Feral Animals

[north-north-west]

but I know bandicoots. I have a pile of around 20 dead ones under my house from the resident cats that enjoy catching them.

Get those *&%$#! cats inside permanently or get them dead. But, one way or another, stop them preying on our native wildlife.

[flyfisher]

Yer, what She said.

[ILUVSWTAS]

I do try to run them over when I come home and see them outside our house. Not sure how i'd fele if I actually got one!!
I got a possum trap from my (field officer) father in law and started catching them. BUT when it came to disposing of them, I couldnt do it... so I just leave them inside the trap for 2, 3 or 4 ays to try to scare them away.
The last one I let out was so thankful for its freedom it ran onto the road straight underneath the wheel of a pssing car.

I've not been man enough to set the trap since.....

[north-north-west]

Do you mean they're all ferals?
Right, where can I get a gun . . .

ps: running over feral cats is one of the better things in life. Almost as good as getting foxes. I've only ever managed two cats (although this was a female with young who hopefully carked it as well) and one fox, but that's better than the 50-odd rabbits.

[Nuts]

Dont like them as pets but cats are an amazing animal. I'd have no problem shooting them or other quick death but running over them is a bit much. Wont someone take them ILSWT? RSPCA?

[north-north-west]

*shrug*
If you hit the right part of them it's a quick death. Hit anything and you have to get out and check it's dead and, if not, put an end to the pain.

[Nuts]

perhaps. but then, once injured, the further they can run. the slower the death and the less the chance of finding them.
(ive hit a few cats. idnt know how you 'hit' a cat 'in the right place' )

[north-north-west]

The head.
The 4WD's better than an ordinary car, 'cause the tyres are wide enough to be immediately fatal. Not much of the cat doesn't get hit.

[Macca81]

The head.
The 4WD's better than an ordinary car, 'cause the tyres are wide enough to be immediately fatal. Not much of the cat doesn't get hit.

true story, when i feel both wheels going over it, i know that its a safe bet that it was a fairly instantaneous death...

my mate hit one once in a street, ran out from nowhere... we felt it hit 3 wheels... apparently cats bounce off smaller cars...

[Ent]

A well feed cat sound asleep on your bed is the best place for them at night and they would agree As for running over animals my instinct is to avoid this. As for feral cats, like with foxes and wild dogs no problem with a quick dispatch but if it was some ones pet then personally would not feel good about it. A bit of tolerance is a good thing. Never could understand why a pet rabbit was a danger to society when a kid while the wild ones roams free. A case of over zealous behaviour by our bureaucrats that only made sense if the place was rabbit free, in that case good sense to avoid introducing a potential pest.

Anyway NNW were not Tigers once considered a pest, hence land practices and bounties were used to do them in? I wish our squatters could of had a more live and let live approach and considered the loss of lambs as a consequence of farming. More than one farmer would destroy the Wedge Tail eagle even today.

Cheers Brett

[north-north-west]

The big difference is that, in this country, rabbits, foxes and cats are feral, rather than native. There are plenty of places in the world where rabbits, foxes and cats don't endanger the native wildlife or native ecosystems. Here, they do.
Therefore, as far as I'm concerned, the fewer of them the better.
Ditto feral camels, horses, goats, pigs, cattle, dogs, blackbirds, starlings, Indian *&%$#! mynahs, canetoads etc etc etc.

[Ent]

The big difference is that, in this country, rabbits, foxes and cats are feral, rather than native. There are plenty of places in the world where rabbits, foxes and cats don't endanger the native wildlife or native ecosystems. Here, they do.
Therefore, as far as I'm concerned, the fewer of them the better.
Ditto feral camels, horses, goats, pigs, cattle, dogs, blackbirds, starlings, Indian *&%$#! mynahs, canetoads etc etc etc.

Um? People

[ILUVSWTAS]

We have chooks. The cats were stalking them when we had some chicks. I just got into the habit of scaring them away and it's stuck. We have a large area under our house they like to hang out.
there are some ferals, but also a couple of neighbours have some that do the same things.

Cats to me are a bit like humans, I like them as individuals, but not as a race.

