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I do think the problems of the mongoose are ledgendary. Actually traveling all of the Hawaiian islands, I have personally seen more mongoose by far and unfortunately they do eat bird eggs, and not the rats.
There are feral cats, I know, as a friend in FA helps with the Advocats spay neuter and release program. That being said I have never actually seen a feral cat in Hawaii.
mella l
mella l
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bytheSEA
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There are a whole lot of feral cats over on the Kona side.
quote:
There are feral cats, I know, as a friend in FA helps with the Advocats spay neuter and release program. That being said I have never actually seen a feral cat in Hawaii.
mella l
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Your right Andrew I know, back a year ago or so there were people posting on the Konaweb about these poor abandon cats hanging out in the industrial section.
Scrawny and hungry and dirty, one way even injured, and these ladies helped them with food, vet help, and even adopted a friendly white one who turned out to be quite a devoted pet.
They got Advocats involved to help capture some and get them s/n so that the reproduction cycle was hampered with the feral populations.
I'm sure they are on the east side also, there is just more jungle to hide them from plain sight.
mella l
mella l
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bytheSEA
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There are lots and lots of feral cats in Puna. HPP has quite a few in the less developed areas, and there is a big mob of them at the entrance to the Keaau Transfer Station. Some misguided ladies feed them at transfer station, which just enables them to reproduce more effectively. While it may keep some of them from hunting native birds, feeding causes the overall population of potential hunters to go way up, IMHO. This is less than a mile from the Humane Society.
Aloha,
Jerry
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I'm with you Jerry.
While I am sympathetic to (responsible) people who have cats as pets I am sort of upset with all of the wild cats that are loose on the island. I am a HUGE fan of Hawaii's native bird population (my pride and joy are the little native Amakihi that feed in my yard). I love those critters and every time I see one I feel a thrill.
I am somewhat upset (understated) with people who don't care for their pet felines and who turn them loose to run wild and multiply on the island resulting in havoc among Hawaii's Rare native species.
My personal feeling about the people who feed the wild cats is that they are very misguided and that they are enablers of a very bad (out of control) situation.
quote:
There are lots and lots of feral cats in Puna. HPP has quite a few in the less developed areas, and there is a big mob of them at the entrance to the Keaau Transfer Station. Some misguided ladies feed them at transfer station, which just enables them to reproduce more effectively. While it may keep some of them from hunting native birds, feeding causes the overall population of potential hunters to go way up, IMHO. This is less than a mile from the Humane Society.
Aloha,
Jerry
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Bystander & Buzz, the endangered species problem in Hawaii is not just from feral cats. An excellant resource book on the ecology of the Hawaiian Islands is "Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology and Evolution" Alan Ziegler, University of Hawaii Press 2002. Hawaiian species have the highest threatened status of any state. Most of the problems stem from the fact that many of species adapted to life with no large predators, and few diseases prelavant on the islands. When humans first made contact with the islands, there had already been species that were threaten, and some had gone extinct. As we brought more animals & diseases and competive plants, more species have become endangered and extinct. Although feral cats are a problem g with ground nesting bird species, so are rats, mongoose, pigs, goats, feral dogs, cattle, and the most virulent - the mosquito, which, with avian pox & malaria, has placed many more birds in danger of extinction.
A domestic cat that is spayed/neutered & stays indoors is not too much of a threat to the species of Hawaii.
Aloha, Carey
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I would be interested in the ladies that feed the feral cats at the Transfer Station. I don't know for sure but suspect they are in the spay, neuter, release program.
The idea is to catch feral cats, remove their reproductive capabilities, release them back to their area and feed them until the end of their life cycle. It is an attempt and better than spitting into the wind.
So Jerry if you think of it the next time your're at the transfer station and if you see the ladies feeding, as if they are s/n cats. Just curious.
In Fern Acres last trip over it was September and we saw Amakihi, and Honey Creepers, they are so beautiful and we were told it was the time of the year that they were migrating down slope. Neat. Aloha, Mella
mella l
mella l
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bytheSEA
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You make a worthy point, Mella, and I will ask about S/N if I see anyone feeding at the transfer station again. I can also ask the folks at the recycle center there what they know about the cat situation, which may be easier than catching one of the feeders there when I make my visits. I suspect that even if the feeders are involved in S/N, there are also some non-neutered strays coming in from the nearby agricultural lands, taking advantage of the free food.
On a humorous note, there are also a large number of feral chickens hanging out there who seem to peacefully get along with the cats. They must eat the left-over cat food, LOL.
Aloha,
Jerry
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quote:
I would be interested in the ladies that feed the feral cats at the Transfer Station. I don't know for sure but suspect they are in the spay, neuter, release program.
The idea is to catch feral cats, remove their reproductive capabilities, release them back to their area and feed them until the end of their life cycle. It is an attempt and better than spitting into the wind.
So Jerry if you think of it the next time your're at the transfer station and if you see the ladies feeding, as if they are s/n cats. Just curious.
In Fern Acres last trip over it was September and we saw Amakihi, and Honey Creepers, they are so beautiful and we were told it was the time of the year that they were migrating down slope. Neat. Aloha, Mella
mella l
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In answer to your question Mella, Yes they are in the spay, neuter, release program. The Human Society had a problem with this they wanted to kill the cats. The vet in Keaau does the operation and takes care of the cats for a small fee. The population should be getting smaller but people are bringing cats to them instead of the HS for fear of having them put down. IT is a real problem. People need to have their pets fixed but the expense is high and people are ignorant. If they could get them fixed for free the problem would go down alot, but there are still people out there that don't want to "fix" their pets until they have a litter which is silly.
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