Should there be a BOUNTY on feral cats ?

[Grandadbushy]

GQshayne good point mate but that alone may have problems of it's own like depending on what they use and what type , we have to be careful what we release into the bush it could escape and have adverse effects on other species ''not saying it would , but could'' I think that that combined with bounties would be the way to go, this would send a message to cat owners ''free of charge'' and tighten the grip the cats have '' all ferals'' on our fauna it's a major problem, them and fox nearly wiped out a lot of species around Australia and as you said the scientists might be onto something , here's hoping

[TassieTiger]

So, we need something that’s more apex than the feral cat...I got it. Polar bears! They are doing it tough up north - send em down south for a while and feed em cats early on in their holiday and screw it / bring their cuz Grizz down for the hotter more northern places.
No more cats and something proper to hunt in a few years - win, win and...ergh

[Blr243]

GDB. when u mention the strong instinct of a pet cats desire to kill it reminded me of an incident a few months ago on a hunt. I had noticed a feral cat hanging round my quarters and to avoid any stuff up I asked the owner about it to ensure it wasn’t his before I shot it ... he said it’s feral but don’t shoot it because he had been feeding it and it was sort of a pet that came around occasionally....I started to feed it too but it was very wary of me and kept it’s distance Occasionally it would eat sardine pieces out of my hand but once after it took the sardine it quicklychomped on the end of my finger very aggressively... I don’t think it made a mistake. It was feral , wild, primitive and aggressive and it needs to be to survive ..... there was a part of this cats thinking that was don’t fight a fully grown man....but another wild killer part of it just couldn’t help itself at having a chew on me ....and that is the true natural killer instinct of a cat ........ any others I see on my favourite hunting location I will be adding them to my 243 photo album

[Grandadbushy]

Yep Blr keep that album going mate and yes ''instinct'' the only thing that can conquer ''fear''. Your story reminds me of us having a cat or I should say we had our daughters cat, it was a desexed and chipped female but still it killed consistently we had bells around her neck but she still killed anything I wanted to enter her into my 22-250 album but was out voted but low and behold 2 nights ago a wild dog snuck in and took her off the veranda and killed her , it was running away with her in its mouth to eat her but was disturbed and dropped her, some may think it was cruel I call it karma.

[Ricochet]

I'm still waiting for a feral moggie to cross my path while out shooting. A while ago I saw a big fluffy ginger around the corner from the house but I wasn't armed and it bailed pretty swiftly.

A cat outdoors = Furry weapon of mass extinction.

[Ziege]

Every cat I see we here dies on the spot, being on the farm me and the old boy rarely leave the house without a bang stick of some sort.

Poor fox last time, had the 22 and subsonics and he popped up about 65 yards away and before I get a clear shot with him sitting (licking his balls) he was easily 85 yards away, anyway, tagged him with first one, then 7 shots later he stopped limping away from me. I think only due to the sheer weight of the lead hahaha... But yeah always have a firearm on hand, the dividing reserves around the whole property with the neighbours connect directly with creeks that run through town, so all the local cats and ferals and other crap siphon out.

[GQshayne]

So, we need something that’s more apex than the feral cat...I got it. Polar bears! They are doing it tough up north - send em down south for a while and feed em cats early on in their holiday and screw it / bring their cuz Grizz down for the hotter more northern places.
No more cats and something proper to hunt in a few years - win, win and...ergh

They could catch brumbies too!!!

[GQshayne]

The same issue raised its head when the calici virus was released.
But,,,, owners of pet rabbits were able to get them inocculated/vaccinated against the calici I believe.
Surely this could also apply to "responsible" cat owners if they exist.

Maybe so.

It would still seem odd though. Most feral species that are a problem, think dingoes, foxes, tilapia & redfin etc, are illegal to keep as pets. So we would be spending millions of bucks trying to control feral cats, while other people are breeding more of them!

[Ziege]

Agree Shayne, let people keep their existing pet, but no more cats, make it illegal to breed them not own them, problem would soon dwindle down and leave mostly ferals in the midst. Then release the cat calici and be done with it. In the meantime I will keep visiting the outskirts of the property and shooting the neighbours moggies as they come to snoop around the reserve.

