Originally posted by Pit Chick
There are ways to control ferals, but hunting them isn't the answer. There are programs dedicated to feral cat colonies by trapping, fixing, vaccinating, and releasing them back into the colony area they came from. Rodents can also be a big problem, so having feral cats around can keep that problem under control. Killing off a colony of feral cats will only pave the way for yet another colony to take it's place.
That would be extremely beneficial for the cats, but it would not do a thing for the animals that are being killed off by these invasive species. Feral cats do an insane amount of damage to songbird, duck, goose, pheasant, grouse, turkey, and other bird/small animal species. They do way more damage than natural predators that usually pray on these animals. They are throwing the numbers out of wack and are causing huge environmental issues. Something needs to be done, maybe hunting isn't the answer. Maybe trapping them humanely euthanizing (done at vet center or humane society) them would be a better option!? Rodents to not pose as large of a “threat” as feral cats- their natural predators do a fairly good job of keeping their numbers low.

The amount of feral cats in Wisconsin is amazing- they are all over the place- about 95% of them are barn cats that reproduce and leave the farms, 5% are household pets that have gotten loose. If only people would leave their cats indoors and have them fixed- this would not be an issue- sadly it is. Yes, feral cats can get rabies, but they are not the biggest carriers in the wild- raccoons are the top rabies carriers- they don’t pose as large of a threat. Oh, and just an FYI- squirrels (and other rodents) cannot carry or transmit rabies (stated in previous post).