Back in March, we brought you news of mankind’s triumph over the rodent denizens of Rat Island, Alaska. Now comes word that many thousands of miles to the south, a veritable Cat Island (aka Wake Atoll) has been similarly scourged of its furry invaders (PDF):
At the end of the second week in July, we had completed 343 trap nights, caught 37 cats and shot 39 for a total of 76. By the end of the first month, 104 cats had been removed. In the fifth week, we resumed trapping but cats were wary. Nevertheless, previously unknown cats were discovered and lured into live traps. By the end of the sixth week, 120 cats had been removed. We finished the first phase knowing that about 20 cats remained.
And what happened to those 20 survivors? Read the rest—though probably not if you’re a cat lover. Suffice to say that a contraption dubbed the “hard jaw” is involved.
Jordan // Sep 29, 2009 at 10:29 am
I may like cats, but almost any plant or animal will become a scourge if released in a place where it has no direct competition.
Some years ago, the Canadian geese population in Seattle had grown so prolifically and become so sedentary that the city rounded many of them up and gassed them. The howls from the animal rights lobby were loud, but I haven’t met too many people who were sad to see the geese go.