Well a little bit anyway!

I keep seeing stories and tv references about feral cats causing significant issues with Australian native wildlife.
How come one never sees a story telling folks to help alleviate the problem whenever possible!

Its not just Aussie wildlife that gets a hammering from feral cats , New Zealands native species get eaten as well .

I suspect the problem lies in the public perception that "their" cat that sits on their knee at night couldnt possibly do things like that . Rural people dont have an issue with using Tiddles as a target , but in both Australia and NZ the rural voice is far outweighed by the urban voice. Maybe if Steve the Eco-Worrier was to do a show on the devastating effects of feral cats ( and domestic ones ) the message may spread , since his propaganda methods seem to work for some folk.

And dont feel bad about your level of ignorance about Australia , lots of Aussies share that level with you...

quote:

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And dont feel bad about your level of ignorance about Australia , lots of Aussies share that level with you...

---

LOL

Muzza knows so much that is the truth! We even see that Kiwi's make sport of possum hunting so much that I associate Jed Clampett's recepies for possum stew with Nu Zulund!

Having recently swapped from the Urban isolation to life on the farm just recently, there is total ignorance by the majority of Aussies about their enviornment. There are just so many species of native birds around me that I won't have any sort of cat on the place ever
We have parrots, finches, crows, falcons, wrens, whip birds, quail, pigeons & doves
that come to within 3-4m of you all day. No cat could ever replace those native birds.

As Muzza said, some people deny that their cat causes damage. Some councils (local government) have now made it law to keep cats locked up at all times fat lot of good that does.

I worked with a guy that wanted to become a wildlife care'er, then he went on to tell me how many birds his cat bought home to him. I told him if he wanted to care for the animals, get rid of the cat!!

You'll find you have cats in some areas of the states, but you guys have more predators than us who thin out the numbers.

Cats

Muzza
Steve the eco worrier actually had a show about the issues with two problem species cats and pigs. On film they captured cats all around this watering hole and it did NOT appear that there was any "civilization" near by. looked to be the perfect location for a fox/rabbit hunter to eliminate pest species.

That's the problem TC. No 'civilisation nearby'. We have the population similar to your state of Texas in an area the size of the US mainland.There are too many vast spaces where ferals will always breed back from , and we can never get to.

Also the call for conservation is outweighed by the call for disarmament. In fact the call for Aussies not to worry their heads about any of this stuff seems to be the latest.

Karl.

Yep, Australia has a problem with the do-gooders in town not understanding the problem of feral cats but it is more a case of apathy than anything else. The chardonnay set sit around in blissful ignorance of the real threat that feral animals are to Australian flora and fauna and they are just not willing to listen, if it doesn’t actually affect their little urban world then they just don’t care.
The small bird species of the US have a bigger problem. Do-gooders over there are actually working against the interest of conservationists with programs like Alley cat allies ( http://www.alleycat.org/ ) who actually catch feral cats and then spay them, feed them and give them a dose of antibiotics before releasing them.
Members of the US Audubon society must weep when they read about these misguided animal lovers actually helping these bird killing machines stay in top shape so they can hunt till they die of old age.

More misguided fools
http://www.feralcat.com/

http://amby.com/cat_site/feral.html


And Steve Irwin? Please, that guy isn’t really interested in any Australian animals unless he can keep them as pets and make a buck off them. I don’t think I have heard of even one proactive conservation project that that guy has supported.

He He,

One day my kids will find out what really happended to their cat.
Cats must be recognised for what they are. Simply one of the best predators on the planet that will kill for fun. Sure if you keep your cat in the house and can put up with the stench and not let it out to kill. Dogs are supposed to be locked up in yards are they not?

Fortysomething

We have cats on our farm and most of what we see them catching is sparrows, mice and small birds. Some of these are native but I don't think there are any ground nesting birds or marsupials around here (anymore - for a long time due to foxes and cats no doubt).

Really I don't give a stuff if a domestic cat catches a corrella, rosella or green parrot. Its not like they are f&@#ing rare or something.

We used to have a cat that used to catch small rabbits regularly and others that liked to catch brown snakes. They didn't catch snakes regularly though.

I used to shoot all the visiting stray cats that came to the farm. Usually tomcats. Anything from a .22, a .410 to a 12 gauge or a .222.

But here is a picture of a moggy from out bush. It has a headache.

Left barrel 450/400/3.25" I trust

Nice photo NitroX.We have a lot of wild cats too here in new Zealand they do kill the native birds,but lets not forget about the Ducks,Quailand Pheasants they kill.

