Feral Cats

[David Rees <>]

Could it be that by reducing the number of domestic cats 'out and about' in such suburbs you make it easier for feral cats to take advantage of the vacuum. 

On Sun, Oct 8, 2017 at 5:42 PM, Fleur r Leary <> wrote:

Regrettably even in so called “cat containment” suburbs, cats are out and about …...

On 7 Oct 2017, at 10:34 PM, steven <> wrote:

Sad story about the phascogale, I also havr never seen a live one, let alone a dead one. Perhaps governments won't go overly public about the feral cat problem because there's just a touch of animal sentiment involved, i.e. cats are familiar as a pet to so many people. It wouldn't take much to inflate this small amount of vague sentiment for moggies to a raging 'anti-cull' protest., thus making the whole venture politically unsavoury. Brumbies may be a useful analogy. The birds which fall victims on the other hand are varied and diverse, whereas what the cause needs is a simple poster-child that people can relate to. Perhaps we should use a few well-known species of bird which are commonly taken by cats to promote their cause.

Sent from my Samsung GALAXY S5

-------- Original message --------
From: Suzanne EDGAR <> 
Date: 7/10/2017 7:19 PM (GMT+10:00) 
To: 'canberrabirds' <m("canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");" target="_blank">org.au> 
Subject: FW: [canberrabirds] Feral Cats 

I realise.

 

 

From: Suzanne EDGAR [m("internode.on.net","sedgar");" target="_blank">net] 
Sent: Saturday, 7 October 2017 7:11 PM
To: 'Alan Cowan' <>; 'canberrabirds' <m("canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");" target="_blank">org.au>
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Feral Cats

 

Have 4 different cats invading my bird sanctuary back yard currently, @ different times

Sz

 

From: Alan Cowan  
Sent: Thursday, 5 October 2017 3:21 PM
To: canberrabirds <m("canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");" style="color:rgb(149,79,114);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">org.au>
Subject: [canberrabirds] Feral Cats

 

Most people don't realise the numbers of feral cats in Canberra.

At my previous home in an inner suburb I regularly put out a possum trap baited with meat overnight and regularly caught large feral cats. In addition to birds, they also destroy small mammals, frogs, reptiles etc. I remember an acquaintance in WA laughing genially when their cat brought in a dead phascogale. It was the only one I have ever seen.

No-one in government seems too worried. A couple of years ago it was announced that a specific person had been appointed by government in the field of feral predators. I contacted this person and pointed out that the South African National Antarctic Expeditions  service had eradicated cats from subantarctic Marion Island by introducing a cat influenza virus. He seemed uninterested. Most subantarctic islands are infested with cats. Macquarie is the shining exception, after much expensive work.

Barry Cohen who was a federal Labour government minister some years ago did show a keen interest at one time in the feral cat problem.

It's hard to know whether foxes or cats are worse: foxes are more conspicuous but feral cats are common and widespread. Both are undoubtedly appallingly destructive. It is hardly surprising that the Painted Button-quail, a ground nester, is only occasionally present in the Stirling Park woodland: it is amazing that they ever maintain a presence there at all. My friend David Hollands who has spent much time in the outback searching for raptors' nests tells me that it is a common experience to find one occupied by cats.

Would the COG consider doing some work on this problem?

Alan Cowan