feral cats

jaffa20

chem wrote: »

I put a stuffed sparrow over my muzzle and hide in the ditch while cat hunting. Not so much of a market anymore for cat hide, since the furbe craze died :pac:

In english please

Anyway, this thread is going round in circles. I am up against the majority no matter what argument i put forward. At least some hunters have recognised my points and hope that some will think before putting finger on trigger in future.

Sparks

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Well, he is hardly going to demand a dog worrying sheep on his neighbours land be shot??:rolleyes:

I'd be rather surprised if he didn't - one field away isn't much of a distance for a dog...

homerhop

You can not look to have an animal destroyed if it is on a neighbouring farm be it one or 10 fields away, if there is a dog or pack causing problems any you can not get to him/them while on your land most common practice is usually to ring two or 3 farms in the general direction that the animals are heading. The majority of farmers keep each other well informed on stray and roaming dogs.
With regard to feral cats yes i would shoot when given the opportunity. Its not a clear cut case of all hunters are bad and all pets are cute and cuddley.In my own case I know the local farms very well as well as the majority of dwellings in the locality of roughly a 6 mile radius. You get familiar to seeing what cat hangs around what house. So I tend not to shoot ones that are within a couple of hundred yards of a dwelling. On saying that if I know a cat is reeking havoc on young birds and i get the opportunity I will take that shot.

Jaffa all cats will kill a young pheasant given the opportunity, I have yet to see a cat that given half the chance will not try to catch a bird be it a robin to a crow. I like cats as I do most animals but as you are trying to make us realise that you cant just shoot all cats you too have to realise that all cats will kill for fun and will do enormous damage to wildlife.

CJhaughey

Jaffa20

If you want proof of the destructive capabilities of the cat have a look at Churcher and Lawtons paper from 1987 or this more recent one from Woods, McDonald and Harris.

Churcher & Lawton (1987) calculated that in a single English village, cats were responsible for up to 30% of mortality in a house sparrow population and concluded that domestic cats were a major predator in a typical English village. They found that the average cat caught and brought home approximately 14 prey items over the 12 months of their survey. May (1988) extrapolated from this figure and suggested that about 100 million wild birds and small mammals could be killed by 6 million cats every year in Britain.

You can see that cats have a huge impact on bird,mammal and reptile life.
It is not simply a case of saying that a cat might kill a few animals, they can and will.
People might argue that they control rats and mice, true but they also kill shrews, and native reptiles that have slow rates of reproduction.

midlouth

Would it be mostly rifles that are used when shooting a cat? I can't imagine anyone using a shotgun.

CJhaughey

midlouth wrote: »

Would it be mostly rifles that are used when shooting a cat? I can't imagine anyone using a shotgun.

I used a shotgun a few times but you need BBs to be really effective, Turkey choke is also a handy thing to have.
But definately a .22LR or 22WMR is a better bet, they are pretty tough animals, depending on their overall condition.

pajero2005

fish slapped wrote: »

Well first I would of had to buy a trap - €100+
then pay the Vet - €50 x 2 = €100
TOTAL - €200+

bag of marbles - €1.95

but I did practice before hand and am quite accurate!:D



Thats ME!!

Slingshot.....€19.95
Bag of marbles............€1.95
The look on the cats face as I took aim........................Priceless

k_d

last one i got took 9 shots!!!

Dusty87

What where you usin lad?

greenpeter

jaffa20 wrote: »

Fine if you see them killing young pheasant, by all means, shoot but don't think that all cats will do the same. If one is pissing in your garden and not wearing a collar, it doesn't mean it has just cleared a pen of young pheasant, so think before you shoot.:rolleyes:

I always think before i shoot(about the back stop);)

Trojan911

homerhop wrote: »

I have yet to see a cat that given half the chance will not try to catch a bird be it a robin to a crow.

I watched a magpie front out a youngish cat last week. Maggie then made a move for cat and cat legged it. Most amusing.... Couldn't shoot the buggers as it was on a public road near to a residential area.

lightening

k_d wrote: »

last one i got took 9 shots!!!

lightening

Actually this ones better!!

