Any new development to help control/eliminate feral species humanely is great news in my book. Well done. And for the record, I have owned domestic cats as pets, but when outside they lived in a large shed sized cage and actually stayed inside if someone left the gate open accidently as they apparently felt safe there.
You are doing fantastic work and the inventors of these traps should be commended. I grew up a cat lover but they do not belong in the Australian bush and arguably in most areas of our cities also. They need to be eventually eradicated from the bush.
They aren't native to anywhere and don't belong anywhere. 63 species killed to extinction from them already. I'm glad you aren't a cat crazed single species lover.
Personally, domestic cats shouldn't be allowed outside anyway. The owner(s) need to learn that even their fluffy little kitty isn't innocent, and there will be consequences if it is caught/exterminated.
Just to add a little to this: I've had to put down feral cats and feral dogs. I didn't like doing it, but the cats had become a danger to both domestic chickens and wild birds. The dogs, running in packs, were a severe danger to livestock and humans; especially children. Not to mention that both were a risk for rabies.
One panadol or panamax tablet pushed down into a little can of cat food and mixed up a bit after it dissolves - or not. Will kill a 50kg cat [ not a typo ] All up cost under $1. Safe for birds and dogs etc. All cats are feral once out of the house. Around schools and parks at night, picnic spots, camp sites even your suburban front or back yard. Less than a dollar a go.
@Lucy Kelly The shooting option being effective for wide scale pest control is usually deluded, and if the rare circumstances do enable it (usually for large animals) it requires very skilled shooters, another very rare creature. Shooting to "mop up" remnant populations has its' place, often essential for pest eradication finishing off. The by-kill issue in Australia needs factual information about susceptible carrion eating species to be a valid concern. Tassie devils may be a problem for instance. But most non-canids are not at much or any risk, and foxes and wild dogs (& pigs if they get a big enough dose) are a bonus kill. Where 1080 is used on landscape scale to kill invasive possums and rats, the claims about extensive by-kill risking native species are not substantiated, although enthusiastically emotively advertised by some not vey skilled observers, usually trying to protect other invasive species, & who have never actually seen the devastation they claim for the simple reason it doesn't exist.
Just is just stick to Australia. There’s too many similar sized animals in other countries including native cats such as young bob cats or Lynx. And red and gray foxes which are part of the ecosystem of the US.
We are good here in Europe, we like cats and we were the reasons cats got in places like Australia 😂 but i feed the feral cats that comes to my House, they keep rats away. Lucky in italy we had cats since forever so they already killed whatever they could i Guess
Don't worry about scanning a microchip, just roll them out asap! A domestic cat does just as much damage as a feral cat. If cat owners are selfish enough to let their cat roam they should pay the price.
Completely false - cat owners always let their rotten cats wander at night . If it was a dog , you'd never hear the end of it . Somehow it's ok when its cats
Any pet cat should be an enviro cat,kept inside at night and in a cat house thru the day I love cats but I love our native wildlife too.Kats are hunters everyone knows that.Should be huge fines for irresponsible cat owners.
One of the great myths in most cases with smaller animals and most larger ones with a it of cover to hide in. When numbers of a problem pest are very low shooting can be a part getting the final ones, when other methods have already got the vast majority and not made them hunter-shy. Many pest control operations are ineffective because of using the high disturbance method of shooting first, usually made worse because ineffective shooters are often selected . Think of hunting a location after a bunch of yobbo hunters have been through beforehand, the animals are still there but hard to catch napping. Whereas after really effective hunters (and there are far fewer than self assessment asserts) far less animals survive, the wary/lucky ones. Poison first and most have been killed without scaring their bowels empty
It's interesting how whenever there's a video regarding humane killing of pests/ferals there are weirdos in the comments that froth and cheer at the idea of killing animals they genuinely hate, completely missing the reason why it's done in the first place. I mean, it's a small minority and all that, but it's still concerns me.
I live in America. They are backwards here. I think half the people here want to live in a cat island ecosystem. I mentioned this topic at a neighborhood / city council meeting. And the people had a blank look on their faces. I mentioned that cats killed 63 species to extinction and up to 4 billion birds a year, yet they still had their heads up their cats' asses. So disgusting here! Not everyone, but waayyy too many people have no respect for wildlife.
Interesting concept. I live in rural NSW and when I catch a feral cat or rat in live traps I drown them to kill them because I don't have a gun licence.
That is the funniest thing I've heard all day. I'm from the states and half the people here have their heads up a cat's ass. It's so disgusting. They actually want to live in a cat island ecosystem.
You call this contraption "humane", but how humane is it for a cat to die in agony from poisoning? I hope your "mouse infestation" problem comes back. For those that don't know what I am talking about, enter "Australia mouse infestation" in the search bar.
