Maybe it has another effect downstream, eating the prey they would have eaten.
Although I'm not sure. I know they aren't good for birds.
Possibly .....but I'm not at ease with the overall idea,save small British mammals by killing the domestic cat
With that approach,we would soon move onto kill kestrels and tawny owls to save the vole population !
The loss of suitable habitat ,because of Man,is a far more relevant factor in the decline of mammals , and it is Man who destroys habitat,brings domestic cats into urban areas then writes reports on the the decline in numbers of wildlife ..due to cats !
The ending of hedgerows in fields destroys valuable cover for all sorts of countryside species,bird and mammal
Cats are known to venture into countryside ,but no cat can be held irresponsible for the marked decline in the number of Water Voles,for example ....a once very common sight on every freshwater fast flowing stream
Where have they gone to ?
Another random example ,....I used to see signs of Moles across so many lawns or open country side. everywhere I went ,a real pest for home owners /gardeners ......the mole hills were everywhere ....maybe I'm looking in the wrong places but they are nowhere near as common
Why is that ? Nothing to do with cats .....Moles are rarely at the surface ,and cats don't dig underground ....
To develop my point further ,the water shrew numbers ,the bank voles also, any decline is nothing to with cats I imagine ...so that study mentioned above ...I'd like to see where it has it's numbers from.or does it refer to birds rather than mammals.?
Loss of habitat, pesticides the rampant drive for faster more efficient technology is ,imo ,far more likely to be behind the dwindling numbers of many British mammals ,than the effect of cat predation....ie Man
In my thread " where have all the insects gone" many have noticed the worrying drop in many areas of the insect population ... House spiders wasps hornets butterflies stag Beatles , blue bottles green bottles red bottles meat flies ...houses gardens and open air used to be full of them all spring and summer long .
No domestic pet is behind this downward trend .,.......