Sparks

lightening wrote: »

Actually this ones better!!

No, that one's just for shooting old men in the face while pissed...

jaffa20

netwhizkid

Cats do cause damage to sheep and very serious damage at that. Two winters ago we had two female cats and a tom come to the farm (dumped off no doubt) and they were totally wild but we threw them the usual scraps and they took shelter in our hayshed atop the Square bales. We took no notice of them and were originally delighted to have them as we had a plague of rats around the place at the time.

Our sheep were fed during the winter with the hay from the shed where the cats had been nesting. The following spring in March when the sheep started lambing there was 5 dead stillborn lambs to begin with and we called in the vet, it turned out the sheep had gotten toxoplasmosis and leptospirosis from eating the hay due to contamination by cat urine and feces. We went on to lose 30 lambs out the 100 that year. That evening the cats were given food to lure them and all 8 (they had since multiplied) were disbursed by my uncle with the double barrel shot gun.

More cats have arrived randomly since and all have been shot. Cats spread toxoplasmosis and leptospirosis and our sheep had both although much higher levels of toxoplasmosis and we were originally blaming the rats for leptospirosis the rats were wiped out early in the winter when the cats arrived and the cats caught the leptospirosis from the rats and spread it to the sheep.

Cats have no place on a farm and are not a solution to rats or mice, poison however is. Of the remainging 70 lambs that year another 6 or 7 fell to the fox and they were nearly all suffering some effects from the toxoplasmosis and leptospirosis and had to be fed on lamb creep for a month before they were fit to sell due to the bloody cats, and the entire lambs profit was wiped out due to it.

There was also extreme medical risks for my father and I had we contracted it but the fact that we are both hayfever sufferers saw us tackle the hay with gloves and white disposable chemical suits and dust masks (my father even uses goggles he is so sensitive to hay) which obviously saved us from the disease. Cats also pose a massive risk to Pregnant women and it is even mentioned in the movie "9 Months" featuring Hugh Grant.

Cats will be shot, surviving cats will be shot again.

dwighet

netwhizkid wrote: »

Cats do cause damage to sheep and very serious damage at that. Two winters ago we had two female cats and a tom come to the farm (dumped off no doubt) and they were totally wild but we threw them the usual scraps and they took shelter in our hayshed atop the Square bales. We took no notice of them and were originally delighted to have them as we had a plague of rats around the place at the time.

Our sheep were fed during the winter with the hay from the shed where the cats had been nesting. The following spring in March when the sheep started lambing there was 5 dead stillborn lambs to begin with and we called in the vet, it turned out the sheep had gotten toxoplasmosis and leptospirosis from eating the hay due to contamination by cat urine and feces. We went on to lose 30 lambs out the 100 that year. That evening the cats were given food to lure them and all 8 (they had since multiplied) were disbursed by my uncle with the double barrel shot gun.

More cats have arrived randomly since and all have been shot. Cats spread toxoplasmosis and leptospirosis and our sheep had both although much higher levels of toxoplasmosis and we were originally blaming the rats for leptospirosis the rats were wiped out early in the winter when the cats arrived and the cats caught the leptospirosis from the rats and spread it to the sheep.

Cats have no place on a farm and are not a solution to rats or mice, poison however is. Of the remainging 70 lambs that year another 6 or 7 fell to the fox and they were nearly all suffering some effects from the toxoplasmosis and leptospirosis and had to be fed on lamb creep for a month before they were fit to sell due to the bloody cats, and the entire lambs profit was wiped out due to it.

There was also extreme medical risks for my father and I had we contracted it but the fact that we are both hayfever sufferers saw us tackle the hay with gloves and white disposable chemical suits and dust masks (my father even uses goggles he is so sensitive to hay) which obviously saved us from the disease. Cats also pose a massive risk to Pregnant women and it is even mentioned in the movie "9 Months" featuring Hugh Grant.

