Coyotes regularly feed on outdoor house cats, the American Bird Conservancy reports.

The news is of interest in Linn County, where livestock raisers have reported more losses from coyotes and other predators, suggesting an increase in coyote numbers.

The bird organization is based in Washington, D.C. In a press release, it cites a study, "Observations of Coyote-Cat Interactions," by Shannon Grubbs of the University of Arizona and Paul Krausman of the University of Montana. The study was published in the Journal of Wildlife Management.

The researchers tracked coyotes in Tucson, Ariz., and watched 36 coyote-cat interactions, of which 19 resulted in coyotes killing cats.

Other studies have found that approximately 13 percent of a coyote's diet consists of cats. But during this study, in the 45 instances when coyotes were observed feeding, 42 percent of the meals were cats.

The researchers concluded that any cat outside is vulnerable to coyote attack, and recommended that cat owners keep their cats indoors.

Steve Holmer, spokesman for the Bird Conservancy, says this finding raises questions about trap, neuter and release programs that catch feral cats, neuter them, and then release them back into the wild.

Some groups in Linn County has tried such programs.

The American Bird Conservancy has consistently raised concerns about TNR programs because these cats kill hundreds of millions of birds each year and also because TNR programs do not provide a humane solution for the cats themselves.

"Well-meaning but misguided TNR practitioners are creating unsafe conditions for domestic cats by releasing them back into areas where they may become prey for coyotes and other predators," said Darin Schroeder, American Bird Conservancy's vice President of Conservation Advocacy. "Providing an all-you-can-eat buffet for coyotes is not a sensible solution and we urge states and communities to reject this inhumane approach to the feral cat problem and require responsible care of pets and the removal of feral cats from the wild."

Despite this risk of predation, TNR has been adopted in areas with large coyote populations. Arizona's Maricopa County, which is the fourth largest county in the country with nearly four million people, has adopted TNR.

"County officials are wrong when they say TNR is an effective and humane solution," said Schroeder. "Feral and free-roaming cats kill hundreds of millions of our nation's birds each year, putting additional pressure on the populations of many species that are in decline."

American Bird Conservancy recently produced a new, short film "Trap, Neuter, and Release: Bad for Cats, Disaster for Birds," which shows the approach is failing to substantially reduce cat numbers and is contributing to the deaths of millions of birds each year, including endangered species.

For the Democrat-Herald