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http://s1300.photobucket.com/u...ncollie/library/cats

For the crat lovers


Danger and Death dance to the wild music of the gale, and when it is night they dance with a fiercer abandon, as if to allay the fears that beset the sailorman who feel their touch but see them not

George H Grant
 
Posts: 20 | Location: Lost in the Queensland Mulga  | Registered: 27 July 2016Reply With Quote
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Well done Jason, its good to see the results of someone taking action against these pests.

I understand the Australian authorities are investing huge sums of money trying to eradicate these pest because of the amount of damage they are inflicting on native wildlife.

I was reading not too long ago that each crat kills between 5 to 36 animals per night which equates to approximately 75 million creatures per day for the entire crat population.

A friend of mine shot a crat the other night and its head measured approximately 5 inches in diameter which is about twice the size of the domestic relative.

Best of luck cratting !
 
Posts: 67 | Registered: 27 March 2010Reply With Quote
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Please read the "Please Read" above.

quote:
Gentlemen,

This forum has been set up for those who enjoy hunting small game animals.

And that is the way it is going to stay.

For those who wish to keep discussing all sorts of irrelevant subjects related to cats, please go and do it somewhere else.

Cats are NOT small game animals, so please let us keep them out of discussions on this forum.



Larry

"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading" -- Thomas Jefferson
 
Posts: 3942 | Location: Kansas USA | Registered: 04 February 2002Reply With Quote
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Larry

I do agree with you, this topic probably should be in the '' Varmint forum'' it was obviously inserted into to the Small game forum in error.

This happens all the time on AR e.g. sometimes a poster asks a question about a small calibre topic on the large or medium rifle forums

It was my desire to respond to original poster, as feral cats in Australia have had a devastating outcome for native wildlife there.

In the United States feral cat populations are increasing all the time and the consequences for native small mammals, reptiles and ground nesting birds has equally deleterious effects.

All hunters and shooters should be aware of the feral cat problem and should take the appropriation action in order to reduce the incidence of destruction that they are causing.

Best of luck.
 
Posts: 67 | Registered: 27 March 2010Reply With Quote
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Mackey

There was a time several years ago. There were several guys on this forum that were beyond funny. The small game forum of accurate reloading was my favorite place on the internet. These guys could spin yarns and go on for a long time with some pretty funny stuff. It wasn't totally appropriate for small game but that's where it happened. Some didn't like it and complained and the owner of the forum shut it down. It would have been nice to make a special place for that kind of thing. That's history.

Cat and dog control does become a part of game management. A friend hunts for white tail deer on my property. Several of his hunts have been ruined by three beagle hounds thst run loose. I have attempted to find the owners unsuccessfully. The next option is to take care of the problem. A fella has the right to hunt in his own land unmolested. That extends to his friends.

lc
 
Posts: 230 | Registered: 25 November 2005Reply With Quote
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Domesticated dogs and cats that go ferral are a threat to our ecosystem.
My father told me when he was younger a boy in his School was attacked by a pack of ferral dogs and was nearly killed. The dogs took him off of his bike while riding down a road. Had it not been for a farmer driving down the road and stopped to help he would've been dead.

Cats may not attack people but they darn sure will decimate rabbits and other small game. They all buy wiped out the pheasants on my friends father's farm. They once had quail, pheasants, and a ton of rabbits. Their cats that they didn't bother to spay or neuter multiplied and killed off the entire small game population.

If you are a dog or cat lover then they need to be kept indoors. Let your cat roam and what they do is kill for sport and wipe out the small game in your area.
 
Posts: 741 | Location: Las Vegas | Registered: 23 June 2009Reply With Quote
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littlcanoe

You have raised a further interesting issue concerning stray out of control dogs.

In my country this is a big problem too for sheep farmers during late winter/early spring lambing.

Marauding packs at that time are responsible for huge losses to farmers and the economy.

The only option to deal with them is shooting,
I have had the less than glorious privilege of dispatching two during a casual encounter while hunting deer late one evening in January a few years ago.

The two dogs had been known to be in the area for a few years as local farmers had advised me of their existence, however nobody was able to get to grips with them during that time.

While returning home that evening I spotted both coming out of a steep wooded gully, when they saw me they turned to face me growling and showing the teeth.

