Oldbloke wrote:Ummm, that's what my post says. You quoted it.
They are declared pests. Read the link.
The attachment Screenshot_20220122-164726_DuckDuckGo.jpg is no longer available
Declared pests on some crown land, but you can't shoot them (under the permission of any pest hunting permit).
Not declared pests on private property but you can shoot them.
Just to muddy the waters
This is the National Code of Practice for dealing with feral cats, and it comes with some nice printable targets.
https://pestsmart.org.au/toolkit-resource/code-of-practice-feral-cats/Some extracts:
"Shooting is one of the main methods of control currently used but it is labour intensive and not considered an effective broad-scale control method. It may be of use in reducing the local number of feral cats or targeting problem animals. Shooting is usually done at night from a vehicle with the aid of a spotlight, but can also be conducted during the day. Drives or ‘battues’, using a line of beaters often with trained dogs, are sometimes used to flush feral cats out from vegetation. Shooting can be a humane method of destroying feral cats when it is carried out by experienced, skilled and responsible shooters; the animal can be clearly seen and is within range; and, the correct firearm, ammunition and shot placement is used."
"Only head (brain) or chest (heart-lung) shots must be used. Shots to the head are preferred over chest shots as they are more likely to cause instantaneous loss of consciousness. Chest shots do not render the animals instantaneously insensible and are likely to result in a higher incidence of wounding. Shooting at other parts of the body is unacceptable."
"To minimise the animal welfare implications of leaving dependant kittens to die a slow death from starvation, it is preferable not to undertake shooting when females are lactating eg September to March in non-urban habitats. There is a high probability that any female cat over six months old that is caught during this time will be pregnant or lactating."
"Care must be taken when handling feral cat carcasses as they may carry diseases such as toxoplasmosis, ringworm and sarcosporidiosis that can affect humans and other animals. Routinely wash hands after handling all carcasses."
"Small bore, high velocity, centre fire rifles fitted with a telescopic sight are preferred eg .22-250, .22 Hornet, .222 Remington, .223 or .243 Winchester. Hollow-point or soft-nosed ammunition should always be used. Rimfire weapons with lower muzzle energy are not recommended because of the greater risk of non-lethal wounding. 12-gauge shotguns with heavy shot sizes of No. 2, SSG, BB or AAA may be effective, but only up to a distance of 20 m from the target animal."
"When illuminated by the spotlight, cats have a distinctive brilliant green eye reflection (‘eye shine’)."
"If dogs are used to flush feral cats out from vegetation and/or up into trees, they must be adequately controlled to prevent them from attacking cats. Dogs should only be trained to drive cats from cover, not to capture or attack them. For further information on the use of dogs refer to GEN002 The care and management of dogs used for pest animal control."
"The shooter must aim either at the head, to destroy the major centres at the back of the brain near the spinal cord or, at the chest, to destroy the heart, lungs and great blood vessels. This can be achieved by one of the following methods (see Diagrams):"
"Head Shot (this is the preferred point of aim) Frontal position (front view). The firearm is aimed at the centre of the head slightly below a line drawn midway between the ears."
- FeralCat1.jpg (138.59 KiB) Viewed 4673 times
"Temporal position (side view). Aim horizontally from the side of the head at a point midway between the eye and the base of the ear."
- FeralCat3.jpg (77.21 KiB) Viewed 4673 times
- FeralCat2.jpg (164.28 KiB) Viewed 4673 times
"Chest Shot Side view. The firearm is aimed horizontally at the centre of a line encircling the minimum girth of the animal, immediately behind the forelegs. The shot should be taken slightly to the rear of the shoulder blade (scapula). This angle is taken because the scapula provides partial protection of the heart from a direct side-on shot."
"The target animal should be checked to ensure it is dead before moving on to the next animal. When targeting multiple cats in a group (eg mother and sub-adult offspring), a number of animals will need to be shot in rapid succession. In this case, the animals in the group should be checked to ensure they are dead before moving on to the next group. Death of shot animals should always be confirmed by observing the following:
-absence of rhythmic, respiratory movements
-absence of eye protection reflex (corneal reflex) or ‘blink
-a fixed, glazed expression in the eyes
-loss of colour in mucous membranes (become mottled and pale without refill after pressure is applied).
If death cannot be verified, a second shot to the head should be taken immediately."