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Post by trappnman on Nov 22, 2004 9:46:14 GMT -6
Many recommend releasing say female fox or female cats.
Does this really work? By releasing a few females back in the fall- does it produce more fur the following fall?
Theroetically (sp) , if you had only 1 pair of animals, and your released them, they could conceivably reproduce and start a local population....but if the area is that fringe to have only a few- would they survive?
Doesn't population fill habitat? In others words- habitat that can substain populations- would have those populations?
With local exceptions....
Nature abhors a vacumn?
I'd like to hear your comments....
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Post by trappincoyotes39 on Nov 23, 2004 7:31:10 GMT -6
yes with cats T'man, you can over harvest them. Hit them hard in a given area and keep all cats and you will have less cats next year. It was like the deer population years ago, buck only and limited doe tags.
Cats ebb and flow with harvest impact, prey base, and the compition for that prey between,fox,coyotes,hawks,eagles and owls, and bunny hunters in some areas.
Female cats don't give birth until there 2nd year, and only have 2-3 kittens, so by hitting them hard and keeping a large % of females you loose some age classess of cats. The toms are roamers, the females stay in an area that provides all they need, so you can get some dispersal of male cats, but the females being more home bodys can be hit hard in a local area.
Depending on diseases, and mortality you could have a 1-1 trade out ,1 breeding female caught and replaced by one kitten, that won't produce for two years. Also male cats are canibals and will eat young cats if they happen by them, or see it as a territorial fight with young males.
Some states request teeth from caught cats to age them, and by this they can tell the makeup of the harvest m/f, young to old, and get an overall picture of population, and to a smaller degree signs of mortality in a given age class.
When the prey base is up better cat breeding and rearing when rabbit numbers decline so do the cats. They rely heavily on a good rabbit base.
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Post by trappnman on Nov 23, 2004 8:01:42 GMT -6
I do know the same is true with badgers- I have really eliminated a lot of the badger density in my local area after trapping them hard for ADC work for many summers, then the 4-8 I take each fall-
I could see this with otters also.
But canines...I just don't know.
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