I didn't let the opportunity pass and tumbled both.

I can't really blame the dogs as they are only following what nature has decreed, however the careless owners of such animals are responsible.

I can sympathize with your friend having his deer hunting disrupted by stray hounds, it is rather annoying.

I do not think I should write anything further on this topic in deference to the Small Game
forum and its dedicated devotees for fear of giving further offense and raising their ire.

best of luck,
 
Posts: 67 | Registered: 27 March 2010Reply With Quote
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We hunted feral cats in NZ when we saw them. Looks like the cats we were after.
No reason not to treat feral cats the same way we treat feral hogs in the USA.
 
Posts: 10094 | Location: Texas... time to secede!! | Registered: 12 February 2004Reply With Quote
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Mackey.

I believe that you did the right thing. I have called our local authorities. They understand the situation and while they did not give an outright word to go ahead it was strongly implied. Life is full of difficult choices. Unfortunately the owner of the hounds chooses to be disrespectful of others. The dogs may pay the price for his choices.

Hunting rabbits with beagle hounds is traditional here. No hunter will tolerate a beagle running deer. Once a dog goes down that trail they aren't worth the effort. Since these dogs are "deer" dogs they are obviously not serious or valuable hunting dogs.

lc
 
Posts: 230 | Registered: 25 November 2005Reply With Quote
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I am a wildlife biologist by education not vocation, feral and house cats in the United States kill over a billion small animals a year. This includes insects, birds (gobs of birds), small mammals and reptiles.

Sicily is almost devoid of song birds because of feral and house cats.

The research is out there, it is free and all it takes is a google. I have written many papers on the subject, and even though the cat lovers don't want it discussed governments are trying to do something about it.

Australia is at the forefront.

The damage feral hogs do by comparison to the ecosystem is kind of small, compared to cats. Yes feral hogs do a lot more financially damage on crops, but they are not primarily a predator species.

The worst problem is the perpetuation of trap spay/neuter and release programs. These do nothing to lower the problems that cats cause, and waste valuable financial resources on veterinary work that could be spent on other wildlife programs.
 
Posts: 7763 | Location: Das heimat! | Registered: 10 October 2012Reply With Quote
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Seems I may have upset some people, that wasn't my intention
I spend 6 months of the year on a 32 000 acre cattle station hunting and shooting feral cats, wild/feral dogs, pigs and a ship load of culling macropods under permits. it used to be good goat country, it still is but they're all behind a fence now and worth big money
I started targeting cats specifically when I noticed the bird life disappear
I use a variety of means to achieve this, spot lighting, dogs, trapping and sometimes just dumb luck.
from about 2010 through to 2013 I shot a couple of hundred cats, every single one was the same grey with black stripes, this allowed them to blend into the surrounding scrub and it was only movement that gave them away, this is where the dogs come in handy in sniffing them out and either bailing them or sending them up the nearest tree (I was putting the vet's kids through private school until I worked out long haired dogs are the go)
or their eye shine just before a lump of lead turns the lights out for good
they are a predator that kills for fun and a pest that does untold damage to lizards and frogs and birds, there is something wrong in this world when there are no birds to be heard at sunrise out in the bush
I will never get rid of all the cats but I am controlling the numbers enough that the birds are coming back and am finding frogs again at water troughs
yes some people might call it pest control or varminting, but most people would call what I do shooting and not hunting
Meh
where I come from there is no actual "Game Species" just feral pests or targets of opportunity as I call them but if I was to get something stuffed a big feral tom cat, would be up the top of the trophy list
I am looking into getting a 22 Hornet double rifle built for my hunting of the illusive and dangerous feral cat


Danger and Death dance to the wild music of the gale, and when it is night they dance with a fiercer abandon, as if to allay the fears that beset the sailorman who feel their touch but see them not

George H Grant
 
Posts: 20 | Location: Lost in the Queensland Mulga  | Registered: 27 July 2016Reply With Quote
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I would like to know why cat owners think it's okay if their animals run freely over other people's property. Worse, cat owners defend and encourage it. Where I live there is an ordinance forbidding people from letting their animals trespass on someone's land without prior permission from the landowner. If a cat owner can't keep his pet on his own property then his pet becomes somebody else's pest.




.
 