[Son of a Beach]

The big difference is that, in this country, rabbits, foxes and cats are feral, rather than native. There are plenty of places in the world where rabbits, foxes and cats don't endanger the native wildlife or native ecosystems. Here, they do.
Therefore, as far as I'm concerned, the fewer of them the better.
Ditto feral camels, horses, goats, pigs, cattle, dogs, blackbirds, starlings, Indian *&%$#! mynahs, canetoads etc etc etc.

Um? People

Interesting one, this (perhaps for another topic). Humans are certainly native, but what about race? Same species, but the addition of a different race has made a big difference to the balance. Having said that, it's not really anything to do with the race that has made the difference, but the culture and behaviour which the second lot has brought with them.

There's no doubt that humans have more impact on the native wildlife than anything else though.

[Neil Grose]

A 'humane' way to dispatch feral cats once caged, is to put the cage into a big plastic bag (garbage bag etc), and then connect the exhaust of your car to the bag. Run the car for 10 minutes and pretty pussy will drift off quite peacefully.
I think they use a similar method in QLD for cane toads.
On the subject of the thylacine, I reckon it's out there, probably in the far north east and while never having seen one first hand...

[Liamy77]

what ever you choose to do, i think that alive or soon not the process has to be humane - there are many local council laws about the place that limit how you deal with the problem... the best humane method i know of is to box trap (may help to give a free feed at the same spot and time for a few days first, then sedt the trap. You can also lay scent trails leading to the trap with tuna juice from a can). Check the trap the next day and if youre in luck, transfer the cat to a wooden box or cage, cover with a blanket and drop it off to the rspca or pound - some of them have holding cages for an anonymous drop.... best check with the council first .. i have trapped cats in Victoria for about a year under contract to local councils and RSPCA and there are pretty severe penalties there for instance if you don't follow the right process...

[ILUVSWTAS]

I understand the need for that liamy, but meanwhile the cats are eating their way thru the native wildlife and no-one give a right royal rats about that! I know some that drop the cage in a bath of water......

[Liamy77]

Your right - i had to say it... but i do agree with your view too - thats why i did the job for a while!

[ILUVSWTAS]

yup, and a credit to you!! just seems alot of kuffuffle to go through for the damage they do.
I read somewhere that if the gov. spent as much as they have on the foxforce on eradicating the feral cats they could nuke the lot of em!

[Son of a Beach]

Hey, guys, dealing with feral animals is a reasonable topic of discussion (feral cats certainly are a serious problem that needs to be dealt with), however some of the details of the methods employed discussed so far is getting some animal lovers a little upset (according to PMs I've received). So please tone it down when discussing methods of extermination. Thanks in anticipation for your consideration.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Sure Nik.
I also am an animal lover. I love our NATIVE animals more than our domestic ones though. And if people dont think feral cats are anything more than a destructive creature on par with rabbits or carp then they are ignorant.

I will heed your advice though and say no more about the disposal methods...

Geez there's some big vicious buggers about tho eh??

[Nuts]

I questioned the thing about running them over (here earlier). Its never any of the animals fault, Ive also shot a few feral cats (while out fox shooting, seen some massive ones!) so have little hesitation in dispatching them. If they are "owned" they shouldn't be out of a house.

It is the notion that you can "run over the correct part' of the cat that i find odd, maybe if its sick... there are much more 'humane' ways. They still dont separate us from them but they are effective and necessary.

No big deal, however, good luck to those trying to run over a cat. Just be careful, statistics are probably on the cats side.

[Ent]

I questioned the thing about running them over (here earlier). Its never any of the animals fault, Ive also shot a few feral cats (while out fox shooting, some massive!) so have little hesitation in dispatching them. If they are "owned" they shouldn't be out of a house.No big deal, however, good luck to those trying to run over a cat. Just be careful, statistics are probably on the cats side.

Um? Cats a creatures that enjoy their space along with freedom and are near impossible to keep inside. Now they are also creatures of comfort and enjoy being inside with most not wandering far afield anyway. Two kilometres into bush land would indicate a feral cat so fair enough but having lived with neighbours that set rabbit trabs on a suburb block to trap next door neighbours cats suggest a pyschopath in the street.

