Cats Might Be One of the Most Invasive Species

Non-native species, like cats and honeybees, can either become naturalized, as a part of the ecosystem, or invasive and disrupt the ecosystem.

Follow on social for more NOVA content!

[anthonyd]

Wild cats are awful predators in Australia and should be culled. Not being anticat - they simply shouldn't be there.

[janegregware]

Spay or neuter your cat and keep it indoors

[abr]

How about… if you have pet cats spay them and keep them indoors. You may think they’ll be sad, but they will live healthier longer lives. “Feral” or homeless cats should be trapped neutered and returned. If done right, in addition to spaying all owned cats, outdoor populations will decline. Sadly, this has proven very difficult, and it is NOT the cats’ fault.

[slitheringswamp]

Feral/Outdoor Cats have an edge on both native predators and even other invasive predators because they are pets. People feed them, so the cats can establish greater population densities than they otherwise would. And because they are cute, people hate to limit or even manage their populations. This is even more frustrating because cats were bred to kill small animals, even when not hungry. Many birds, reptiles, amphibians, and other small mammals are threatened (along with the other living things that depend on them in the web of life) because they are losing a popularity contest.

If you have an outdoor cat please keep it inside. Beyond the problems it causes for wildlife, It's safer from parasites, illnesses, catnappers, and cars. AND it doesn't breed with a stray and contribute to the overabundance of feral cats without homes.

[jjchouinard]

Enjoyed the video but felt more like a teaser trailer

[RobVespa]

The ivy my neighbor planted asked you to hold it's beer. Seriously. It's taken over my entire yard, is wiping out all my grass, is trying to kill my trees, and is beginning to spread to other yards. Also, I have two cats, but can't say anything bad about them due to the parasites they implanted in my brain that now control me.

[IDontBuyIt]

at some point in the last decade, they came to an educated guess that its around 2 billion birds killed per year. Thats just the birds. They totally destroy rabbit populations. Lots of people defending them, and I have owned them on and off myself, primarily indoor. Not only do they do all that damage, but they still kill just as often even when kept well fed with other food. They do kill for sport after all. So do dogs, but they are just nowhere near as effective at it, nor are they ever given the free pass that cats get. I admit I loved my female cats when i had a large stone home, which always let in a few bats a month in warm seasons. Instead of spending twenty minutes or more fighting to kill or get one outside so you can go back to sleep, instead you just get it into any area you can close a female cat into, and in less than a minute, you had a dead bat.

[utah]

My cat has never killed a bird. Hes an inside cat, and i only let him kill the mice each spring when i move to my remote cabin.

[StillMemes]

Lmao the comment section is an absolute war, look. I own 3 cats and don't let them outside for the sake of their well-being, the outside is dangerous, cars, predators, animal abusers, diseases everything!, yeah sure it's kinda sad to see them (and pretty much any animal that is classified as invasive) getting culled in some parts but remember that it's good for the enviroment. So your best thing to do is easy; keep your pets indoors, spay and neuter the pet, and DON'T let them roam outside. It stills sickens me that there are still people who cluelessly let their pets outside unsupervised, it's like a toddler going outside with no parents watching it. If the cat or any pet wants to go outside because it's bored then make them happy inside, play with them, spend time with them. Overall invasive species should never be villainized, because it's not their fault that they're invasive, they didn't come to an area by themselves.

[joemccay]

Clickbait. Only a small part is cats.

[SanctumStudio]

We have like no birds in my neighborhood anymore and that's because of all the feral cats. Multiple people on different streets in my neighborhood feed them and even have little cat hotels in their front yards with bowls for food and water. By doing this it encourages these animals to stay and harm our native wildlife populations. I'm an animal lover through and through, but we can't live in a bubble of denial.

[elbarto]

Cats are the second most invasive species only humans are worse

[BrianAchterberg]

I have a way of handling our neighborhood feral/wild cat problem… it’s called a pellet gun and my neighbors have no problem with it.

[brianc]

Cats should just be kept inside.
But most cat owners don't care bothering other people with their pets.. or them killing animals

[marketsqueezer]

The most invasive and dangerous animal is human.

[vsbltnyn]

i love how invasive human who'se food, homes, anything has destroyed the nature so eager to complain about a cat.

[Thepriest]

Good. Now I have a legitimate reason to wipe out the roaming neighborhood cats.

[elduderino]

cats are little psychopaths, they kill for pleasure and entertainment... actually it's not even that.. it's the torturing for hours for pleasure that is so utterly vile

the only way you can love these things is by ignoring their nature, put it this way - if you were shrunk to the size of o rodent you're precious pet would eat you as it's first lunch - if you're lucky it would be so hungry it wouldn't torture you for 5 hours letting you think you can escape only to reel you back in and break another bone

vile creatures, owners that let them roam are just as bad, they torture hundreds of native animals a year, not for food.. but for fun

[Dyejob]

They should get Spade and Neutered!!! If you have a cat, get it fixed.

[ogrope]

Invasive compared to what?! Try humans😁🤦🏼‍♂️