So......what happens to the native animals that chew on the dead cat??? Why not make one that poisons the person dumping the cat in the first place!!! How about one that catches a microchiped cat so the owner can pay a thousand bucks. Make money out of it.
Until people neuter their cats, killing them will go on forever. Sad that this human-created situation of domestic cat overpopulation has brought about resorting to this barbaric practice rather than education and a compassionate solution. Without a long-range plan to change human behavior killing our mistakes will always be necessary. This is a bandaid, not a viable solution.
The 'cat squirter' has MANY issues. It can't 'read' a standard microchip. It would require a second much larger implant that could be read from a greater distance. If you have ever tried to scan an animal for a microchip you will know that the scanning device has to be mere centimeters away from the chip. This 'cat squirter' in the video simply can not do that. It is also fraught with other technology defects that makes it unsuitable and a danger to other Native wildlife. It can not distinguish between a cat and say, a 10 week old Dingo cub. This device will be wiping out generations of Dingoes before they can even get a chance to tackle feral cats in their territory. And it has been proven that Dingoes will actively hunt cats and disrupt their hunting behaviour, providing protection for other vulnerable native fauna.
Just so you know, they are working on detecting a different type of tag emitter that may also be suitable for tagging valuable animals such as dingo pups. The device also photographs each trigger/shot, so target specificity is constantly evaluated, unlike with baits, which are not photographically documented.
I don't know where you've pulled this information from, but if you read up on the schematics they've been very careful to ensure that it won't accidentally target native species. This isn't some Rambo-esque shoot-'em-up tool. It's designed to be precisely targeted at cats.
@Lucy Kelly There is no chance engaging a bunch of sharpshooters will even make a dent in the feral cat population. Simply because of the vastness of the area to cover but also because feral cats are so difficult to find in the first place. They are just too wily. You are talking needle in a haystack chances of finding and killing them with a gun.
why does it matter about the microchip scanner, they are only saying they are adding it to make irresponsible owners shut the hell up and stop staggering the process, if you are irresponsible and let your cat roam then too bad so sad, you were an irresponsible moron and now your cat pays the price for your stupidity and lack of logic. the chance of a 10 week old dingo walking in front of the trap is unlikely, they are still hanging around the den at that stage and I doubt the traps would be placed around dingo dens as biologists and ecologists will decide their placement, the felixer will NOT cause whole generations of dingoes to be wiped out
These shortsighted feral cat killer can kill all feral cats in Australia. They may win the battle against feral cats but a new enemy will emerge as a result of feral cat exterminations. The rodents will eat up and destroy Australian agriculture. It will affect Australian incomes and stomach as well. This cycle of extermination then a new enemy emerges will never stop.
Hey like ur reply ur right they imported the cat's now they are killing them when they are done let the rodents run wild than they can bitch about something else why did the Japanese even mess with such shit
I can't wait until the Animal Vigilantes, instill Karma! First Cats, what next? Also how come Australia gets away with everything? Since you pissed off Earth, Mother Nature! Like I mentioned. Karma ( whatever works). You deserve it!
these cats kill to survive. its horrible that they kill these animals, i know, but they can't survive any other way. these feral cats cant eat anything else, they dont have kitty biscuts or whatever, they have their prey. without the animals running around, these cats die a slow and horrible death. you disgust me.
They're killing to survive, but they shouldn't be here to do that in the first place. We shouldn't allow an introduced species to take precedence over native wildlife that has even more of a right to be here and allowed to survive. I appreciate that it's not a nice thought having to kill feral cats, and I don't think anyone really wants to. But if it's a choice between that or letting them wreak havoc on native bird, mammal, and reptile populations driving them closer to extinction, it's an unfortunately clear-cut choice. The best we can do is make sure the methods we use are as targeted and painless as possible, which is where tools like this are so valuable.
Heya snowflake, they’re killing native animals that appear nowhere else on the planet. Clearly it’s not their fault, we understand that perfectly well but if we do nothing to stop them then there will be more and more extinctions. It’s not hard to figure out. I am glad they’re doing something about it. You care more about introduces pest animals only (because you are familiar with them) than native unique flora that has nowhere else to go to survive. Your priorities are misguided. Get real!!!
Hey grandpa, Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years due to humans. Species across land, rivers and seas have been decimated as humans kill for food in unsustainable numbers and destroy habitats.
It IS our job to destroy introduced species that are a feral threat to native animals in this country - It is YOUR job to keep them inside your house where they cannot kill.. 20 native species are already extinct because pet owners thought they were God - idiot
@Tina Doherty 63 species killed to extinction already due to irresponsible cat owners that couldn't just appreciate the native ecosystem. If you leave them alone, Australia becomes another cat island. And that is what you want, isn't it? To a cat crazed person, their vicious cats are supposed to slaughter everything to extinction, or else they won't be happy.
