Cat control device to help protect native wildlife.

Capercaillie

Feral Cat Grooming Trap. Could use to help protect rare ground nesting birds in other Countries too. What do you think?

http://www.ecologicalhorizons.com/initiatives


Tracking Australia
Feral cats continue to be the major cause of extinction of many natural and reintroduced populations of mammals and birds and conventional baiting, shooting and trapping are often not sufficient to reduce cat predation rates sufficiently. Cats are reluctant to take baits or enter traps when live prey are abundant. Ecological Horizons have been developing a novel technique that sprays cats with toxic gel that they ingest whilst grooming, hence circumventing the problem of having to lure cats to food baits.

With funding assistance from an innovation voucher from the SA Government, SA DEWNR, The Foundation for Australia's Most Endangered Animals, Sporting Shooters Association of Australia and other donors, Ecological Horizons have funded and managed the optimisation of grooming traps by SA engineering design firm Applidyne. The original prototype ready for field testing in April 2015 incorporates four rangefinder sensors, a programmable audiolure, a camera that photographs all activations, solar-charged battery and an electric motor-tensioned spring that fires sealed doses of toxic gel at 60m/second. The sensors ensure that animals smaller or larger than a cat or fox do not activate the trap which holds 20 measured doses and can operate without intervention for several months. Field tests should confirm that cats walking past at a distance of within 4m will be sprayed, meaning the Grooming Traps will provide a long-term tool to control trap- or bait-shy cats in areas of high conservation value.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

My only concern is a toxic corpse being eaten by other wildlife.

Grolschevik

I read somewhere -- pretty sure it was a link from this forum -- that the actual effect on wild fauna of predation by cats is minimal in Ireland and Britain.

Also, how do you restrict this to only dose feral cats?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Grolschevik wrote: »

I read somewhere -- pretty sure it was a link from this forum -- that the actual effect on wild fauna of predation by cats is minimal in Ireland and Britain.

Also, how do you restrict this to only dose feral cats?

Not wanting to hijack the thread but I doubt you got a majority view here that cats don't have a significant negative impact on wildlife in Ireland.

The device would be placed in areas where ground nesting birds need assistance. Any cat wandering loose in such areas, feral or otherwise, would have to be removed.

Feral cats are not the pest - all cats that are allowed stray are the problem.

Capercaillie

Carolina Big Fencing wrote: »

My only concern is a toxic corpse being eaten by other wildlife.

Good point. The poison would have to be one that does not recirculate when another animal scavenges on the carcase.

Birdnuts

Australia is more like a remote oceanic island with no or few native animals that would be harmed by this kind of invasive species control. Would not be practical(or legal) elsewhere(including Ireland) as the risk of harming native protected species or pets would be too high.