Well the R.S.P.C.A. came around late yesterday and re-set the cat traps.
About 10 minutes ago they completed checking them again, 7 traps, 6 more cats, one containing, it was the traps in my front garden btw, a very heavily pregnant female with NO I.D. chip and a definitely FERAL female judging by her build, etc, etc.
Of the other 6 traps, 5 were successful and caught cats, two of which were chipped and the sixth trap was found to contain a very lost and emaciated young dog not much older that approx. 4 -5 months of age, also with no collar, etc.
There will efforts put into TRYING to locate the owners of this pup so I have been informed.
I do hope the pup will find a "good" home. Poor thing must have been frightened. Could you tell what breed it is?
Nice to know they got the female before she gave birth. Do they spay the feral cats and release them or will they euthanize them? I know some place they have a catch and release program.
With all the activity around your home, does that mean Mr. Pest has been behaving himself?
All feral cats are euthanised. Because of the extreme hazards they pose they are not spayed and released.
Feral cats have been a growing problem in many cities in the US as well. Philadelphia can't keep up, even as they spay and neuter 67k a year. I saw in parts of Australia, Aussie cohorts can confirm or deny, that some places are planning in or have enacted killing the feral cats by poisoning.
Hey, FYI, I was BORN, raised and have lived in Outback Australia ALL of my life, ergo, friend, you are PREACHING to the Choir here.
As a teenager I and a few friends would often earn about between 35 and 50 dollars each for a 2 day weekend of hunting down and exterminating Feral cats and Foxes around this area just by using .22 calibre rifles, a few 'specialised traps and our knowledge of the country-side.
Back then , in the late 60's and early 70's we would get a reward of $2.50 per cat scalp and the same for a fox scalp PLUS $2.50 per fox tail and cat tail from the Graziers in the area as well.
We'd call it a piss poor weekend IF we ever made less than $ 15.00 each out an expedition to hunt feral cats and foxes.
@Triphid sad, but they are detrimental to natural wildlife if not controlled. Same with wild dog packs, they can be a danger to everyone.
The problem with poisons is the native animals will eat them as well. So it is better to try and avoid them if we can does not mean some places won't use them.
@Triphid My mom loved cats, I grew up with them and it's hard to imagine them being seen as pests. I understand as an invasive species the need to keep the numbers down and the methods that have been used. Along with foxes and rabbits, cat should never have been introduced into the country. We humans do such stupid things without thought to the consequences. We never seem to learn. What a shame.
@Betty Well cats are NOT native in Australia, for the most part they either came as pets with early Squatters (aka English Land Grabbers) as did the rats for example, then had kittens, which a female cat do quite easily, usually once the previous litter is approx. 3-4 weeks old btw.
1 tom-cat, male cat btw, can impregnate up 4 females in one single night, so the average size of the next generation can range anywhere between a maximum of 6 kittens per litter
EVERY 12 weeks from just 1 single female or multiply that by 4 and you will get a very astonishing answer.
Plus, here in Australia cats have no REAL known Apex Predators to worry about either.
Especially since the family of Azaria Chamberlain introduced the Dingoes to Seventh Day Adventist babies are a food source....LOL.
Btw, that is intended FULLY as a joke because despite all the media hype, etc, FINANCED by the Seventh Day Adventist Church NO-ONE has EVER proven conclusively that it was a Dingo that stole, killed and eat baby Azaria near a camp-site in the vicinity of Ayers Rocks back in the early 80,s.
@Barnie2years Excuse my apparent cynicism, etc, here BUT what the name of F**k have you been reading regard Aussie Dingoes?
Let one who HAS a number of dingoes for pets, they are NOT a threat to humans as such, the BIG Threat via canine type breeds going troppo as we often say out here, are the FERAL dogs, either domesticated and then turned loose or those bred in homes as a littler of pups, unwanted by the owner/s of the female parent and then dumped out in the bush to live or die.
On average, out of an unwanted and duped litter of 4 pups, 2 may well survive but ONLY if their eyes and ears are open and they can scavenger for foods such as grubs, worms, carcases of other dead animals and even the carcases of their dead siblings as well.
They, not the Dingoes so much, are the BIGGEST threat to livestock and often even people in the Australian Outback and more often than not they will kill the male dingo and then breed with his female mate before moving on again en-masses.
But hey, it is NOT your fault that you are confused by the actual facts, after you are in Mother England and the facts get screwed up as they try to cross the miles of open oceans do they not?
@Triphid Years ago when Steve Irwin was alive I enjoyed his shows and specials and found them informative. I understand that the invasive species have caused a great deal of harm in your country and dealing with the problem is exhausting and expensive as it's never ending. Your concern and frustration is more than justified. The wildlife is uniquely special and should be protected.
@Betty Met him once when he and a film crew were out this way TRYING to get film of the Jerk-off with some young 'roos, on a Sheep Station owned by a very good friend who had owned the property since his Grand-fathers time.
There is the mighty Busman and Urban hero trying to tell the cameras all about how a MALE red Kangaroo matures, gets stronger and then fights its way to the top and what is he hold in front of the camera, a young female 'roo most likely out of the pouch not more than a few hours ago for the first time ever in its life and the film crew and almost everyone around the scene are trying hold back and silence the urge to break into bac fits of laughter.
That was the REAL Steve Irwin, I'm sorry to break the spell he may have on you and ever some many more besides but he would NOT know , imo, his arse from his elbow without someone to explain the difference to him.
@Triphid Not Dingoes. I am talking about packs of what were tame dogs, house pets, that are abandoned and form packs. Your Dingoes, wolves, coyotes and other natural predators are needed to maintain other species populations. Human introduced escaped pets are not.
@Barnie2years All feral cats snd any pets that are left outside are killers. Sure, on farms, they mostly eat pests, but bird species have been getting decimated for ever from cats. I am not a cat hater; used to raise cats and think they should be kept indoors. In all countries there are invasive species - the US has its fair share, especially in the South with warmer weather. Even birds can be invasive - starlings, Quaker Parrots, etc.
@Triphid I mentioned him because it was one of his specials that mentioned the devastation caused by invasive species. I take information from celebrity experts with a grain of salt. I'm quite aware that ratings and fan base overrides accuracy. I still enjoyed his show...he was very entertaining.
@Barnie2years Yes, they are known as FERAL Dogs here in Australia and are as big a pest as are rabbits, foxes, cats, goats, cane toads and other imported pest which also, imo, should include quite a number of Politicians as well.
Up until the " Bleeding -heart Animal Rights Activists got so popular, more like imo, hopped PERMANENT in to bed with a great lot of politicians, we had laws that gave the Land-owners on Grazing/Farming Properties the rights to either shot these feral pests themselves and claim the bounties or simply give approval and permission for selected persons to do the job for them.
But that is no longer allowed because it upsets the Bleeding-heart Activists so we have these pests running amok everywhere and almost anywhere destroying the Environment, killing off the Native Species of both Fauna and Flora, etc, etc.
@Betty Irwin got himself killed by an innocent animal because he got too close when it was demonstrating that it did not want him around. That same year some friends and I went diving in Tonga and my dive buddy and friend when down to 3 mantra rays on the bottom to get some photos. Now when they signaled they had enough of this he left. As he came up to me I mimed getting speared in the heart and he nodded. He knew and he does not profess to be an experienced wildif expert. Thugs that believed in the irwin mythology went around killing rays or just cutting off their barbs and throwing them back pretending they were heroes. I hate them all.