Australias feral cats are evolving at a rapid rate

[Ridge Runner]

Don’t forget a feral camel!

Wild dog and feral camel are animals of opportunity. Trying to stay within a budget.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

When I worked at Yosemite it was nearly impossible to walk the streets of Mariposa at night without getting in the middle of a feral catfight. Must have been a thousand of them. Wild and mean as hell. All in terrible condition. They were literally eating each other. But of course that's better than culling the cuddly kitties. No one bothered trapping them. Then what? County wouldn't take them and shelter charged if they were dropped off there. Waste the gas and drive out in the desert to dump the trapped cat and sentence it to death anyway? The ferel cats in Mariposa did not seem to be getting larger. If anything the opposite.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

When I worked at Yosemite it was nearly impossible to walk the streets of Mariposa at night without getting in the middle of a feral catfight. Must have been a thousand of them. Wild and mean as hell. All in terrible condition. They were literally eating each other. But of course that's better than culling the cuddly kitties. No one bothered trapping them. Then what? County wouldn't take them and shelter charged if they were dropped off there. Waste the gas and drive out in the desert to dump the trapped cat and sentence it to death anyway? The ferel cats in Mariposa did not seem to be getting larger. If anything the opposite.

Lack of food most likely along with the presence of predators. From what I’ve read there’s no real threat of predation for them in Australia if anything they’re adapting into a top predator. They must be playing hell with the local songbird populations.

 

[Bullthrower338]

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

Manny,
I’m in, when we going? Pussy Posse ‘24
A couple bottles of that shit rum and some vegimite, we would be unstoppable!

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Manny,
I’m in, when we going? Pussy Posse ‘24
A couple bottles of that shit rum and some vegimite, we would be unstoppable!

That sounds like the name of a vhs tape you’d of had to buy in a side room behind a beaded curtain.

 

[fsrmg1]

From my outback adventures, I noticed the fox, dingo and feral cat are now all close to the same size and color. They all must be close to filling the same niche.

 

[Hunt anything]

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.

Not to derail, but in today’s hunting culture no one hunts without a trail camera, same thing in SW Alabama, every one has a panther story but with all of the trail cams out there some body has got to get a picture. Same with Bigfoot.
Feral cats are a huge problem to songbird populations everywhere so they don’t last long around our farm.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Not to derail, but in today’s hunting culture no one hunts without a trail camera, same thing in SW Alabama, every one has a panther story but with all of the trail cams out there some body has got to get a picture. Same with Bigfoot.
Feral cats are a huge problem to songbird populations everywhere so they don’t last long around our farm.

Only because it just so happened....our TWRA finally had to admit publicly what they have been denying for years, Tennessee has gator and cougar inhabitants via personal photographs and trail cam footage respectively published on social and local news media.

Once our state wildlife agency went full public admittance they Flashed through (as in 5 to 7 days, from proposal to being enacted) a bill that immediately made both species illegal to hunt or kill.

Still nothing to validate black panthers.

 

[freefall]

I have nothing of value to add, just posting so this will show up in the recent thing.

 

[Hunt anything]

To my understanding there has been no valid “black panthers” ever authenticated, the black gene is not in the North American cougar but present in leopard and Jaguar. At least this is what they taught back in the early 80’s.
Alligators tend to breed up pretty fast probably a matter of time until permits are issued.

 

[Ridge Runner]

To my understanding there has been no valid “black panthers” ever authenticated, the black gene is not in the North American cougar but present in leopard and Jaguar. At least this is what they taught back in the early 80’s.
Alligators tend to breed up pretty fast probably a matter of time until permits are issued.

There is no one real story about the panthers as whether the are really cougars, or a genetic color phase. There are some historical documents by adventure writers of the era, circa 1700's, that reference panthers, but again the poeticness, versus calling them cougars. Then there are those who "...."claim" to believe" ( they know or heard first hand who released their exotic pet(s) but are admitting to having the knowledge; and those whom just think someone released, or these critters were, pets and escaped from their owner.

I do know there was a pet shop back in the late 70's in Fayetteville, NC that received an import/export permit for exotic animals, with the intent to sell cockatoos, pythons and boa constricters. The shop owners discovered that under the license they could import and sell a much bigger variety of animals and panthers were on that list.

IIRC they sold 1 of 2 mating pairs, at $1500.00 per cat, not including licenses and other fees. The minimum restrictions were intense just to start the ownership application. So the theory of the cats escaping or being illegally released is plausible.

This was in 1977 - 1978. This is 2024. At how many kitt)ens per litter x 46 - 47 years. How big are these cats' territory?

A lot of unanswered questions regarding black panthers, or if they really exist here in the US.

 

[WAB]

Not to derail, but in today’s hunting culture no one hunts without a trail camera, same thing in SW Alabama, every one has a panther story but with all of the trail cams out there some body has got to get a picture. Same with Bigfoot.
Feral cats are a huge problem to songbird populations everywhere so they don’t last long around our farm.

We’ve got a very healthy wild quail population and zero tolerance for feral cats. Although the .22 is fine, the .17 HMR seems to switch them off much more effectively.

 

[Hunt anything]

We’ve got a very healthy wild quail population and zero tolerance for feral cats. Although the .22 is fine, the .17 HMR seems to switch them off much more effectively.

I’ve switched to my .204 Ruger, it works quite well! I’ve been seeing and hearing some quail on our property in Baldwin county. They pretty much disappeared after hurricane Sally a few years ago. I’ve been planting a lot of cover and food for them but only time will tell.