviewer could have added more as to the solution to the problem. Although one solution was detailed, it dealt only with stray cats, and not with the cat population as a whole.
I was shocked to learn the extent to which cats harm wildlife each year. The problem with this issue is that there isn't really any way to combat the problem. Cats are programmed to do what they do and there is no way any sort of program, short of killing all cats, can change that.
I enjoyed reading Naomi’s article review. I appreciated how she immediately dived into explaining the meaning of the title, “That Cuddly Kitty is Deadlier Than You Think,” considering it is a little unclear, yet an attention grabber, by stating how cats are deadlier than anyone realized. This odd thought was nicely backed up by Naomi’s inclusion of how cats kill a great deal of birds and mammals a year in the United States alone. Lastly, I liked how she talked about the importance of these statistics in that cats are one of the single greatest human-linked threats to wildlife; a very important aspect to prevent.
ReplyDeleteNaomi could have made a couple of edits in her review. One edit being that she could have included any specific person studying the matter and included some information of them, since it is always interesting to get a professional’s direct perspective of the matter. Another aspect she could have talked about was how these statistics were concluded, since it seems difficult to sum up the amount of wildlife cats killed.
I greatly enjoyed learning about the deadliness of cats from this article. It is a crazy thought that cats are so strongly hurting wildlife, since they come off as innocent and quiet house pets. It is clear from this review that something must be done in order to prevent this excessive killing of wildlife through reasonable restrictions on cats as pets. Wildlife is something that needs to stay in a nice equilibrium, with people helping rather than hurting this balance.
Naomi had a superb first paragraph in which she introduced the idea of the article she read titled, “That Cuddly Kitty is Deadlier Than You Think,” while analyzing the most important points of emphasis in her own words. Most people think of cats as very tame, calm creatures that simply provide humans with company. Like a dog, which some say is “mans best friend,” the cat fulfills a strikingly similar role. However, it is scary to come to the realization that cats kill nearly 12.3 billion mammals every year. This number is jaw dropping and serves as a reminder that cats are not as friendly with other animals as they are with humans. Cats are in fact, one of the “single greatest human-linked threats to wildlife in the nation.” What a scary thought this is! Naomi makes it clear that cats are indeed a predator of many mammals and that we must not allow our furry friends to roam around the neighborhood so they do not potentially kill off species of birds and other animals such as, chipmunks.
ReplyDeleteNaomi carried out her summary of the article with near perfection; however, her final two paragraphs can be expanded upon. In the future, she should take into consideration a personal connection that she can make the article, which I feel she somewhat, lacks in this review. Yes, she makes it understood that we, cat owners, should act upon this growing conflict, but I would love to know if she can relate personally to this issue. Secondly, her closing paragraph could have been more specific. I, too, found the article “interesting” and “informative” but what could the author have done better to strengthen her argument? I would like to know if there were any errors or problems she had with the author’s writing.
All in all, Naomi did a great job with this article review. I am mainly impressed with her ability to identify statistics and use them to prove her point and her perspective on this topic.
Naomi did a great job of summarizing how cats are actually quite deadly and predators to various other mammals. One thing she did well was include details from the articles, such as that cats, pets or not, should not be allowed to roam around the neighborhood as they threaten to kill off many mammals ranging from chipmunks to birds. Another thing she did well was back up this argument with statistics included in the article. Lastly, Naomi wisely included potential solutions to the problem of the "cuddly kitty problem", considering if she didn't this article and problem would essential be irrelevant to us, as we could not fix it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Naomi did a great summary, I believe she could have improved upon it by first giving some background on those involved in the study and author of the article, as this topic is not very usual and could be affected by their personal opinions on cats and such. Secondly, I think she should have expanded up how she thought it was interesting and informative with something personal as this topic is highly relatable and would be interesting to see her perspective on the issue.
My favorite part of her review was the fact that she picked this article in general. I have a cat and found this very interesting read, considering i would never anticipate her to be a threat to any mammals, especially birds.
Samantha Past
ReplyDelete2/7/13
The article entitled, “That Cuddly Kitty Is Deadlier Than You Think” reviewed by Naomi is an interesting article, containing information that came to me as a surprise. Naomi did a very good job of emphasizing various important points discussed in the article, as she included distinct facts that helped enhance her review. One such piece of information she included pertained to the definite amount of birds and mammals cats kill per year. Another aspect of the review that was particularly well presented was Naomi’s continued focus on the primary concentration of the article. Throughout her review she continuously puts emphasis and keeps the reader in touch with the main purpose of the article. A third aspect of Naomi’s review that was particularly well presented, was the overall summary of the article Naomi developed. From reading her review, one would be able to understand the focus of the article, while also learning/ becoming aware of significant facts included in the article, that help further understand what the article is aiming to conclude.
An aspect of the review that could have been made even better, would possibly be if Naomi included a bit more detail pertaining to recent experiments/ studies conducted as described in the article. For example, if Naomi had mentioned or described one such experiment mentioned in the article, like the recent projects conducted at the University of Georgia, where experimenters, attached kitty cams to the collars of indoor-outdoor pet cats in order to track their activities; resulting in footage showing cats preying on cardinals, frogs and field mice, as well as lapping up antifreeze and sewer sludge, dodging under moving cars and sparring violently with much bigger dogs, the reader may be able to learn more information regarding various aspects of the general argument, and therefore have a greater understanding of the variety within the issue. Another aspect of the review that may have been made better could be Naomi’s second paragraph referring to the importance of the article. Although, Naomi did provide the reader with a suitable statement with regards to the significance of the issue, she could have included a bit more information or elaborated; therefore assuring the reader understands just how important the article, and the issue the article describes, is to the world.
I found this article to be very interesting and I really enjoyed reading the article, as well as the review. I learned a lot of things while reading the article, one such being, I was not aware the cat was as deadly as it has been shown to be. A specific detail in the article that sparked my attention was as the article described, “The estimated kill rates are two to four times higher than mortality figures previously bandied about, and position the domestic cat as one of the single greatest human-linked threats to wildlife in the nation. More birds and mammals die at the mouths of cats, than from automobile strikes, pesticides and poisons, collisions with skyscrapers and windmills and other so-called anthropogenic causes.” I had no idea cats caused so much harm to wildlife.