Trialling a new method to attract feral cats (Felis catus) in situ – the Mata Hari Judas queen

Abby L. Dennien; Megan C. Edwards; Julia M. Hoy; Vere Nicolson; Megan J. Brady; Peter J. Murray

doi:10.1071/WR23128

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Contents Vol 51(4)

Trialling a new method to attract feral cats (Felis catus) in situ – the Mata Hari Judas queen

Abby L. Dennien ^A ^B , Megan C. Edwards

^A ^* , Julia M. Hoy ^B ^C , Vere Nicolson ^B , Megan J. Brady ^B and Peter J. Murray

^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, University of Southern Queensland, 487-535 West Street, Darling Heights, Qld 4350, Australia.

^B Hidden Vale Research Station, 617 Grandchester Mount Mort Road, Grandchester, Qld 4340, Australia.

^C School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: meg.edwards@unisq.edu.au

Handling Editor: Penny Fisher

Wildlife Research 51, WR23128 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR23128

Submitted: 4 October 2023 Accepted: 30 March 2024 Published: 16 April 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Feral cats are a significant threat to wildlife in Australia and globally. Current feral cat management techniques have limitations that can result in wary, remnant individuals persisting in the landscape and reducing overall pest control efficacy, thus there is a need for additional innovative management techniques.

Aims

This research aimed to identify whether the Mata Hari Judas technique could be applied to female cats (queens) in situ as a means of attracting and assisting the capture of feral cats.

Methods

Three queens were induced into prolonged oestrus and contained in enclosures (vennels) in situ with traps attached to capture attracted feral cats. Two vennel treatments were trialled, one housing a Mata Hari Judas queen (queen vennel) and another using auditory and olfactory lures from a Mata Hari Judas queen (faux queen vennel) to compare the attractiveness of the two treatments at three study sites. Camera traps and soil plots were used to monitor and compare cat activity surrounding the vennels prior to, during and after the presence of a Mata Hari Judas queen or her lures.

Key results

Both vennel treatments attracted multiple feral cats of both sexes, and each trapped one male cat, demonstrating proof of concept for this technique. The queen vennel was significantly more attractive than the faux queen vennel, as demonstrated by higher frequency of cat detections and the duration of time feral cats spent at this vennel. Comparisons between monitoring periods and when the vennels were active showed significant differences in the frequency of cats attracted to the area, further supporting that both the queen and her lures were attractive to cats.

Conclusions

This research is the first instance where Mata Hari Judas queens have been successfully used in situ to attract and capture feral cats. Future studies should aim to assess this technique in a controlled area with a known cat population to allow for a direct comparison of efficacy with more traditional feral cat management methods.

Implications

With further refinement, the use of Mata Hari Judas queens in situ could provide an efficient technique for removing remnant cats.

Keywords: animal behaviour, animal reproduction, Felis catus, feral cat management, invasive species, Mata Hari Judas queen, Pest management, predator control, wildlife conservation.

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