Vicki Brooke, Eureka
We don’t hear much about feral cats these days: roaming packs of wild dogs grab attention due to the obvious havoc they wreak, but the damage done by cats is insidious.
Just before Christmas a mother and two kittens took up residence in one of my trees, cleverly concealed in a deep, inaccessible hollow. Attempts to coax them out were met with aggressive hisses.
I contacted the vet, Council, WIRES and the RSPCA, all were unable to help. Council has a limited supply of cat traps but none available at the time.
The cat moved with her kittens to another tree, their trampled resting place marked by a half-eaten rat. My dog spotted them and her incessant barking along with our hullabaloo evidently made life unbearable for the cat and her offspring, who then disappeared.
While the immediate threat to my wildlife was solved (I hope), I fear for wildlife on other properties – our bird population is particularly rich. The feral cat issue seems to fall between the cracks with no organisation able to provide assistance for a growing problem. More traps available from Byron Council would be a start. Does anyone have experience of dealing with this problem and if so could you share some ideas for Echo readers?
