New Plan to control Feral Cats

I agree, but how do we control the population that "loves cats"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP4NMoJcFd4

;-)

birds make much better pets than cats. 

It sounds like the best solution is to only have native animals (whether birds or not) as pets :)

I have no problems with eradicating feral cats as long as it is done as humanely as possible.

With regards to irresponsible pet ownership, that is much harder to control unfortunately. In my opinion, people should really have a licence to own any kind of a pet (or bear children), including dogs or cats and should all pass an intelligence test to obtain the said licence.

What I don't get is the need to keep birds in captivity with the exception of endangered or extinct (in the wild) bird species. I am sure many people do not have the space requirements to keep the birds' lives enriched enough by having them ample flying space. I'd hate to be a pet bird, generally speaking.

Some years ago I was sitting in my yard talking with a friend's teenage sun when a cluster of rainbow Lorikeets decended on a nearby tree. I pointed the birds out to him and his response was. "If you like them I could catch some for you to keep!"

I just said, "No need to catch them, they choose to visit me often and I get to see their beauty, when they visit."

He just thought about that for a minute and said. "Oh yeah! You don't need them in a cage if they keep coming back"

Sometimes attitudes will change with just a bit of education.

As for cats, I do not have any as pets, I choose not to have any because I would not want to limit them to indoors and I can't afford a big enough enclosure for them to be outdoors. I have known many very happy indoor cats that love their home environment and I think that some solid education and some changes in law are indeed required to help the problem of feral cats.

When I lived in far north Queensland 35 years ago I did shoot feral cats. I can assure you that those cats were nothing like the household moggy curled up on the lap of its owner. The cats I shot were huge. I wish I had a camera back then and could have taken photos because no one would believe how big those cats were. Several generations of living in the bush makes for a bigger, leaner, meaner, and more cunning hunter than anything seen in closer to the suburbs.

I go along with Annie W's comment about confines stymying natural behaviours. It certainly happens to birds. Extremely so in Asia where birds are kept in cages with about the same internal space as a shoe-box.  And I guess Annie is right about cats being adaptable to confines. (Amazing how quickly they can shuffle off millenia of domestication when let loose in the bush).

And yes confining wildlife has its problems. Which is why I think its so important to have long natural corridors along rivers, watercourses, etc. Instead, farming and development is too often allowed to take over these corridors.

And of course there are degrees of confinement. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy has three million hectares under management to protect natives from ferals. On only the first stage of one of its recent projects, AWC erected 42 kilometers of feral free fencing. Without efforts like this, our natve fauna will be fighting a losing battle against the feral cat. It is such an efficient killer.

I'm not a fan of domestic cats but my wife has a ginger cat which is ex-feral. It domesticated itself and loves spending time inside, there really isn't any difference between feral and domestic cats. A feral cat is much less likely to kill birds than a domestic cat outdoors, just because of the energy balance equation involved.

I can't see the point of birds in cages, or any other wild animals. Unlike domestic/feral cats they aren't adapted to the confinement and suffer from stress. There are some animals like cunningham's skinks which are adapted to confined spaces, even these I can't see the point of keeping them confined, much better to make your environment a haven for wildlife so you can get all the enjoyment without responsibility for their care. I even have cunningham's skinks living in my ceiling space.

Fair question zosterops.  Although, as you said, "i'd hate to be a pet cat confined to a house all day.  i'd rather be a finch in a huge densely planted outdoor aviary in the sun".  So....how would you claim to really know how the cat (or finch) feels either?

My perspective on birds in cages is purely a personal one based on my knowledge of their natural tendencies, my perspective on cats is the same but also heavily based on personal experience.  I would hazard a guess that you perhaps have never even owned a cat?

I'm certainly no expert in animal behaviour, so perhaps next time I spy one of our many safe and healthy cats, inside (& upside down) purring on a bed, basking lazily on the windowsill, or outside in their 80sqm of enclosure playing stalk with another cat or poor unsuspecting cricket in the jungle end of their run, climbing their Cherry Plum Tree or scratching at their jungle of Man Ferns, I shall endeavour to clarify if they are as "happy" as I perceive them to be, compared to a free to roam type cat who has to additionally dodge traffic, stray dogs & neighbourhood brawls - resulting in the spread of toxo plus many other diseases & injuries etc.