Feral cats are a problem as is dogs that form into packs to hunt sheep. Sad it was a work college dog was shot by a farmer for such a crime but their dog was about four kilometres from home hunting with a pack of fellow domestic dogs. Amazing how the pack instintic is alive and well in you average mut.

The basic issue is feral owners that dump cats rather than a well love domestic pet doing excessive destruction, but our neo Nazis in the dark green camp adopt the ever so typical mantra of fundelmentalists on this issue A cat appears better able to survive in the wild than dogs so dumping cats is the crime, rather than the cat itself, at least in my humble opinion, so punishing caring owners does not make much sense.

Brett

[Nuts]

yer, heres the thing, if a pet is able to leave the owners property at all then it is not under control is it.

If the owner cant find a way of ensuring this then they dont have the means to own a pet, seems simple.

Its not just dumped animals that can cause trouble or become feral.

My dog keeps cats out of his yard (so dont need traps)

[Macca81]

If they are "owned" they shouldn't be out of a house.

agreed.
my mate has a cat with FIV, and as such it is made sure it doesnt come in contact with other cats. so the cat has a cat door that goes outside into a run that has been made, giving it the chance to go outside if it wishes but it can not escape the run. this is the kind of cat i like. it is inside(or confined) at ALL times. it can not kill any native animals and this is the way all cats should be housed.


cats kill for fun, they rarely kill for food (we feed them more than enough) unless they are genuine ferals, and even then they will kill anything and everything just for kicks anyways.
yes, humans kill for fun also, but we at least have the ability to choose to do this (and im sure that there are many humans out there that many would consider as much a pest as a cat or rabbit... and some prob need to be disposed of in the same way ), cats dont have a choice, they just do what comes natural to them...

[north-north-west]

The big difference is that, in this country, rabbits, foxes and cats are feral, rather than native. There are plenty of places in the world where rabbits, foxes and cats don't endanger the native wildlife or native ecosystems. Here, they do.
Therefore, as far as I'm concerned, the fewer of them the better.
Ditto feral camels, horses, goats, pigs, cattle, dogs, blackbirds, starlings, Indian *&%$#! mynahs, canetoads etc etc etc.

Um? People

Yeah, the fewer of them the better, too.

I've never understood those people who are more concerned over the well-being of a mangy, flea-bitten, worm-riddled feral than the native birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians these ferals displace or hunt.

If you own an animal, its behaviour and well-being are both your responsibility. If it gets out and about and then gets run over, or eats a poisoned bait, that's the owner's fault. And if it harms a native animal that, also, is the owner's fault. And if it stays wild and breeds, or stays mostly domestic and breeds with a feral, then the resulting offspring and their activities are also the owner's fault.
But punishing the owners, or ex-owners, of the animals that are doing the damage doesn't help much. The only way to stop the damage being done is to remove the animals. Which is the responsibility of all of us. And getting all gooey about 'some poor little poppet's pet pussy' doesn't help. The cat shouldn't be out. At all.

[Ent]

Ferals are one thing but sadly as this thread has shown, yet again, there is a zealot dislike to domestic pets in certain quarters and a failure to understand what is practical and not practical. Make something so hard then it becomes by definition illegal or people just ignore all laws, even the better ones. At least we have a democracy so the majority can keep the zealots at bay.

Cheers Brett

[tasadam]

My wife found 2 young cats dumped not far from our house yesterday. Could not approach them.
I have a cat trap and I will be using it. Either the RSPCA or the local vet will be my drop-off point if I catch them.
For their sake I hope I do. And for the local wildlife.

[ILUVSWTAS]

No-one has mentoined domestic pets have they?

[Ent]

I had two cats until one misjudged the stopping distance of a car, or at least I hope that was the case, and the other after twenty something years faded away. Even my traffic statistic was with me for over ten years. I have none due to working in Launceston an my unit is on the intersection of two busy roads. All our cats since a kid were either "gifts" or visitors that decided to stay. Most for around the twenty year mark. Yes while I respect dogs I love cats but a feral cat does not belong in the bush and people dumping animals are cruel despite what they may think.

Cheers Brett