Aussier wrote:Gwion wrote:But what to do about cats??? Sure, shoot as many as you can and then some but i don't think it's possible to knock 'em all. Responsible pet ownership is a start. Stop anymore of them getting out there and destroying stuff.
There is no perfect solution. I reckon hunting has to be the cheapest, fastest, most effective one though.
Better than some of the f***ing ridiculous "alternatives" that get put out.
How about the one to capture and de-sex them before releasing them back into the wild?
Rocket scientists we've got here...
Absolutely, there is no perfect solution. Unfortunately, it all probably comes down to long term management at this stage. Shoot & trap as many as you can but in reality, for every one you get there are five more with in cooee and the problem is recruitment. No only do they breed like all get out but you get wizbang 'cat lovers' who see no harm in raising more cats than they can possibly look after and are horrified by the notion of euthanasia.
Sure, there's legislation in place in most states that i know of that dictates that pet cats should be desexed and in some places there are rule regarding the number you can keep and when they are allowed out doors (like, not at night). Too many people just don't see the issue and ignor the guide lines. This is irresponsible pet ownership.
One local lady (nice woman and i'm friendly with her and her partner) was complaining about quolls getting at her chooks. Did she have adequate housing? No. I have chooks and quolls and never lost a chook to a quoll yet (touch wood) because my housing is well and truely quoll proof. Anyway, that's a side note. This 'cat lover', in her next breath, was telling me how a 'stray' started hanging around her place eating her (3) cats' food as it was heavily pregnant. She allowed it to live in the laundry to birth it's kittens and then it disappeared again and left her to deal with "homing" the kittens. She even drove to Hobart (from Nth Tas) to deliver a kitten. In her defense, she did get them desexed. I think she has five cats now. And you can't tell her, she just doesn't listen. Lovely lady, but what a cat loving nut job!!! Murderous intent towards quolls but don't hurt poor puddy tat!??!
It's people like this that are the main problem for long term management. No matter how many you trap or shoot, people who don't want to pay for desexing or just think Moggy should be allowed to live a free and natural life keep adding a high rate of out side recruitment into the mix.
How do you fix that???