Birding-Aussies
As far as bells go....the bigger the better (I'm thinking cowbell,
clocktower bell size).
Im not a scientist but I know from personal observation that bells are
useless when it comes to stopping cats from hunting successfully.
They cab and do hunt down lizards (up to Blue-Tongue size), crunch frogs and
birds on a daily basis even when well fed at home.
If you feed a cat till it weighs 20kg or so then you might have a chance of
stopping it hunting otherwise an outdoor, fully enclosed cat run is the go.
Local councils should rebate cat owners for the expense or allow a deduction
from rates.
Ferals are a different matter.
Example...My brother has 60 000 acres in western NSW. The previous owner of
30yrs did not own a gun and did not allow shooters. The property had a well
established pop'n of ferals, including cats. I shot one at a stock water
trough, wounding it initially. It ran 10m to a hollow Poplar Box, climbed
inside and up into a hollow dead branch. Though a crack, I was able to
despatch the cat. This tree had 2 hollow branches approx 30cm in dia. Each
had cracks that were crammed full with feathers of parrots, pigeons, peewees
and, remarkably, Major Mitchells. Cats contribute in a significant way to
limit bird pop'ns in the wild and certainly would affect other vertebrate
pop'n levels as well.
It seems incredulous that the situation could somehow be different in urban
environs just because the cats are pets.
Im tying my horse up now.
Chris A
|