Posts: 10900 | Location: North of the Columbia | Registered: 28 April 2008Reply With Quote
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Jason.

This should always be a serious topic for landowners and those who enjoy hunting. Good topic.

lc
 
Posts: 230 | Registered: 25 November 2005Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
I am a wildlife biologist by education not vocation, feral and house cats in the United States kill over a billion small animals a year. This includes insects, birds (gobs of birds), small mammals and reptiles.

Sicily is almost devoid of song birds because of feral and house cats.

The research is out there, it is free and all it takes is a google. I have written many papers on the subject, and even though the cat lovers don't want it discussed governments are trying to do something about it.

Australia is at the forefront.

The damage feral hogs do by comparison to the ecosystem is kind of small, compared to cats. Yes feral hogs do a lot more financially damage on crops, but they are not primarily a predator species.

The worst problem is the perpetuation of trap spay/neuter and release programs. These do nothing to lower the problems that cats cause, and waste valuable financial resources on veterinary work that could be spent on other wildlife programs.


I am a rabid devotee of outlawing the trap, neuter, and REABANDON programs due to their environmental impact, but the cat lovers are ferocious in their defense of their do-good efforts. I have probably 250 links to artiles/studies about the harmful things directly attributed to feral cats.

My neighbors have learned---let their cats run loose and they have to go to the pound to retrieve them and pay the $80.

And, yes, I well remember OldElkHunter's tales---I've saved many of them and reread them and enjoy them immensely every time.


An old pilot, not a bold pilot, aka "the pig murdering fool"
 
Posts: 2848 | Registered: 14 October 2004Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
I am a wildlife biologist by education not vocation, feral and house cats in the United States kill over a billion small animals a year. This includes insects, birds (gobs of birds), small mammals and reptiles.



How many of these animals and insects are killed by humans every year? Not to mention waste products and habitat destruction. Maybe you should start picking off humans for a more ecological expedient improvement?

Cats is cats. They fulfill the role of small mammal predator as they did before humans built homes. We keep ours indoors. But I see humans everywhere doing worse.
 
Posts: 66 | Location: Port Crane, NY | Registered: 11 February 2018Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by Charlie P.(NY):
quote:
Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
I am a wildlife biologist by education not vocation, feral and house cats in the United States kill over a billion small animals a year. This includes insects, birds (gobs of birds), small mammals and reptiles.



How many of these animals and insects are killed by humans every year? Not to mention waste products and habitat destruction. Maybe you should start picking off humans for a more ecological expedient improvement?

Cats is cats. They fulfill the role of small mammal predator as they did before humans built homes. We keep ours indoors. But I see humans everywhere doing worse.


That's cruel. You should let them out so they can kill more birds. They do enjoy that the most, and it isn't fair to them if you keep them indoors.
 
Posts: 201 | Location: Florida, USA | Registered: 22 January 2012Reply With Quote
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We've got an attached two car garage we let them out to "hunt" in. Occasionally they find a mouse.

On at least four occasions one has brought in a snake - to the great dismay of THE ADMIRAL, who isn't thrilled that snakes apparently have a stable population in our garage. ;-)
 
Posts: 66 | Location: Port Crane, NY | Registered: 11 February 2018Reply With Quote
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Just a cautionary note on feral/loose "domesticated" cats. A few years ago a gentleman here in town planted various plants in his garden to attract and help song birds, FWP has program to encourage this. His vegan/militant animal rights neighbor let her 12+ cats loose every day. Yep, they started killing birds in HIS yard. He complained to local authorities and nothing happened. He took action, failed to "dispose" of the remains properly and well, ended up in court, fined and chastised by the small horde of militant animal rights trash in town. On the up side the town council prohibited anyone from "harboring" more than 4 cats without a special permit, basically a breeders business permit. This has tended to curtail the problem somewhat as the chief offenders were "animal rescue" militants with more "compassion" than common sense.

I hunt birds with a combination gun and over the years I've used the 222 more than once on feral cats that were miles from any farm or town. I don't think the average person has even the slightest idea what happens when someone's pet "wanders off". A healthy coyote population will pretty much take care of the surplus cat problem but they have their own impact on game birds.
 
Posts: 763 | Location: Montana | Registered: 28 November 2004Reply With Quote
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