Cats will be shot, surviving cats will be shot again.

Bang on whizkid!!!

jaffa20

netwhizkid wrote: »

Cats do cause damage to sheep and very serious damage at that. Two winters ago we had two female cats and a tom come to the farm (dumped off no doubt) and they were totally wild but we threw them the usual scraps and they took shelter in our hayshed atop the Square bales. We took no notice of them and were originally delighted to have them as we had a plague of rats around the place at the time.

Our sheep were fed during the winter with the hay from the shed where the cats had been nesting. The following spring in March when the sheep started lambing there was 5 dead stillborn lambs to begin with and we called in the vet, it turned out the sheep had gotten toxoplasmosis and leptospirosis from eating the hay due to contamination by cat urine and feces. We went on to lose 30 lambs out the 100 that year. That evening the cats were given food to lure them and all 8 (they had since multiplied) were disbursed by my uncle with the double barrel shot gun.

More cats have arrived randomly since and all have been shot. Cats spread toxoplasmosis and leptospirosis and our sheep had both although much higher levels of toxoplasmosis and we were originally blaming the rats for leptospirosis the rats were wiped out early in the winter when the cats arrived and the cats caught the leptospirosis from the rats and spread it to the sheep.

Cats have no place on a farm and are not a solution to rats or mice, poison however is. Of the remainging 70 lambs that year another 6 or 7 fell to the fox and they were nearly all suffering some effects from the toxoplasmosis and leptospirosis and had to be fed on lamb creep for a month before they were fit to sell due to the bloody cats, and the entire lambs profit was wiped out due to it.

There was also extreme medical risks for my father and I had we contracted it but the fact that we are both hayfever sufferers saw us tackle the hay with gloves and white disposable chemical suits and dust masks (my father even uses goggles he is so sensitive to hay) which obviously saved us from the disease. Cats also pose a massive risk to Pregnant women and it is even mentioned in the movie "9 Months" featuring Hugh Grant.

Cats will be shot, surviving cats will be shot again.

Well, that's a lesson learned. Don't let the cats near the hay. They didn't intentionally piss and **** there to kill your sheep:rolleyes: You left them there and so now you'll know better in future.

As for them multiplying, if you are willing to spend vet fees on sheep, then perhaps you could extend it to neuturing the cats in future.

ayapatrick

jaffa20 wrote: »

Well, that's a lesson learned. Don't let the cats near the hay. They didn't intentionally piss and **** there to kill your sheep:rolleyes: You left them there and so now you'll know better in future.

As for them multiplying, if you are willing to spend vet fees on sheep, then perhaps you could extend it to neuturing the cats in future.

im sure if you asked them nicely they would have moved elsewhere:rolleyes:

sheep = farmers livelihood, with very little profit in it as it stands so it is in their interests to call out the vet!

Dusty87

jaffa20 wrote: »

Well, that's a lesson learned. Don't let the cats near the hay. They didn't intentionally piss and **** there to kill your sheep:rolleyes: You left them there and so now you'll know better in future.

As for them multiplying, if you are willing to spend vet fees on sheep, then perhaps you could extend it to neuturing the cats in future.

He did move them.............to the big hay shed in the sky:rolleyes:
Also he said they were wild, would have had to go and buy traps to catch them, then waste time and money bringing them to the vet and they're not even his cats!!!!!!!!!

lightening

Dusty87 wrote: »

Also he said they were wild, would have had to go and buy traps to catch them, then waste time and money bringing them to the vet and they're not even his cats!!!!!!!!!

Borrow or beg, plus he saved money on the rat traps, and the cats with their shots wouldn't have multiplied and would have kept other cats away.

ayapatrick wrote: »

sheep = farmers livelihood

Paper = printers livelihood, keep it dry.
Gun = soldiers livelihood, keep it oiled.

Look after them! Sorry Whiz, but I'm no farmer, but I always knew ferrel cats carried diseases, particularly leptospirosis.

ayapatrick

lightening wrote: »

Paper = printers livelihood, keep it dry.
Gun = soldiers livelihood, keep it oiled.

