Kids 'Keep Your Cat Indoors' poster contest underway (2005-03-15)
With spring just around the corner, the first killdeer of the season was
reported on Feb. 24, according to the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union
birding hotline.
Other arriving migrants reported recently include greater white-fronted
goose, great blue heron, northern harrier, sandhill crane, ring-billed gull
and both rusty and red-winged blackbirds.
Resident birds and those returning to Minnesota from their southern
wintering grounds will soon be ready to nest. In spring and early summer,
birds, their eggs and hatchlings are vulnerable to becoming a meal for
predators.
One of America's most efficient predators is the domestic cat, which if
allowed outdoors might kill birds and small mammals, even if the cat is well
fed by humans.
Every year the lives of free-roaming cats are cut short when they are run
over by cars, attacked by other animals, contract diseases, pick up
parasites, or are poisoned or harmed by humans, according to Andrea Lee
Lambrecht, of the Cats Indoors Minnesota Project.
Her organization is encouraging people to keep their cat indoors, for the
cat's safety as well as for the sake of birds and wildlife on which cats
prey.
To promote the idea, a "Keep Your Cat Indoors" poster contest, open to
children ages 6-12, is underway. Entries must arrive at a regional
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Nongame Wildlife offices by April 8.
State winners will be announced on April 22, Earth Day.
Prizes will include bird/wildlife books, plush birds that sing and Minnesota
Ornithologists' Union bird checklists. The three top state winners will also
receive Nikon binoculars. The Ornithologists' Union and the DNR Nongame
Wildlife Program are among the organizations that endorse and fund the Cats
Indoors campaign.
Contest guidelines are posted on the Minnesota DNR Web site at
www.dnr.state.mn.us.
Guidelines may also be obtained at regional DNR Nongame Wildlife offices
located at 2115 Birchmont Beach Road NE, Bemidji, MN 56601; 1201 East
Highway 2, Grand Rapids, MN 55744; 1200 Warner Road, St. Paul, MN 55106; and
261 Highway 15 South, New Ulm, MN 56073.
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