CZ Vs Ferral Cat

[marlin vs]

And don't forget,cat's love to be shot.

[epitome]

Cool--thanks for that.  This site has a lot better international representation than some other firearm sites, and I find it very interesting to see how things go in the rest of the world.   Introduced species can be really destructive--24000 bunnies in a weekend WOW!  I've read about the Moa--too bad they're extinct, they might put a crimp in the kitty/bunny population eh!  How are the Cassowary birds to deal with.  I heard they were kinda tough........

Ahhh wrong part of the world for a Cassowary--whatta tool--oh well, whatever......

If you ever go to north Queensland, you might see wild Cassowary's. I did when I went there. If you do, you will find that they are very large birds, as big as an Emu or Ostrich. They can be very aggressive and will run straight through you if they feel threatened.

 

[rjd3282]

Cool--thanks for that.  This site has a lot better international representation than some other firearm sites, and I find it very interesting to see how things go in the rest of the world.   Introduced species can be really destructive--24000 bunnies in a weekend WOW!  I've read about the Moa--too bad they're extinct, they might put a crimp in the kitty/bunny population eh!  How are the Cassowary birds to deal with.  I heard they were kinda tough........

Ahhh wrong part of the world for a Cassowary--whatta tool--oh well, whatever......

Starting to sound like a thread high jack. 

If you ever go to north Queensland, you might see wild Cassowary's. I did when I went there. If you do, you will find that they are very large birds, as big as an Emu or Ostrich. They can be very aggressive and will run straight through you if they feel threatened.

 

[Wilyote]

I live in the US in Upstate NY.  It is illegal for homeowners to shoot cats.  The Anti's and Peta have pressured to have laws passed that mean you get more time in jail for shooting a cat than a person. No kidding.  I think it's called Buster's law up here. 

I've had my share of cat incidents but the one that sticks out is my brand new mower ($$$) was sprayed by a cat. The cat is no longer with us but the feckin smell is still there after 7 years and it ate the paint off parts of the mower.

[brown_bear]

Nice stripes on that one..

Bagged a few around here but the rains been slowing things up a bit.

[fenring]

Good shootin'.

I also own two cats (or rather, they own me...) but I lower the boom on any feral I see. 

[Lerper]

Couple honest questions here--What d'you do with the cat once its been shot?  Also--why shoot it?  Would it not be better to leave it, and let it gobble bunnies?  I honestly am curious--I have nothing against shooting cats--I've dealt with enough kitty issues from the neighbor's fluffy to a cougar that wanted to turn me into lunch, that I'd be inclined to use my VZ-58.

Also:  Are you Down Under?  I'm assuming that the rabbits are pests, or are they edible too? 

Patman,
For the record, the estimated feral cat population was estimated to be between 2 an 4 million in Australiain 2000. Given that it is estimated that it takes 5 - 10 small creatures a day to keep one alive, then that could be as many as 40 million small native creatures to keep these destructive ferals alive. At one stage the army was brought into help assist with their destruction due to an isolated population explosion. Totally adaptable, ruthless efficient killers whose ability to breed is nearly unsurpassed(except for the rabbit) as copulation triggers ovulation. If they only targetted rabbits we'd probably breed them ourselves, but they don't, they target anything that moves from marsupial mice, insects, birds, lizards etc. It only takes a few generations and they hardly resemble the domestic tabby they evolved from. Their jaws change gaining size and power, paws expand and overall size increases. Alot of our Panther sitings are attributed to large feral cats.

My policy has always been when fox hunting, if it's more than 500m from a farm house, then it's fair game, as it's out hunting too. The endangered mallee fowl is attributed to the large number of ferals in the area. That's why they are the top of my hit list, and always will be. I ended a sambar hunt recently to dispatch a ginger tabby in the forest. Well worth it, as I can go stalking another day, and he can't!!!

Lerp

Happiness is a 200m feline headshot.

[brown_bear]

Couple honest questions here--What d'you do with the cat once its been shot?  Also--why shoot it?  Would it not be better to leave it, and let it gobble bunnies? 

That's true to a degree but it depends on the type of landscape the cats are removed from.

Macquarie Island is an example of where eradicating the cat population resulted in an explosion in numbers of rabbits, and feral cats shot on farm land generally have a diet that is 80% rabbit, the remainder of the diet being made up of birds, mice, frogs, reptiles etc..

That changes once you move into the mainland forests. Rabbits don't breed well in our native forests as conditons don't suit them, so the cats and foxes that live in those areas depend on native fauna for the bulk of their diet. Cat's also climb trees which means smaller tree dwelling marsupials like the phoscagal and ring tailed possum are easy prey. One type of sign I look for when tracking cats in the forest are trees with a small collection of possum tails laying at the base.

One thing to note is the deeper into the native forest you go, the poorer the condition of the foxes, but not so the cats. This is a good indication of the cats success as a predator

The other problem with feral cats is if rabies were to find it's way into Australia it's been proposed that the feral cats and foxes would be the most likely vectors for transmission of the disease.

These are some reasons why a good feral cat is a dead feral cat... as well as what marlin VS said 
 

[Shooter55]

goodness. It gives me the urge to pack up my 20's and head down under....a few weeks of CZ22mag, 22Hornet, 17 HMR/Mach2 and 22-250 versus thousands of rabbits, feral cats and foxes would be a hoot....
keep up the culling and keep nature in balance