birding-aus

Feral Cat Kills Night Parrot.

To: <>
Subject: Feral Cat Kills Night Parrot.
From: "Barney Enders" <>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 10:30:38 +1000
A while ago I sat on a water hole in the evening in the area mentioned and
while sitting quietly had the feeling I was being watched, I soon realized I
was not

the only one that knew hundreds of birds came here to drink.

 

Six very fat cats including a big Black Tom and his amorous Tabby girl
friend were there for only one reason.

There were very few birds coming in to drink compared to the year before.

 

But the thing that amazed me was the height they could leap into the air and
pull down the birds with one paw outstretched well over two mts for the big
Tom.

There were no Spinifex Pigeons or any other ground birds to be found in the
district and the little "Tat Ta"  Lizard had also disappeared.

Bluetongue Lizards, Skinks, Dunnarts, many other marsupials and birds have
disappeared and while at " Lawn Hill " there was an old man Emu with one
chick near the Administration Office and 

when I asked why only one I was told the cats had killed the rest.

 

Another skinny cat arrived with a cardboard tube stuck over its head which
didn't allow it to turn its head and it just wandered around the edge of the
water hole.

 

The local shire at Cloncurry Richmond etc were paying a bounty of $10 for
every tail produced but the weight of numbers brought the amount paid down
to $ 5  and I'm not sure if it is still going.

Some of the roo shooters were bringing in hundreds a night, one station
owner shot over 450 in two days.

 

The reason for the explosion of cats was brought on with the Native Rat
plague that spread North and West after the good season following Cyclone "
Yasi " cats followed and bred in the

millions and when the rat plague died out the cats were left starving and
turned to alternative food .

The same thing happened to the Owls that died in the hundreds from
starvatioin.

 

It was nothing to see half a dozen dead cats and many more live ones on each
of the road kills mixed with Eagles and Kites.

 

Local State Member Rob Katter has been lobbying for a $15 bounty for a long
time.

 

Barney enders.

 

<HR>
<BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
<BR> 
<BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
<BR> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
</HR>

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
  • Feral Cat Kills Night Parrot., Barney Enders <=
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU