Ian, have you read the paper linked to by Colin Trainor earlier?
www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/about/science/cswa/articles/23.pdf
The author hypothesises the spread of cats by using reports of cats mentioned
in old diaries, etc. He says there were none feral before 1820. Perhaps it's
possible that the Timor/Makassar type of cat that you mentioned is more
prevalent in the north, but weren't introduced any earlier than the southern
types.
He suggests that their spread may have been aided by the spread of rabbits,
which would mean that older populations might not have spread until more
recently.
Peter Shute
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Birding-Aus
> On Behalf Of Ian May
> Sent: Monday, 9 March 2015 5:21 PM
> To:
> Cc: ;
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] cats and also WTNT in NE Tasmania
>
> Hello all
>
> There appears to be a concerted effort by some out there to
> convince the public that Northern (tropical) feral cats are
> no different and have been on mainland Australia, no longer
> than any of the others feral cats that we see roaming the
> bush across the rest of the land. In my
> experience, that does not seem correct and is probably wrong. The
> theory that northern tropical feral cats were introduced by
> early Makassar sailors to me seems not only plausible, but likely.
>
> Having had a lifelong interest in wildlife and and during the
> 90's mapped most of the ancient Makassar trepang (Sea Cucumbers,
> Holothurians) camps located along the coast from Darwin to
> Boome, I observed that most feral cats in remote coastal
> areas away from towns are similar if not identical in
> appearance to a typical Timor/Makassar
> tabby type. Furthermore, compared to the larger type feral cats of
> inland Australia, the behaviour and habits of the feral cats
> inhabiting remote coastal tropical areas are more cryptic
> and, notwithstanding the heavier vegetation cover of their
> habitat, much more difficult to locate compared to their
> inland cousins. Tropical feral cats have a much more uniform
> appearance, seem smaller and are distinctively different
> compared to feral cats of inland Australia. Of course, there
> is an obviuos influence of more typical house cat type ferals
> as one moved closer to established human communities.
>
> The absence of cats found at ancient Makassar archaeological
> sites across northern Australian coast is not surprising.
> This does not diminish the possibility/probability that cats
> were introduced to northern Australia many years, probably
> more than 400+ years before European settlement by Makassar
> or even earlier, by Madagascan sailors.
> How many dead cats would one really expect to see at any
> archaeological
> site in northern Australia including European sites?
>
> It has been stated there are no cats to be seen in ancient
> aboriginal art. However, for all its unique cultural
> significance, Aboriginal art
> is not the most reliable form of natural history recording.
> In some of
> the remotest parts of the Kimberley coast there are what is
> known as Bradshaw style (Gyorn Gyorn) paintings(
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradshaw_rock_paintings ) among
> many other things, showing what appear to be Madagascan type
> sailors wearing trouser tassels and representing other
> characteristic artefacts' some including animals and sailing
> boats. The fact that the Bradshaw paintings precedes
> aboriginal art and have been painted over by ancient Wanjana
> aboriginal paintings; themselves known to be hundreds of
> years older than first known European visits to the mainland
> has become controversial. Bradshaw paintings could be 60000
> years old but, to discuss this topic is considered in some
> circles to be politically incorrect, just like the discussion
> around the likelihood that feral cats have probably been on
> mainland Australia for a long time, at least many hundreds of
> years too.
>
> This likely theory clearly disturbs many cat haters. It
> appears that,
> notwithstanding the predation of an occasional night parrot,
> it is difficult for a cat hater to argue or acknowledge that
> much of the damage that can be caused by feral cats has
> probably already been done and that the natural environment
> is most likely now accommodating an uncomfortable balance;
> and that the impacts from feral cats are now more likely
> determined from population fluctuations due to varying but
> natural seasonal conditions.
>
> This is not to say that we should not be doing everything
> possi9ble to protect vulnerable species of native wildlife
> from the direct impact of predators, both native and feral.
> Obviously to protect some vulnerable rare species, predator
> control measures are imperative however the problem of feral
> cats needs to be kept in perspective and unless voices of
> reason are heard regarding this problem, there is every
> likelihood that a broad scale attack on feral cats will not
> only be ineffective and hideously expensive, but more than
> likely will do more damage than good.
>
> regards
>
> Ian May
> St Helens, Tasmania
>
> PS Yesterday, across this locality in NE Tasmania, we
> experienced a
> two hour flyover of Spine-tailed Swifts (WTNT) from 0830.
>
> After 0930, I drove about the district from Dianna Basin to
> Priory and from St Helens Point and Stieglitz to Binalong Bay
> to confirm that it was happening all across the broad area.
> Throughout this time, there were between 1 and 5 birds in any
> field of view, rarely any period when birds were not evident,
> their general movement was inland. Impossible to estimate
> numbers but must have been many hundreds, or possibly a
> thousand + birds. Earlier in the morning, we watched the
> slow offshore movement of a dense rain bearing low pressure
> tough moving offshore from
> St Helens point. The front was carrying many hundreds of
> Albatross and
> Petrels.
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
>
>
> wrote:
>
> >Hi Michael,
> >
> >I believe there is no support for the hypothesis that cats
> were established in Australia prior to European settlement.
> There's been a paper or two on this from a few years back but
> I'll have to dig it/them out when I get back to the office.
> From memory the evidence was based on time frames of
> invasion, and old reports, ship records, etc. There may have
> been something genetic in there too, but I can't really
> remember. I do remember being satisfied that the
> researcher(s) had been thorough, and they convinced me.
> >
> >It's a bit of a longstanding myth, and I certainly believed
> it based on the appearances of some cats I'd seen in N. Aust.
> If you or anyone else on the list has recent papers
> supporting the alternative hypothesis, of multiple
> introductions including prior to European settlement, I'd
> love to see them, because it's something I like to keep up with.
> >
> >And without really wanting to cause a stir, I think it's a
> bit like the myth of the large outback moggie, fed a
> high-protein diet (as opposed to?). My former boss did some
> work on cats and from memory the average size was under 4 kg
> (n = a 100 or so from memory). There are large Felis catus
> (to avoid the term "big cats") out there, but I've seen
> hundreds of cats that I would put in the 2 - 4 kg guesstimate
> and about three that were big, maybe > 5 kg.
> >
> >Again, I'll dig out the figures when I get back to the office.
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Eric
> >
> >
> >
> >>On 3 Mar 2015, at 7:19 pm, "Michael Hunter"
> <> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>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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