Cats not to blame

Some of your readers seem to think that garden birds are so incapable of looking after themselves and need wrapping in cotton wool.

Mr Taylor (January 2) seems to think the demise of birds in his garden is down to domestic cats.

I suggest he looks elsewhere for the cause, since the average house cat is well fed, and unlikely to pose much of a threat.

If he wants to know where the sparrows are, they're round at our place. We have dozens of them all year round, (I can hear them now as I write this) along with almost every other kind of garden bird.

We also have neighbours' cats coming through the garden all the time. Our birds must be tougher than his, since they don't seem to have a problem. There has been no decline in the numbers of garden birds here, in fact if anything the reverse.

I suggest that if you don't have birds in your garden, the real cause is likely to be the use of chemicals in yours or your neighbour's garden.

It kills off insects that provide food for many birds. Alternatively if you live near farmland where chemicals are used, this is also likely to have an adverse effect.

Growing the right plants to provide food and nesting material is also important.

If you're obsessed with having the perfect garden don't be surprised if the birds go somewhere else.

Publishing letters that falsely pin the blame for reduced bird numbers on cats simply encourages trigger happy nutters to use this as an excuse.

J Corfield, Telford