Feral and Introduced Animal Species

[dagger dog]

Hogs are the worse , I imagine they can tear up the place rooting and can be dangerous if cornered. Dogs I've seen them run in packs, and can be downright scary with out protection. All ferals usually wind up displacing a natural species .

My problem was cats. I bought an old farm house with a little acreage, it had a lot of ramshackled out buildings with it and was a rental before I bought the place.

It was a haven for feral cats. The ones I'm talking about are the by products of uncontrolled breeding.The land that came with the house was and is capable of supporting game speices squirrel, rabits, quail, turkey, deer
etc.

At the time I owned a house cat, and this cat was a true house cat. In the 17 yrs. this cat was alive he left the house 2 times. I raised him from a kitten 4" long and suckling on a baby bottle. So I do know a little some thing about house cats.He lays at rest under a tree on this property.

The cats that over ran my property were wild to the extreme and were using the out buildings for large litter boxes and for breeding.

The game spieces in the size range of the cats were not to be found, they killed every thing that was their size. You couldn't find a rabbit with a search warrant. A few squirrels and fewer quail.

The war went on for years, the dumb ones succumbed to traps, and these had to be selectively set as to not endanger wanted game or pets. The smarter ones became as wary as one could suppose, from being shot at a multitude of times they equated human with a gun , in other words they knew the lead was coming after they saw the human.

The whole time of this war there was not one cat found with a collar, they were the most mangey, stringy haired animals I've ever had to exterminate.

Over a period of 10 yrs after removing all but one of the out buildings, and the shooting and trapping of these animals, I could put the figures close to 80

There are now rabbits quail and turkey on my property, I watch them from my kitchen window, the deer graze in the same area and the squirrels cut hickory and acorn in the fall.

I once watched a TV program on the cable about the trouble and enviromental problems such cats have caused in Austraila, it was sobering to see what an impact these introduced species can do.

Has any one else had such a problem ? If yes let us hear from you!

 

[308win]

It is not only feral cats, house cats will roam and prey on wild birds and animals as well. I see them every time I go shooting/hunting. I don't shoot them because (a) they are someone's pet and (b) I don't want to cause the landowner who lets me use his property any problems with his neighbors. Still, the cats are killing game and other animals and the owners should be more reponsible about the actions of their pets; and, the next guy may act differently than me.

 

[dagger dog]

3,
They are hell on wheels granny puts out the kibble on the back porch, ole Tabby gets good and fat,and leaves granny presents on the porch, robins , rabbits, etc.

The same laws that pertain to dogs ought to cover cats , make them responsible for the actions of their pets ,leash them or keep them contained.

 

[critter]

Some fool discarded a cat in the woods near where I deer hunted. I saw the cat many times and it was doing well, having gone feral and living in the woods.

Then I got to seeing a covey of quail almost every day during the deer season-EXCEPT that they were fewer in number almost daily. Then, one day, I saw the feral cat stalking them.

Well, kitty later made an error in tactics. It stopped about 75 yards from me and caught a .300 mag bullet just at the base of the ear.

Sad, but it was not the fault of the cat. It was just being a cat. The fault lies with the fool who discarded the cat.

Feral cats do more damage to the local population of songbirds, gamebirds and even rabbit and squirrel than any other vermin. AND they breed like hogs do and will VERY quickly overpopulate an area if left unchecked.

Folks are in the very bad habit of dropping off cats at my farm (where dad now lives) and they try to take the place over. Again, not the fault of the cats, but the worthless owners who turn them out. Another sad situation that requires desperate measures.

Cat loves among us, yeah, I know it sounds heartless to those who love them. BUT you guys who care for cats DO TAKE CARE OF YOUR PETS and are NOT the sorry pet-dropper-offers in question.

 

[Savage Shooter]

A friend recently had a problem such as yours I am an avid trapper and he knows this. I asked him if he would mind if I trapped some racoons on his property he said sure as they get into his cattle feed and make a mess. i asked him all the normal questions a responsible trapper should ask such as do you have pets that I might catch in my traps, what traps would your prefer me to use as I mostly use 220 bodygrips and I am rather hard on pet cats he said he had a large cat problem from over breeding and people dumping them off. He told me to catch as many as I could he said as many as he could count was 15 and all in all I caught 14 cats and there was 4 left running around. I would release any live ones if they somehow managed to stay alive in a 220 bodygrip which is extremly hard one cat I nicknamed lucky i caught four times how he lived i'll never know but he did. The land owner was vey pleased that the cat problem was taken down substancialy I could have caught the rest but he wanted some left to keep rats down in the barn.
and I got several nice coons off the place.

 

[BlackJackal]

I once had a cat problem, it came around and hurt our cats and riped up garbage.. a winchester rifled slug at 10 yards took care of the problem..
But i confirmed it was the stray cat and not a pet. it was my neighbors and he had a breeding problem and there was around 20 cats so he said to take care of this one

 

[Art Eatman]

Yeah, feral cats are a serious problem, nationwide. And even the fluffiest purry-pet is still a predator, every chance it gets.

 

[Pilot]

And even the fluffiest purry-pet is still a predator, every chance it gets.

