Fangs a lot, Night Parrot. Here on the south eastern slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges any wandering cat is feral by definition & therefore open to control.
Your local Landmark rural store/agency has excellent French made Cat/Possum traps for around $84.00, worth their weight in gold!
I can attest that they work very well too...haven't caught a possum yet, but plenty of cats who have then received their "termination of services" package.
The cats are just part of the problem, the National Park around here is populated by packs of wild dogs. Just last November I was bailed up by four wild dogs on a bush trail, luckily I had a big solid walking stick and they backed off when I waved that at them, all quite large interbred mongrels.
Most of these animals are ex domestics that have been dumped by owners who don't want them. They don't want to pay the vet to put them down.
Licenced shooters who are responsible should be let into the National Parks and clean up some of these pests. I remember some years back they had a cull shoot in the National Park just west of here and over two weeks shot 88 dogs and 43 cats, plus numerous pigs, foxes and goats.
Those are wonderful ideas, Raven. As well, I suggest dog & cat dumpers need to be charged with ecocide & given an appropriate disincentive for repeat performances. Perhaps if cat owners must keep cats then the cost of their cat runs could be subsidised. If they keep their cats caged rather than allowing them out for the occasional stroll in the park then perhaps they could be rewarded with a reduction in council rates. The drain on councils' coffers could then be reduced by councils adopting all out cat culls so that there would be few people applying for council rate reductions.
I like the idea of licensed, responsible shooters being allowed to clean up "these pests". No limit on the bag.
These are the sorts of actions which will help change our cat & other pest animal culture to a culture which protects wildlife & its habitats.
Compulsory mico chipping should be a national law for all dogs and cats so they can be traced back to the owners via a data base.
Also all dogs and cats that are not owned by a registered breeder should be compulsory desexed by law, this would make some inroad in the feral population breeding in the long term.
Seen an interesting documentary on ABC or SBS a few months back on the huge problems feral camels in the Northern Territory and far western Queensland are placing on the environment too, man has a lot ot answer for and is the total blame for feral animals.
Instead of duck hunting seasons they should have times where people can apply for a licence to shoot these feral animals (with strict guidelines of coarse).
Couldn't agree more, give the poor ducks a break and concentrate on feral cats and dogs around here would be a good starting point and keep the sporting/professional shooters active for many weeks.
A bounty per kill would be a good enticement, I remember growing up in rural Victoria there was a bounty on fox scalps, not sure of the actual payment at the time.
Fangs a lot, Night Parrot. Here on the south eastern slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges any wandering cat is feral by definition & therefore open to control.
Your local Landmark rural store/agency has excellent French made Cat/Possum traps for around $84.00, worth their weight in gold!
I can attest that they work very well too...haven't caught a possum yet, but plenty of cats who have then received their "termination of services" package.
The cats are just part of the problem, the National Park around here is populated by packs of wild dogs. Just last November I was bailed up by four wild dogs on a bush trail, luckily I had a big solid walking stick and they backed off when I waved that at them, all quite large interbred mongrels.
Most of these animals are ex domestics that have been dumped by owners who don't want them. They don't want to pay the vet to put them down.
Licenced shooters who are responsible should be let into the National Parks and clean up some of these pests. I remember some years back they had a cull shoot in the National Park just west of here and over two weeks shot 88 dogs and 43 cats, plus numerous pigs, foxes and goats.
Should happen more often.
Yes, that price seems about right, Raven.
Those are wonderful ideas, Raven. As well, I suggest dog & cat dumpers need to be charged with ecocide & given an appropriate disincentive for repeat performances. Perhaps if cat owners must keep cats then the cost of their cat runs could be subsidised. If they keep their cats caged rather than allowing them out for the occasional stroll in the park then perhaps they could be rewarded with a reduction in council rates. The drain on councils' coffers could then be reduced by councils adopting all out cat culls so that there would be few people applying for council rate reductions.
I like the idea of licensed, responsible shooters being allowed to clean up "these pests". No limit on the bag.
These are the sorts of actions which will help change our cat & other pest animal culture to a culture which protects wildlife & its habitats.
Compulsory mico chipping should be a national law for all dogs and cats so they can be traced back to the owners via a data base.
Also all dogs and cats that are not owned by a registered breeder should be compulsory desexed by law, this would make some inroad in the feral population breeding in the long term.
Seen an interesting documentary on ABC or SBS a few months back on the huge problems feral camels in the Northern Territory and far western Queensland are placing on the environment too, man has a lot ot answer for and is the total blame for feral animals.
Instead of duck hunting seasons they should have times where people can apply for a licence to shoot these feral animals (with strict guidelines of coarse).
Couldn't agree more, give the poor ducks a break and concentrate on feral cats and dogs around here would be a good starting point and keep the sporting/professional shooters active for many weeks.
A bounty per kill would be a good enticement, I remember growing up in rural Victoria there was a bounty on fox scalps, not sure of the actual payment at the time.
Bring it on..."Don't delay, pop a feral today!"