- Philip Yorke claims his collar may save the lives of hundreds of thousands of birds in Britain
It’s the invention that may put the cat among the many pigeons – and let the pigeons live on.
A designer has created a collar that works out when a feline is about to pounce, and shortly warns its prey.
Philip Yorke claims his collar may save the lives of most of the 55 million birds killed by Britain’s 11 million cats every year.
The 82-year-old stated he first got here up with the concept when he noticed Maggie, his native pub’s Bengal cat, walk in with a lifeless sparrow hanging from her mouth.
He observed that when cats hunt they crouch down in a ‘stealth attack mode’, by shifting their hindquarters from side-to-side to create the bottom profile attainable.
His collar makes use of miniature movement sensors that recognise when a cat is displaying any such searching behaviour and emits the warning cry of a blackbird or hawk by way of a small amplifier to frighten off the supposed sufferer.
Mr Yorke stated: ‘Until now, cat owners were forced to use bells or bibs when trying to stop their pets killing birds. But there is a new, unique and harmless way of preventing this behaviour.’
Maggie’s proprietor, Bryan Mullarney, 60, who used to run The Railway Tavern in Dereham, Norfolk, stated the collar may very well be the one factor that may cease his pet’s killing spree: ‘I had tried to fit Maggie with a bell which was meant to alert the bird before it was too late for them to get away.
‘However, Maggie is smart and learnt how to move stealthily enough not to make any noise.’
Mr Yorke and BirdSonic at the moment are on the lookout for additional funding for the collar, which will be switched on and off when the cat passes via a catflap.