It always amazes me how strong a cat's hunting/stalking instinct is. Even a cat that has been raised 100% in a home has these instincts and if they get loose 9 times out of 10 you wil get a little present in your kitchen, bed, or anywhere they want. Our 18 year old cat caught a bird that flew into our house leaping off the sofa and catching it in mid air. I had to yell at her to make her release it!

 

[Pilot]

Well, kitty later made an error in tactics. It stopped about 75 yards from me and caught a .300 mag bullet just at the base of the ear.

Wow! .300 mag? Did the cat disintegrate???

 

[XDKingslayer]

At least your feral animals are common place. Down here, on top of cats and hogs, we now have a problem with iguanas, ball pythons and reticulated pythons.

 

[EHCRain10]

had the problem at a rental property that my father owned, 17HMR worked well whenever there was an opportunity

 

[Ghost Tracker]

Sounds like a small-sized varmint problem with a rimfire solution. I'm no cat-hater but enough is enough. Scoped Volquartsen to the rescue!

Years ago, my sister I were out woods plinking & happened upon a pack of feral dogs. They were surprisingly aggressive towards us...until the top dog suddenly went to his reward. The rest scattered so fast that I didn't get another shot. I've also helped rid a few farms of feral pigs, those fence-rippin', crop stompin' critters offer some pretty fair big-bore revolver fodder.

 

[moosehunt]

If you want to see a ferel problem, then you should see the situation here in the west with ferel horses and burros! They are a terrible pest that push out natural game, take over water holes, destroy the range and over graze. But the damn things are protected! Federally! They refer to them as wild. It's even one of the "state animals" in Nevada! They are wild in nature, true, but they are ferel animals, not wild animals, and they are a plague out of control! It is a serious problem that is not being addressed at all. And because they are federally protected, you had better not get caught shooting them!

 

[BlackJackal]

Well, kitty later made an error in tactics. It stopped about 75 yards from me and caught a .300 mag bullet just at the base of the ear.

Ha Ha what do u think would do more damage 1oz 12 gauge slug or .300 win mag

 

[cmidkiff]

Feral animals are a huge problem. One major thing we can all do is to spay or neuter our pets. If you're not intentionally breeding your pet, get the darned thing fixed!

 

[critter]

Pilot-Well, ALL of his head from the lower jaw up DID disentigrate. He was definitely DRT! At least it was a humane passing.

 

[SammyIamToday]

We had the same problem with feral cats on our farm when I was growing up. I used a .22 hornet that my grandfather gave me. It did an excellent job. Most people don't realize how hard feral cats (even housecats) are on their surrounding ecosystems. After the problem was gone, suddenly rabbit hunting was possible eagain.

 

[dagger dog]

XD,
Where the heck do you aim to hit the vital area on a python?

cmidkiff,
You hit the nail on the head, all responsible pet owners spey or nueter!

 

[skinewmexico]

We had a bunch, but the neighborhood coyotes discovered them.

 

[mbt2001]

Coyotes will go out of their way to kill and torment cats...

I haven't heard anyone mention fire ants... But those suckers are 1000 times worse than cats, dogs, or the like. The are merciless on quail and other birds and to make matters worse they do not have any natural enemies in the North American eco system.

I wonder if they will come up with a solution for them, as Ortho and others must make a bleeding fortune off them.

 

[G17Steve]

Got a few around here, trapped them and had them fixed, one never came around again one stayed and is now an outside cat.Niebhor has 3 cats that are indoor/outdoor they raise hell constantly Id like to kill them.

 

[MCgunner]

I've been having a war for several years with wild/feral dog packs and, yeah, pets will run with them. They kill livestock, chickens, CATS in my case, and they killed several expensive Corsican rams not far from me, the owner managing to kill a couple of 'em in the act. There was a couple of wade fishermen that called the law out front of my house in the bay who were being threatened by a pack and I, myself, was attacked after breaking up the fight with my cat which he managed to cripple. Vet set the leg, got over it. I keep cats around to keep the mouse/rat population down. They're a problem around here, too. Dogs are no less a problem than cats and won't hurt humans.

Cow birds are a real problem. Read about 'em here. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/nuisance/cowbirds/ I shoot 'em sometimes in the off season. They come around in herds, big flocks of 'em. Starlings are a pest invader as well as English sparrows. Grass carp comes to mind, nutria was a big problem for a long time, displacing muskrat from its habitat. Then, they found a way to utilize the pelt. Now, the fir industry is all, but dead, so I'm not sure the status of the nutria/muskrat wars. Then there's the killer "Africanized" bee problem in this area, know a guy that was killed by them, pretty scary to think about.

 

[T.R.]

Current public land site named Pt. Reys Nat'l Seashore in northern California was a private hunting club for many decades. The members introduced fallow deer. But hunting was halted by the Feds when they took over. The land was not for sale at the time.

Now your IRS tax dollars are paying for "trained marksman" to shoot these deer by the hundreds. A terrible waste.

Same thing occurred on the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara. Elk, mulies, and exotic sheep were wiped out by "contractors".

TR

 

[MCgunner]

Hell, I left out the worst feral species around, hogs. LOL I like 'em even if the farmers don't. Free ranging protein for the taking, year 'round, no limits.

 

[Pilot]

Pilot-Well, ALL of his head from the lower jaw up DID disentigrate. He was definitely DRT! At least it was a humane passing.

Yeah, I'll bet! Nice shot BTW.