Hi All.
Cats have been a major issue for Australian Wildlife for centuries,
and they have modified the distribution and survival of birds and animals since
first introduced, from Indonesia by the Makassar's and later by Europeans.
Apparently the Northwest half of Oz has genetically Indonesian type cats, the
Southeast are European, for what that is worth.
Controlling them will take a lot of research and labour, but once
effective control methods are invented, distributing those controls would be
worthwhile. It cost $25 million to control rabbits on Macquarie Island, what
price Night Parrot ad other ground or termite mound nesters and what are left
of our small mammals
The novel spray-on poison for fastidious felines noted by Charles in a
recent post is very interesting. Just how you would get the pussies to pass
the spraying machine is another matter.
I imagine that pheromones, odours derived from mating female cats, could
be isolated, concentrated and spread around to attract males from far and wide,
and possibly territorial females, would be effective.
We had a cat problem which was solved by trapping in a possum trap
baited with “Snappy Tom” canned cat food, and the miscreants humanely and
painlessly disposed of via the local vet. Feral cats are said to be extremely
indisposed to entering metal traps. Research into overcoming that problem
(larger traps sprayed with pheromones and completely devoid of human odour)
should work at least some of the time.
How about Feline Distemper? Hunting dogs in restricted areas?
Research into the territorial areas of feral cats is a must, maybe it has
already been done.
Some of you guys with a lot more time than me might surf the net for
answers?
Cheers
Michael
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