07-28-2017, 12:38 PM
"something has been limiting the population"
There are a number of diseases, parasites, and now LFA that serve this purpose. Theoretically, this island's ecosystem should have been fairly well decimated by feral rabbits, but there are parasites here that keeps their numbers in check. The same logic can be applied to other mammals. We recently have seen a cat around that is blind or nearly completely blind from what looks like LFA stings. She is the only cat that has shown up that hasn't stalked our chicks, probably because she can't. And we have noticed less cats around in general, but that could be because of 2+ years of our rodent control measures. Having livestock, we have to monitor parasite loads closely. East Hawaii has no winters or droughts that break the parasite life cycle that much of the rest of the world enjoys. Cats are rugged creatures for sure, but they aren't immune to everything.
There are a number of diseases, parasites, and now LFA that serve this purpose. Theoretically, this island's ecosystem should have been fairly well decimated by feral rabbits, but there are parasites here that keeps their numbers in check. The same logic can be applied to other mammals. We recently have seen a cat around that is blind or nearly completely blind from what looks like LFA stings. She is the only cat that has shown up that hasn't stalked our chicks, probably because she can't. And we have noticed less cats around in general, but that could be because of 2+ years of our rodent control measures. Having livestock, we have to monitor parasite loads closely. East Hawaii has no winters or droughts that break the parasite life cycle that much of the rest of the world enjoys. Cats are rugged creatures for sure, but they aren't immune to everything.