Sage Szkabarnicki-Stuart, Felis catus, 2020
Miss Mew used to be a feral cat until she was adopted in 2017. She still enjoys being a prolific outdoor hunter, killing and offering everything from rabbits to songbirds as gifts for her owners. Cats (Felis catus) and habitat loss are the two biggest killers of birds in Canada and the US. The number of birds killed by cats exceeds total deaths from pollution, pesticides, window strikes, vehicles, and all other man-made causes combined. Each year in North American cats kill between one billion and four billion birds, and six billion to 22 billion small mammals. Cats have also played a large role in the extinction of at least 33 bird species in the US and Canada.