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Weed out the lily and deal with the feral cats

Formosan lily Liliam Formosanum is a weed of the invasive breed that spreads by seed and bulb.  Don’t spread it by flicking the seed laiden pod. If anything, dead head it while still flowering and before seed set.  Photo: Supplied.

Need to weed out the Formosan lily

REMEMBER THE TELEVISION show The Avengers? Broadcast back in the 60s and 70s it was watched by millions.  If it was to be screened today it would be shared on social media and Diana Rigg would most probably be an even bigger star.

Well, every year this perennial weed – the Formosan lily – that many label as pretty, comes back with a vengance. Every year we lament the number of people who are besotted by its charms, who don’t understand they are condoning one of the most horrid of many introduced plants (garden escapees) that continues to colonise many parts of Munibung Hill – from north to south. It is not to be confused with The Swamp Lily (Crinum pedunculatum).

We need more avengers, more John Steeds and Diana Riggs, to spread the story, not the seed…that this plant is a weed we don’t need. Steeds and Riggs who are willing to lend a hand to those wonderful volunteers who are doing their utmost to weed out the weed.  Find out more, click on the links below.

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This Plan needs teeth to tackle feral cats head on
Roaming domestic cats are also identified as requiring much stricter management and harmonised control meaures.

MHCS HAS JOINED with other organisations and concerned citizens around Australia in an effort to maximise our voices in support of getting the upper hand when it comes to drastically reducing the number of feral cats attacking and killing native animals.

The Invasive Species Council in association with the Biodiversity Council issued a guideline for the preparation of submissions. The key points are:

  1. Call on the Federal Government to urgently implement the plan to help protect native wildlife from feral cats and prevent any more cat-driven extinctions. Ask the Federal Government to commit at least $88 million from the next Federal budget to cover the baseline costs of implementing the plan.
  2. Request the Federal Government establish an additional funding pool to support Indigenous-led management of feral cats.
  3. Encourage the Federal Government to embrace a leadership role on responsible ownership of pet cats. Although the primary purpose of the plan is to address feral cat impacts, roaming pet cats also have a significant impact on wildlife.
  4. Emphasise that the Federal Government needs to maintain support for lethal control programs for feral cats by improving the use of tools that achieve better animal welfare outcomes (i.e. achieve the objectives of significant reduction in cat impacts through application of control methods that cause the least pain and suffering).
  5. Emphasise the importance of research to address knowledge gaps that limit the development and implementation of optimal conservation strategies.

The MHCS submission had a particular emphasis on roaming domestic cats, because of the impact they have on a landscape – like Munibung Hill – that is locked within a suburban area, with no escape route for the native wildlife that live on Konakonaba.

We have urged the Federal government to harmonise laws across Australia so that all State and Local government authorities are able to mandate 24/7 containment for domestic cats.  As reported in previous issues of MMM (see Issue 41) we are one of many organisations advocating for stricter domestic cat control guidelines.

It is our position, that the owners of domestic cats shouldn’t wait for a law, but take the initiative, keep their cats indoors day and night, and build outdoor enclosures if they don’t want their cats to be in the house all the time. Having done this, be an advocate for Australia’s native animals by encouraging their fellow cat owners to follow their example.

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If looks could kill, then this cat is in hunting mode on the look out for some innocent unsuspecting native animal. Photo: supplied

Pets for people, but pests for native wildlife
Every day we continue to allow pet cat owners to let their cats roam free outside their house, we are condoning the killing of thousands of native animals.

Jan Bowman, in: Cats and the Ongoing Battle for Australia’s Biodiversity.
(Westender, Nov 2, 2023) reports that …

It’s not fresh news that cats are a significant problem for wildlife in Australia. We have known this for a very long time, but the problem is growing.

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One more. One too many native birds killed by a roaming domestic cat.  Photo: Supplied

It’s not the cat’s fault
If the cat wasn’t allowed to freely roam, it wouldn’t be killing native animals.

WE’VE BEEN REPORTING on the roaming domestic cat problem for years. Just when we think we’ve exhausted all the sources for stories to bring to our readers, we come across another one.  It doesn’t have to be this way.

Until we have a change of behaviour from cat owners; until we have a change in the narrative that says my cat doesn’t kill, to one of recognition that cats are born killers – and to not keep them indoors is to give them permission to do what they naturally do as a matter of instinct – then we will keep publishing stories about the harm done by roaming domestic cats.

Herding cats: councils’ efforts to protect wildlife from roaming pets are hampered by state laws, by Professor Sarah Legge and colleagues, The Conversation, February 21, 2023

As the estimated number of pet cats in Australia passes 5 million, people are increasingly aware of the damage cats do to wildlife.

One-third of owners already keep their cats securely contained 24 hours a day. This has major benefits for cat welfare and prevents cats killing and disturbing wildlife. But that leaves the other 3.5 million or so pet cats free to roam for at least part of the day or night.  Read the full story at the link below …

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We need to talk about …. CATS
by Jan Bowman, Westender, Oct 31, 2019

Just like the parents of Kevin in the well-known novel and movie, cat owners often find it difficult to accept that their pet cat is, well, let’s face it, a serial killer.

According to a recent CSIRO publication, Cats in Australia: Companion and Killer[1], it’s not just feral cats[2] that create a problem for our wildlife – our pet cats are wholesale killers and we need to not just talk about it, we need to act.

“Cats are predators and have an innate instinct to hunt. Hunting is simply part of a natural behaviour and cannot readily be changed. Cats will hunt even if not hungry (Kitts-Morgan 2015).”[3]

The authors of ‘Cats in Australia’ estimate that there are approximately 15 pet cats per 100 people in Australia – a total of approximately 3.88 million pet cats. Based on these numbers the authors estimate that the total Australian pet cat population kills 180 million mammals, 61 million birds and 53 million reptiles each year.
https://westender.com.au/we-need-to-talk-about-cats/

MMM Issue 42, February-March 2024