November 27, 2013
Why did the Ruffed Grouse cross the road? 1) To get away from a housecat. 2) To get away from a hungry pilgrim. 3) Or just to find out what's on the other side.
Here in Vermont, we're getting ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow, which has given us a moment to reflect on what we are grateful for. We're actually grateful for the Ruffed Grouse because it was the day that our cat George hunted and harmed a (large) Ruffed Grouse in our woods that was the same day we foiled George's future bird-hunting efforts by inventing the Birdsbesafe® cat collar system.
If you know our story, already, you know that we were desperate to stop George, aka "killer", who was bird-obsessed and so lethal he did capture a grouse as big as a chicken, and bring it indoors. Sad! But then, a little bulb went off: "Don't birds see bright colors extra well?" And as quick as I could say, where's my sewing machine, I had put a ring of color around George's neck, and he was immediately and forever changed into a non-threat, as he no longer could get close enough to birds who saw him coming. Instead of several kills a week, he caught 1-3 in about two years, including two summertimes. We know because he had never failed to drag in his kills through the cat door (including that grouse).
We are Grateful to our customers of 4.5 years who have helped us with our elaborate refinements to our product, helped us test it and improve it, helped us sell and promote it, helped us with their testimonials, photos and quips about how silly their cats look--but how happy they are to stop the bird carnage. We are grateful to our manufacturing helpers, the scientists studying Birdsbesafe, and to my family who has supported my long hours at work saving birds. Thank you, one and all.
Birdsbesafe LLC, the little company that never quits, is humbled to think of all the birds saved so far, world-round, and all the birds yet to be helped.
Happy Thanksgiving. After this post, I wonder: I may have to go vegetarian this year.
Peace,
Nancy
April 28, 2021
Does this make our pet products officially famous?
We made the list of 10 best eco-friendly pet products for Earth Day! We're lucky #7. See the story by People Pets' editor here.
We're on a mission to protect birds from cats that hunt. Thank you, cat owners!
April 16, 2021
We are grateful for the loyalty and dedication of our sewing partners, who have sewn our products ever since 2015. Our products are made in the United States, and they always have been. It is a decision of ours to support American manufacturing, and to support the fair compensation of the sewing professionals whose hands guide our products through the sewing process. We rely on their superb professional sewing capabilities in order to bring you a beautiful collar cover to help protect birds -- and to dress up your cat in an attractive way.
Fabric is the main "ingredient" of our product. Over the years, fabric prices have increased. Today, we raised the price of our product. It was our first price increase since 2013. We needed our prices to better reflect our actual costs. We hope you will understand and appreciate that it was an overdue adjustment.
February 12, 2021
Results of a scientific field study, led by Univ. of Exeter's Dr. Robbie MacDonald, were published in the journal Current Biology this week."Fitting Birdsbesafe collar covers reduced the numbers of birds captured and brought home by 42% but had no discernible effect on mammals."
And, the research paper characterized it: "Birdsbesafe is a colorful collar cover that works as a visual warning, increasing the visibility of cats to potential prey animals with color vision. It exhibited pronounced effectiveness in reducing killing of birds, and more generally, prey with good color vision, including herpetofauna."
