"CaptCook" wrote in message
...
I have been told several times that feral cats are such a problem in
the Dakotas that they are supposed to be destroyed if some specified
distance from a building. They have caused great destruction in
Hawaii according to conservationists. There is no danger of cats
becoming endangered. And no excuse for allowing them outside. That
being said, my pet of preference is a cat.


A similar situation occurs on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. There
were no real indiginous ground based predators on the island, which forms
the breeding grounds for large numbers of seabirds many of which nest on
open rocky beaches. The introduced cat population often decimates these
colonies by killing large numbers of flightless chicks,often not even eating
them. They also occasionally attack baby turtles as they hatch on the
beaches, though this is less common (often due to people spectating).

When I lived there for a time, people were allowed to own pet cats as long
as they were spayed. Attempts to trap and humanely kill the feral population
were also undertaken, but these were IMO rather ineffective (a large number
of people were very opposed to shooting or poisoning). There was also
another problem that occured as a side affect, and involved another human
introduced species - rats. As the feral cat population reduced, the numbers
of rats increased and these also preyed on the seabirds, particularly their
eggs. AFAIK a suitable solution has not been found, and may not even be
possible.

--
Cal