I think the belief that confining cats indoors is cruel or unnatural is wrong - unintentionally it could actually be a sadly quick way to discourage anyone with a roaming kitty from even considering the proven benefits of confinement.

Absolutely, domestic cats have hunting instincts comparible to their wild ancestors, similarly dogs do to theirs - but neither are wild animals anymore.  We confine our dogs, or should, we should also confine our cats imo as you are spot on, any domestic animal will very quickly and lethally adapt to feral existence if it HAS to.

Leading into Little Penguin breeding season, I've spent the last two months setting a cat trap twice daily in one of our penguin rookeries, and monitor another 120+ burrows in my zone alone for various things, all in my own time.  One part of monitoring is to check for traces of predator tracks, scats or scent, so I'm more than aware of the impact of feral species first hand, and the absolute need to prevent the problem and/or eliminate them humanely.

I disagree:  "killing things" is not a specific behaviour, it's a result.  Hunt/stalk and catch are natural behaviours, triggered by basic survival instincts - including training/honing of them, or apparent "play".  Killing and consumption (not always consumption though with pets) being the end result.  Remove a cat's access to live prey by confining it and they are quite happy to fullfill the stalk/hunt and catch part of their natural behaviour with other cats, people, toys etc, then come inside to consume their human provided "kill" from Woolies.

I think you have misinterpreted my point zosterops,  because that IS my point - If we continue to place our domestic pets' (and our) needs above those of our wildlife, instead of the other way around, then that is all we will be left with, taxidermied exhibits in museums.

Absolutely. the same goes for zebra finches. 

would you consider avicultural hybrids that do not exist in the wild domesticated? how many thousands of generation of living with man do you require? is a feather duster budgie domesticated? these monstrosities akin to fancy goldfish... 

Wild-type budgies are very rare in captivity (note almost all green birds kept are anything but wild-type) and they've recently been referred to as 'shell parrots' to distinguish them from the thousands of domestic swarms. 

So presumably you would consider a white tiger to be domesticated.

I don't think inability to survive in the wild is the only criterion for domestication. Many domestic animals survive in the wild quite well, eg goats and camels.

Actually, my entire comment was, "We confine our dogs, or should, we should also confine our cats imo as you are spot on, any domestic animal will very quickly and lethally adapt to feral existence if it HAS to."

My reply was in response to your comment, "as for domestication...domestic cats can revert to wild semi-feral strays in a few weeks at liberty and to ferals within a couple of generations....."

Apologies for the confusion zosterops.  Perhaps my comment could have been expanded to:  "We confine our dogs, or should, we should also confine our cats imo as you are spot on, although this is not just relevant to cats, as any domestic animal will very quickly and lethally adapt to feral existence if it HAS to".  Any domestic animal allowed to become feral brings it's own set of negative problems to the natural balance of the environment.

You summed it up beautifully GregL, once a cat is in the wild and those eat to survive instincts kick in....one thing all species do have in common I guess if left unchecked.  I too have seen a mix of small and large ferals.  I imagine feral cat size could well be area specific, dependent on whether or not they are the apex predator in their location.  Meaning, a Bird of Prey for example, wouldn't think twice about a few kg's of feral kitty lunch, but may well pass over Mr 8+kg feral Tom cat, leaving him to pass on his size genes to future feral generations.  I don't know, just musing .

I hadn't heard of Feather Duster Budgies either.  Apparently a super rare mutation due to a recessive gene and possibly from generations of inbreeding, also known as feather duster syndrome which is fatal.  Poor little mites, most only have a very difficult and very short life span of less than a year.  Only a handful of reported cases wordlwide of the accidental breeding of them.  Lets hope no-one ever tries to do it deliberately - wishful thinking?

Getting back to the orginal topic, I sincerely hope the plans from this recent national feral cat control forum, receive all the support required to implement them.  I can only imagine it's perhaps not just an appropriate solution that is the larger problem given all the educated minds assisting to resolve the situation, but the enforcing and support structure for monitoring etc that would follow.

Didn't stop those bubble-eye goldfish... and other piscicultural abominations and hybrid mutations such as balloon mollies, blood parrot cichlids, flowerhorn cichlids,