Australias feral cats are evolving at a rapid rate

[spike.t]

 

[Bearkat]

Interesting. We were just in Victoria, and I was being told about the large feral cats. I didn't believe it when they said they were as big as a medium sized dog!

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

SSS…

 

[norfolk shooter]

Well that was rather informative. You never know @Bob Nelson 35Whelen might start doing cat hunts. Seriously though the Aus gov might want to get on a mass cull of them

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Well that was rather informative. You never know @Bob Nelson 35Whelen might start doing cat hunts. Seriously though the Aus gov might want to get on a mass cull of them

How would that work laser pointers and .410s? Catnip bait pile? Empty cardboard box decoys?

 

[Sarg]

Absolutely rubbish, bloody dreamers & dope heads !

Always been some huge wild cats in outback, some extra large.

You always know when Forrest is lying, his lips are moving !

But yes should be even more control & culling on ALL domestic cats, feral & stray, if it’s not sitting on someone’s lap being petted it’s dead !

Actually in the area I’m working now they have 1080 poison out especially targeting Feral Cats, but also for Dogs, Pigs & such.

 

[HankBuck]

Well that was rather informative. You never know @Bob Nelson 35Whelen might start doing cat hunts. Seriously though the Aus gov might want to get on a mass cull of them

@norfolk shooter - might not be worth the cost of a flight from U.S. to Australia…but IF I lived there a Feral Cat hunt would be fun !

 

[Ridge Runner]

@norfolk shooter - might not be worth the cost of a flight from U.S. to Australia…but IF I lived there a Feral Cat hunt would be fun !

Just include a buff, a wallaby, and a roo. Now it's justified.

 

[steve white]

Great--they'll be tigers, soon. Still, the best feral cat control is TRIGGER control.

 

[Tintin]

Then there are the local legends of the Victorian Black Panther.

Everybody here has a mate, or a relation, or a cousins-ex-boyfriends-next door neighbour who swears they have seen one.

One theory is that some US military units bought them here as mascots during WW2, and they escaped / were set free at war's end.

 

[Laniarius]

Then there are the local legends of the Victorian Black Panther.

Everybody here has a mate, or a relation, or a cousins-ex-boyfriends-next door neighbour who swears they have seen one.

One theory is that some US military units bought them here as mascots during WW2, and they escaped / were set free at war's end.

I find that not only possible, but highly probable.

 

[Hunter4752001]

I think the video is shall we say stretching the truth (one measure of its credibility is including commentary from a bigfoot hunter and also the bloke in Gippsland who sold his 'black panther' story to the media but threw the carcase in the river before it could be verified.)

Yes, feral cats are a huge problem, and yes they do grow larger than their domestic cousins. However I've yet to see anything approaching a "mega cat". It's also telling that most of the photos of 'huge' feral cats use the old fisherman's trick of holding the carcase as close to the camera as possible.

There is a Government program to try and reduce the cat numbers, but its as massively ineffective as most Government projects. Governments like to talk up conservation actions but are fearful of the cat lover lobby and the animal rights groups. In Victoria we have the ridiculous situation where on one hand cats are protected by the Domestic Animals Act. They are not a declared established pest animal on private land. A farmer can destroy feral cats on his farm, but only with a lot of red tape and potential legal risk. On non-farming private land, the land holder, if the cat has trespassed more than once , has to trap the cat and hand them over to the local council. On some Crown Land, cats have been declared as established pest animals under the Catchment and Land Protection Act but only Government agencies and government supervised volunteers, ie pandering to the cat lobby,, can shoot them. Recreational hunting of them is prohibited. Basically this means that the Government is trying to be a little bit pregnant. Pretending to do something while letting the problem go unchecked. Anyone not in Government service who attempts to do anything about feral cats puts themselves in legal jeopardy.

 

[cash_tx]

Sounds like a job for the mighty 243 Winchester!

;-)

 

[Uncharted_NT]

It always amazes me the remote places you see them. Quite a few have fell to my 416 Ruger when they appear at the wrong time on buff hunts

 

[Ridge Runner]

Then there are the local legends of the Victorian Black Panther.

Everybody here has a mate, or a relation, or a cousins-ex-boyfriends-next door neighbour who swears they have seen one.

One theory is that some US military units bought them here as mascots during WW2, and they escaped / were set free at war's end.

Yep same here a county over. People swear there are a mating pair of black panters and every now and again someone will report seeing one or both and or with kittens.

The question on everyone else's mind is , well if they've been breeding all these years where did the younger adult cats go? No one has seen more than just that pair of breeding cats.

This story has been going on longer than I have lived in East Tennessee and I have been here over 25 years. One would expect after all this time East Tennessee would have a healthy huntable population of panthers.

 

[Tintin]

Barry is doing his bit ....

 

[norfolk shooter]

How would that work laser pointers and .410s? Catnip bait pile? Empty cardboard box decoys?

I would use laser pointers and heaps of really good catnip. You the stuff that gets them all screwed up and stoned. Then you can capture them and drop them off in the cities where the greenies live

 

[Ridge Runner]

Sounds like a job for the mighty 243 Winchester!

;-)

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen must be on vacation taking a sabbatical from the forum. Been watching for him to chime in on your using a 243 and being under gunned. Needing at minmum a 22 magnum or preferably something In a 25 cal or 35 cal.

 

[Sarg]

I think the video is shall we say stretching the truth (one measure of its credibility is including commentary from a bigfoot hunter and also the bloke in Gippsland who sold his 'black panther' story to the media but threw the carcase in the river before it could be verified.)

Yes, feral cats are a huge problem, and yes they do grow larger than their domestic cousins. However I've yet to see anything approaching a "mega cat". It's also telling that most of the photos of 'huge' feral cats use the old fisherman's trick of holding the carcase as close to the camera as possible.

There is a Government program to try and reduce the cat numbers, but its as massively ineffective as most Government projects. Governments like to talk up conservation actions but are fearful of the cat lover lobby and the animal rights groups. In Victoria we have the ridiculous situation where on one hand cats are protected by the Domestic Animals Act. They are not a declared established pest animal on private land. A farmer can destroy feral cats on his farm, but only with a lot of red tape and potential legal risk. On non-farming private land, the land holder, if the cat has trespassed more than once , has to trap the cat and hand them over to the local council. On some Crown Land, cats have been declared as established pest animals under the Catchment and Land Protection Act but only Government agencies and government supervised volunteers, ie pandering to the cat lobby,, can shoot them. Recreational hunting of them is prohibited. Basically this means that the Government is trying to be a little bit pregnant. Pretending to do something while letting the problem go unchecked. Anyone not in Government service who attempts to do anything about feral cats puts themselves in legal jeopardy.

A long time back we could sell the skins to the local Roo & Fox skin buyer in QLD not sure on other States ?

 

[VertigoBE]

Just include a buff, a wallaby, and a roo. Now it's justified.

Don’t forget a feral camel!