We have a trapping program in our conservation area specifically for cats . Conibear makes a brilliant cat trap...We have problems with the felines eating our native lizards as much as the birdlife , and they are very tough on the birds as well . But so are the stoats and rats , so we kill them too.
Cats make great pets and better targets , and they are a renewable resource...

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bad Ass Wallace:
Left barrel 450/400/3.25" I trust

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BAW

Close but no cigar.

My .450 wasn't ready for that hunt so it was a 300 gr Woodleigh from a .375 H&H Mag that did the deed on the pussy-cat.

Just as well, would have missed it with the double.

Saw a wild puddy on my place last night. A grey 'Himalyian' long coated persian. Bloody took off as soon as I reached for the hornet!

Cats like that definately came from the burbs!

You folks are all right! I wish we could get the rest of our countrymen to see the problem. Register cats, not guns! ned

quote:

---

Originally posted by TCLouis:
How come one never sees a story telling folks to help alleviate the problem whenever possible!

---

Well, shooters are already in the know.
The big problem re your question is that with
our Government, journalists, lefties, beatnicks,
greenies, and most suburban dwellers, the BIG
problem is armed citizens. All else is secondary.
John L.

The cat issues have been widely reported in the media.

Dr John Walmsley, who ran or still does, very successful conservation projects designed to make a profit in SA, used to wear a hat made from cat skins. Looked like a racoon hat from American frontier days. He had photos on the front page of the main newspaper in the 1980's.

Also there has often been talk about legislation to cage domestic cats at night, de-sex them etc.

Shooters don't get any press because they are generally media retarded and don't know how to pull stunts to get a media feeding fenzy going like the greenies do.

quote:

---

Originally posted by NitroX:
, used to wear a hat made from cat skins. Looked like a racoon hat from American frontier days.

---

Well, I see you said "used to wear" ;
did someone think his hat was alive and blow
his head off?
Confirms my theory that people from Unis with
Doctorates may not have much common sense.
JL.

Having a pussy that close to my face has never bothered me any....

Dr John Wamsley started a wildlife reserve in the Adelaide hills at Stirling, and his assertion was that if cats and foxes were removed from the Australia then our small marsupials would be able to thrive in the wild. He fenced off his reserve and killed all the cats and foxes. His theory was disputed by local cat lovers, who considered that only barbarians would think that cats could be anything but cute and cuddly companions. The cat lovers were on the TV quite a bit protesting against his reserve and in order to get equal time on the TV and to give the average person watching something to remember he took to wearing a cat skin as a hat.
His company, Earth Sanctuaries, now has half a dozen sanctuaries across Australia and they are all cat free and fenced.
He no longer needs to wear the hat to get his dial on the TV.

quote:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by NitroX:
, used to wear a hat made from cat skins. Looked like a racoon hat from American frontier days.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Well, I see you said "used to wear" ;
did someone think his hat was alive and blow
his head off?
Confirms my theory that people from Unis with
Doctorates may not have much common sense.
JL.

He "used to wear it" from the photographs. I have no idea what he wears now. He probably wore it for shock value and so got on the front page of the papers.

He also used to piss off all the traditional conservationalists. One example - he bred successfully I believe it was platypus and a WA national park had an excess of males or females. They wanted to swap to acquire (for nothing) the sex they needed. He said they could buy them, and if it was for free he would rather kill his excess. He indicated if he could successfully breed them, why couldn't they with much larger (government) budgets.

I heard that he had gone broke, oh maybe 18 months ago from memory.

The publicly listed company formed to operate his conservation parks did get into financial difficulties.

quote:

Originally posted by JAL:

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:
, used to wear a hat made from cat skins. Looked like a racoon hat from American frontier days.

Well, I see you said "used to wear" ;
did someone think his hat was alive and blow
his head off?
Confirms my theory that people from Unis with
Doctorates may not have much common sense.
JL.

As you say, it's only your 'theory', and therefore requires more investigation and research on your part to take it further.

As some used to say... "...put your money where your mouth is."

As you say, it's only your 'theory', and therefore requires more investigation and research on your part to take it further.

As some used to say... "...put your money where your mouth is."[/QUOTE]

Well, I hate to get off shooting topics, but,
hells money got to do with anything??
And my research has been going on for many years
from high school, where the teachers with the
most letters after their name were the madest.
(Sure the students helped a bit.)
And what Uni did you mention has a course on
common sense??
And do you recomend going around the bush looking like something people tend to shoot?
Wake up fella, and take notice of a good safety
issue, and don't wear your roo vest out west.
John L.

