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Comment by Solvency | Hacker News Reader

Out in California, living near massive crow populations is a plus, because they terrorize the hell out of the hawks would otherwise mercilessly pick off your backyard chickens. It's truly impressive stuff, watching the crows coordinate comms and attacks from massive distances over a single hawk in the area.

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I've seen Blue Jays do something similar, it started off as a single male jay dive bombing the hawk with 2-3 more Jays showing up in a few minutes. It occurred to me that the birds must have a "flee" call that's distinct from a "help" call because while they seemed to want to scare away the hawk I've seen them simply flee when a cat's around.

It does mean more rats though.

Does the solution mean more cats?

But then your chickens are in danger again.

I have two cats and there are at least 5 "working" feral cats from around the neighborhood that come through my yard all of the time. None of them, even the largest, have ever posed a single threat (or even interest) in my fully grown chickens.

Chicks, on the other hand... but that's why chicks aren't free ranging.

Yeah I've never seen a domestic cat go for an adult chicken. They've always coexisted peacefully in my experience. They are symbiotic to some degree. Chickens can attract mice by virtue of how messy they are (throwing feed everywhere). Cats eat mice. Ecosystem balanced.

Also, an adult (egg-laying) chicken will weigh close to what a cat weighs. Cats have a plentitude of much easier prey.

Chicks would be fair game, but most people are raising chicks in an incubator setting. (Chickens are not great mothers, and you'll have a lot of attrition even in the absence of predators.)

No cat is going to hunt and kill a chicken.

Cats are unable or unwilling to tackle larger rats, including the ones outside my apartment. They're much better mousers than ratters.

Depends on the cat and the size of the rats. I have had cats that would deposit dead rats along with their regular offering of mouse heads on my door mat, and one cat that hunted rabbits nearly her size. (As the rabbits kept invading my fenced vegetable garden I was okay with their predation)

I've had the same experience. Crows work with scrub jays to get rid of hawks and housecats for the benefit of other animals.

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