[TassieTiger]

5000 wild horses about to be drinking lead on Monday...
https://www.2gb.com/podcast/mass-shooti ... or-monday/

[Oldbloke]

5000 wild horses about to be drinking lead on Monday...
https://www.2gb.com/podcast/mass-shooti ... or-monday/

I think probably a good thing.

Yeh, I saw a post on face ache. Obviously frustrated environ guy from NPs. He quoted a greenie who was saying basically that they shouldn't shoot brumbies in NPs as they are rare and might become extinct. Lol Better to fence them out. FMD.

[Grandadbushy]

A little bit of misinformation there or should I say not telling the whole story , horses like stallions will breed with their own kin ie mother son , son sister , father daughter which means there would most certainly be inbreeding in these brumbies so keeping this so called ''oldest Australian blood line'' is a little bit out there , as far as carcasses laying around ,well these people probably haven't seen the bodies of horses that have starved up there laying around , these horses when starving will turn to eating their own kind ,something most people don't know and there would be huge suffering to these horses during this period , As I said in my post earlier you shoot half the mob and you are back there in a few years to do the same at the cost of tax payers because they'll breed up again . So if they cull 5,000 horses and leave 3,000 mares you will end up with the 5,000 again in 2yrs - 3yrs at most depending breeding ratio, real good economics hey, sounds like a treasurers report, if these clowns would stop playing on peoples heart strings and say it as it is there would be no problems make it practical and humane beats dying from cold and starvation from drought and overbreeding

[NTSOG]

G'day,

I found this 2011 discussion paper about management of cats, domestic and feral. It details all the issues that bureaucrats and politicians consider when making policy, but really doesn't come to a definitive conclusion - much like the brumby issue - that cats need to be inside - or dead:

https://kb.rspca.org.au/wp-content/uplo ... r-Release-–-RSPCA-Research-Report-March-2011.pdf

What comes out of this is the multiple definitions stated as to what constitutes a feral cat at one end of the continuum to a controlled domestic cat at the other.

No wonder the local ranger could not give me a clear statement about what to do with cats entering and roaming my property. It appears the only clear legal definition applying to cats in Victoria pertains to those in state forests which have been declared as pests, but may only be shot by people in the employ of the government. Otherwise it's anybody's guess as to what constitutes a feral cat in other areas and who may shoot the nasty beasties.
Jim

[Blr243]

It’s probably not optimistic of me but feral cats are here to stay ...introduction of biological control will be difficult if not impossible because city cat owners will freak out ... poisoning has issues with non target native animals , shooting is only as effective as the cats that are seen within range by somebody with a rifle and is useless against unseen cats when we are walking or spotlighting in half metre off grass or bushes ......if ever our wildlife is eventually seen to be more precious than the experience of loving a cat as a household pet, then perhaps a law could be introduced that ownership of cats could be outlawed in 2040 .....this will allow current city cats to live out their lives ,and cat owners will cease to have a political voice in relation to a biological feral cat control method harming city cats , and a biological control method , if not transferable to anything else , then could be implemented . It’s a long shot , and I have not thought this thru properly, and might be sat morning half asleep rubbish from me but it’s all I can think of at the moment because I see no other feasible solution , And feral cats are winning the battle against our natives

[Blr243]

And I think we need THE FERAL CAT PAGES. On the hunting part of this forum ....every cat shot prior to living and breeding for 5 years saves perhaps 10 thousand natives

[trekin]

It’s probably not optimistic of me but feral cats are here to stay ...introduction of biological control will be difficult if not impossible because city cat owners will freak out ... poisoning has issues with non target native animals , shooting is only as effective as the cats that are seen within range by somebody with a rifle and is useless against unseen cats when we are walking or spotlighting in half metre off grass or bushes ......if ever our wildlife is eventually seen to be more precious than the experience of loving a cat as a household pet, then perhaps a law could be introduced that ownership of cats could be outlawed in 2040 .....this will allow current city cats to live out their lives ,and cat owners will cease to have a political voice in relation to a biological feral cat control method harming city cats , and a biological control method , if not transferable to anything else , then could be implemented . It’s a long shot , and I have not thought this thru properly, and might be sat morning half asleep rubbish from me but it’s all I can think of at the moment because I see no other feasible solution , And feral cats are winning the battle against our natives