Look after them! Sorry Whiz, but I'm no farmer, but I always knew ferrel cats carried diseases, particularly leptospirosis.

But if it comes down to getting rid of the cats and getting an army of them neutered common sense would prevail! what does it cost to neuter a cat?

Dusty87

ayapatrick wrote: »

But if it comes down to getting rid of the cats and getting an army of them neutered common sense would prevail! what does it cost to neuter a cat?

I dont know what it is but it sure as hell wil add up when your neutering an army of them as well as gettin them there shots for their disease's. Im sorry but its not as easy as pack them all up and into the back of a car for the vet.

jaffa20

Dusty87 wrote: »

I dont know what it is but it sure as hell wil add up when your neutering an army of them as well as gettin them there shots for their disease's. Im sorry but its not as easy as pack them all up and into the back of a car for the vet.

The cats only stayed cos he fed them. They didn't stay to piss on his hay. The whole point of this thread is that cats wander, especially feral cats. if he fed continuously, of course they'd stay. There are other ways controlling cats than shooting them,wanderers or not.

CJhaughey

jaffa20 wrote: »

The whole point of this thread is that cats wander, especially feral cats.

Exactly, thats why people should keep their pets inside.

jaffa20 wrote:

There are other ways controlling cats than shooting them,wanderers or not.

I do not have the time or inclination to go around trapping, transporting and neutering feral cats, then bringing them back and re-releasing them to continue their orgy of killing at my place.
I can't imagine my vet would be very pleased to see me rock up with a bootful of pissed off feral cats in a cage and asking him to please neuter them all
He would probably shoot them himself:D

tiny-nioclas

I'd hesitate more shooting a rabbit than a cat, dirty vile creatures, i kill them on sight when im out hunting. The destruction they cause to wildlife tame or not, is disastrous.

netwhizkid

lightening wrote: »

Borrow or beg, plus he saved money on the rat traps, and the cats with their shots wouldn't have multiplied and would have kept other cats away.



Paper = printers livelihood, keep it dry.
Gun = soldiers livelihood, keep it oiled.

Look after them! Sorry Whiz, but I'm no farmer, but I always knew ferrel cats carried diseases, particularly leptospirosis.

The thing is you see there was cats on the farm a few years back before this disaster which were domesticated and fed by my late grandmother and nothing ever happened. These cats were also domestic cats and had been dumped off by some idiot. They were never tame but became tamer, however you could never catch or pet them type of a way. We never knew cats carried diseases fatal to either humans or livestock and I am sure that a large majority of farmers don't either still. Cats are seen as harmless and that they good by killing vermin such as rats. This is however not the case one bit, it was a harsh lesson learnt and unfortunate for us and the cats who saw their 9 lives go bang.

jaffa20

tiny-nioclas wrote: »

I'd hesitate more shooting a rabbit than a cat, dirty vile creatures, i kill them on sight when im out hunting. The destruction they cause to wildlife tame or not, is disastrous.

See, that's just what i don't get. You are just using your personal opinion of certain animals to choose a preference over shooting something. Whether you dislike an animal or not, actually more accurately, someone's PET or not has nothing to do with it, you should be specifically looking at the appropriate harm the each causes on the habitat. Killing someone's pet who is simply attacking rats in a nearby field should be completely distinguised from a feral cat killing endangered songbirds.

The distinction cannot be clearly be made by hunters at first sight so my point is to think before shooting. But then again, they are just disgusting horrible creatures, so it doesn't matter if it belongs to the girl next door.:eek:

CJhaughey

jaffa20 wrote: »

Killing someone's pet who is simply attacking rats in a nearby field should be completely distinguised from a feral cat killing endangered songbirds.

Are pet cats are so highly trained that they do not kill birds only rats?

jaffa20

CJhaughey wrote: »

Are pet cats are so highly trained that they do not kill birds only rats?

Are hunters so highly trained that they only kills animals that actually harm the habitat?