Control of Feral Cats for Nature Conservation. I. Field Tests of Four Baiting Methods

Abstract

Four methods of baiting were evaluated on a radio-collared population of feral cats on Heirisson Prong, Shark Bay, Western Australia. Dried-meat baits, baiting rabbits to kill cats through secondary poisoning, a fishmeal-based bait and a bait coated in the flavour enhancer Digest were tested. All proved to be ineffective for controlling feral cats. Future research should explore baits more ‘natural’ in appearance and the effect of visual lures, and possibly bait over a larger area to increase the number of cats exposed to baits.