The Eastern grey squirrel and cats are on the radars of Peninsula bird lovers and plans are being made to protect local songbirds.
“[Squirrels] are really eliminating a tremendous amount of our native wildlife, not just birds,” North Saanich Coun. Elsie McMurphy said.
North Saanich resident Virginia Smith was the catalyst for the issue when she made a presentation to council June 11.
“We can help protect our rapidly declining songbird populations by providing safe nesting sites … and feeders positioned in a manner safe from cats and grey squirrels,” Smith said. “If the council wants to ignore the loss of our songbird populations … perhaps they could at least consider putting in cat management bylaws.”
The task of finding ways to protect songbirds was handed to the environmental advisory committee last week.