For us toadies, at least, the QLD Gov't see all of those controls as useful when used as part of a feral management strategy, https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industr ... /feral-cat, and to show that they mean it, they have divested themselves of the responsibility and legislated that it is the responsibility of local gov't.
Petitioning the QLD Gov't is no good, people up here need to lobby their council for a bounty system. More than happy to pass on how I appoached our council with a proposal for a bounty system.

[Blr243]

I just checked the link by trekin ..it says it’s illegal to feed a feral cat , makes a lot of sense ...I have always thought that people feeding dingoes on Fraser were stupid and irresponsible...... but I realise now I have been guilty of the same when I once fed a feral cat that I was told not to shoot ..... it was just an act of kindness that is a common trait amongst humans when we see an animal hungry or trapped and we want to help it. But from now on I will put that part of me aside if I see that cat again .......hang on a minute .....a tin of sardines means that cat did not have to kill a few lizards ..that day .....now I’m confused

[trekin]

I just checked the link by trekin ..it says it’s illegal to feed a feral cat , makes a lot of sense ...I have always thought that people feeding dingoes on Fraser were stupid and irresponsible...... but I realise now I have been guilty of the same when I once fed a feral cat that I was told not to shoot ..... it was just an act of kindness that is a common trait amongst humans when we see an animal hungry or trapped and we want to help it. But from now on I will put that part of me aside if I see that cat again .......hang on a minute .....a tin of sardines means that cat did not have to kill a few lizards ..that day .....now I’m confused

Put your mind at ease mate, feral cats do not kill just for food. Plenty of natives would have been killed by that feral afterwards just because it could.

[Oldbloke]

Don't know what all this is about. I'll shoot them for free. Lol

[TassieTiger]

Pigs and pussy event in the NT looks like a hoot.
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.ntn ... 66f79c69be

[Tiger650]

Nasty things which should be [and are] shot on sight.
Thirty five years ago I arrived home on a motorcycle fully dressed for a Melbourne Winter, intercepted one of several ferals which had been surrounding our aviary, I won that blue but was winded [and pissed on] at completion, the bastard bit through a Belstaff jacket and a woolly jumper and a flannelette shirt to lightly puncture my forearm.
I saw the true nature of the cat and it was unpleasant to say the least.

[PM3010]

It would be a good idea, could actually be funded by people who let their cats run free. Shoot a cat with a micro chip and the owner gets fined.

[Ziege]

It would be a good idea, could actually be funded by people who let their cats run free. Shoot a cat with a micro chip and the owner gets fined.

I'm liking where ya heads at

[Grandadbushy]

yes PM3010 could work but micro chips aren't cheap so how do you reckon shoot the cat with a bullet then take the ears in for payment easier take a pic and send it to the council for payment that's how I get paid for some of my dogs by sending a pic to the station owner

[marksman]

l reckon if a bounty was put on feral cats a few that are left out at night might go missing as well like some dogs that went missing in areas that a bounty was put on dogs, that will teach the owners to lock em up

[Ricochet]

New story on crap news.com..
Suspected cheetah on the loose in London reported to be a savannah cat...look at the size of the bloody thing. I'm so glad they banned them in Australia.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/scie ... cb5ffaec52

On the other hand that cat looks like it would make a lovely hat or coat

[Oldbloke]

Nothing a 30-06 wont fix.

[TassieTiger]

“Hey Charlie, grab your 9mm there’s a report of a big cat in someone’s yard”
“No worries Robbo, I’ve got my 9mm and a cat cage”.

20 mins later on site.

“Charlie to base, Charlie to base...cat sighted...yeah, base - we gunna need a bigger gun”.

[trekin]

Bounty should be 5 bucks per kilo, not per head.
https://7news.com.au/news/animals/massi ... 3Karfd_jIg

[Oldbloke]

Nothing a 30-06 wont fix.