Feral Cat Kills Night Parrot.

A while ago I sat on a water hole in the evening in the area mentioned and while sitting quietly had the feeling I was being watched, I soon realized I was not the only one that knew hundreds of birds came here to drink. Six very fat cats including a big Black Tom and his amorous Tabby girl friend were there for only one reason. There were very few birds coming in to drink compared to the year before. But the thing that amazed me was the height they could leap into the air and pull down the birds with one paw outstretched well over two mts for the big Tom. There were no Spinifex Pigeons or any other ground birds to be found in the district and the little “Tat Ta” Lizard had also disappeared. Bluetongue Lizards, Skinks, Dunnarts, many other marsupials and birds have disappeared and while at ” Lawn Hill ” there was an old man Emu with one chick near the Administration Office and when I asked why only one I was told the cats had killed the rest. Another skinny cat arrived with a cardboard tube stuck over its head which didn’t allow it to turn its head and it just wandered around the edge of the water hole. The local shire at Cloncurry Richmond etc were paying a bounty of $10 for every tail produced but the weight of numbers brought the amount paid down to $ 5 and I’m not sure if it is still going. Some of the roo shooters were bringing in hundreds a night, one station owner shot over 450 in two days. The reason for the explosion of cats was brought on with the Native Rat plague that spread North and West after the good season following Cyclone ” Yasi ” cats followed and bred in the millions and when the rat plague died out the cats were left starving and turned to alternative food . The same thing happened to the Owls that died in the hundreds from starvatioin. It was nothing to see half a dozen dead cats and many more live ones on each of the road kills mixed with Eagles and Kites. Local State Member Rob Katter has been lobbying for a $15 bounty for a long time. Barney enders.