Which high schools have PhD's as teachers ???

JAL
John Wamsley was very unlikely to be shot by some feral cat hunter while he is wearing the cat hat, unless the use of firearm to control cats is common in the Adelaide CBD.

John Wamsley has also done more for putting into the public eye the value of shooters as a control measure for feral pest than all the posters on this forum put together, so whether or not you think people with doctorates lack common sense is irrelevant.

Talking about feral cats, shot one last night along with a couple handfulls on bunnies.

quote:

Talking about feral cats, shot one last night along with a couple handfulls on bunnies.

Lucky bugger, Calici got all mine months ago, haven't seen a single one since.
Have got more foxes and domestic dogs than anything else out there.

Heard a dingo howl about 70-80m from the house last night, left him alone in the hope he might piss off any cats!

quote:

Originally posted by jindydiver:
JAL
John Wamsley was very unlikely to be shot by some feral cat hunter while he is wearing the cat hat, unless the use of firearm to control cats is common in the Adelaide CBD.

John Wamsley has also done more for putting into the public eye the value of shooters as a control measure for feral pest than all the posters on this forum put together, so whether or not you think people with doctorates lack common sense is irrelevant.

Sir, rubbish. I saw a photo of him in very rural surrounds wearin his cap in front of a cat
tree, ie full of hanging dead cats. At least I
hope they were dead. :-)
And the relevant part was wearing anything that
may be shot at. So you are irrelevant if you
think people only wear target type fur in the
cities. And if you still don't get my message,
don't carry your trophy antlers sticking UP
on your back pack.
John L.

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:
Which high schools have PhD's as teachers ???

Gee, I must have gone to an "exclusive" ?

Wearing a cat hat would be suicidal during 5ft tall two legged cat season.

The good doctor would probably have been out during the normal one.

Myself I only learnt of the whole 'clothing advice as to not get shot etc' from American gun magazines.

Up until then I didn't realise they hunt that close to one another over there.


Karl.

http://www.williamcreekcampground.com/images/outback/photos/cat-tree.jpg

I assume this is the tree you are talking about.

He has as much chance getting shot here while posing for a publicity shot as he does in Rundle mall.
My point is that anybody posing for photos wearing any hat (no matter how ridiculous) cannot be taken as a measure of that person’s common sense.

jindydiver
a woman was shot dead in a rundle mall shop last year.

Can you buy them Cat Trees at the local garden centre , and if so do you need two or does each one have male and female cats for cross fertilization ...

quote:

Originally posted by darwinmauser:
jindydiver
a woman was shot dead in a rundle mall shop last year.

That was an incident revolving around a domestic dispute IIRC and sad as it is it has no relation to the topic. I think we can take it for granted she was not shot because her dress sense (or lack thereof) led to her being mistaken for a feral pest.

quote:

Originally posted by Karl:
Wearing a cat hat would be suicidal during 5ft tall two legged cat season.

.

Karl, I hope we can ague with out getting into
personal insults.
You think that maybe that if the good Doctor was
walking along a 4foot 6inches deep gully, that
may make a difference. Now for instance, just reciently a man shot his son. (Courier Mail again.)
Said son was in a bore drain, as they will do,
third party yells,"look a pig". Father spins
around, sees something black, and bang, good
shot. Son may have been 7 feet for all I know
but that black hat was near ground level.
I reinterate, for the professor, Dr's ,dopes,
and the plain unlucky. Best not to look like
something needs shooting.
John L. (Dottering old coot) (Got in first) :-)

quote:

Originally posted by jindydiver:
http://www.williamcreekcampground.com/images/outback/photos/cat-tree.jpg

I assume this is the tree you are talking about.

He has as much chance getting shot here while posing for a publicity shot as he does in Rundle mall.
My point is that anybody posing for photos wearing any hat (no matter how ridiculous) cannot be taken as a measure of that person’s common sense.

Well, who was to know where he wears it? I made
a valid point (I believe), stick by it.
Now if you want to wear a Davy Crocket hat(town
or country) good for you. But I think the word
would get around that you wern't quite the full
quid.
Now I know the Dr. was doing a publicity stunt,
but I wouldn't be suprised if he didn't get more
of the general public off side rather than educated.
My opion, so it must be right. ;-)
John L.