My folks live on a farm. Although few barn cats live to die of natural causes, most eventually turn up dead by the side of the road. One cat was kicked to death by a cow. I suspect the coyotes mostly eat rabbits, not cats. A cat would have to be pretty careless to get eaten by coyotes. The largest owl we have is a barred owl, which would have a hell of a time killing even a small cat.

The only close encounter I've ever had with the coyotes was once when a stray dog was struck on the road outside our house (people dump dogs in the country all the time, which is pretty terrible). I saw the dog running, using only its front legs, because its back was broken, and went to see if I could restrain it for long enough to put it down. For having only two legs, this dog was booking, let me tell you; I had to run flat out to catch up with it. About that time I encountered what it was running from - a pack of coyotes, maybe ten, burst out of the gully. I made myself look scary and yelled at them, but it probably wasn't necessary, since they looked appalled to be that close to a human and disappeared as soon as they regained their composure.

Coyotes are a non-native species in Tennessee, according to my friends at the Lichterman nature center. Don't ask me why we have so many damn coyotes. They wouldn't really be any trouble except that they seduce male dogs and murder them, and then give birth to coydogs, which lack a fear of humans and can cause trouble.

Anyway, one of our dogs has been known to bring us rabbit babies (alive, carefully carried in her mouth). The feral cats eat mostly rats, but also moles, shrews, and the occasional skink. The birds are too much trouble for them. I'd guess that the possums kill far more baby birds than the cats. We have grey foxes which probably also eat eggs and birds, although the killdee in the driveway managed to hatch several eggs from a ground nest without anyone hurting them. Several raccoons. (By the way, the cats, possums, and coons will happily eat side by side from the same dish.) Deer. Beavers and muskrats. I see weasel-type tracks around the pond but have never actually seen a weasel.

The feral cats seem to fit in with the local ecology without overwhelming it; there are enough rats and mice in the barn to support both the population of cats and a large black snake, and the hordes of dozens of varieties of birds would seem to indicate that the bird population isn't suffering. These cats are certainly not as healthy as indoor cats (for one thing, they inbreed, and I think the recent generations are suffering as a result) but they seem as content with their lives as the wild animals.

There's a certain amount of hysteria in the conservation world regarding feral cats. Cats have lived outdoors as long as people have lived on farms; it's not rational to say that all of a sudden they present a horrible problem when they never did before. Statements like "exact numbers are unknown, but scientists estimate..." do not impress me. One of the silliest statements I've heard recently is that cats who eat mice and rats are depriving native species of food. Guys... the mice and rats aren't a naturally-occurring population. They live in much greater numbers than would be supported by nature because they eat the grain which falls from the horse troughs. Reducing the numbers of a population which is sustained at artificially high numbers because of human beings can't possibly harm native wildlife. The same page said that cats don't really eat large rats, only small ones. Tell that to these cats, who leave giant rat presents for us!

Now, having said all that, you really can't chuck an indoor cat outside. It would be miserable.

It's possible to convert an outdoor cat to an indoor cat (my husband and I did, with two which were given to us), and in time, the indoor cat will be perfectly happy, although less athletic. It took six months for ours to stop rushing the door. On the upside, no parasites, far fewer transmittable diseases (one of ours had a terrible Chlamydia infection in his eyes when he arrived, and there's also feline AIDS to think about), and you don't have to constantly worry that your cat is dead somewhere.

It's one thing to have an outdoor cat in the country. Having an outdoor cat in the city isn't a good idea, in my opinion. But cats, at least where I live, are legally "free agents," and can go where they want in the city, including other people's yards and on other people's cars. If you're pregnant, wash your hands after touching dirt, not just because of toxoplasmosis but for many reasons. Cover your kid's sandbox. As the saying goes, feces happens. If a bird shits in your sandbox, your kid could get salmonella. Domini, if your neighbor's cat actually tears up your sandbox cover, it's reasonable to demand of your neighbor that he pay to replace it and also do the labor himself. But I can't imagine most cats are that determined. I'm also having a hard time figuring out why getting the cats off the car requires touching them and getting dander on yourself. Repeat after me: SCRAM! If this fails, get a stick, prod the cat with it: SCRAM! ;)