Australia's pussy willow grows dead feral cats

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> > Australia's " pussy willow " grows dead feral cats > >

By Michael Perry >

> SYDNEY, July 11 (Reuters) -

Seventeen dead feral cats

> hang by their tails

> from a tree called " pussy willow " on a dusty outback

> Australian track as a

> grim reminder that millions of wild cats are decimating

> the country's native animals. >

> The dead cats began appearing on the tree outside William Creek in a

remote

> corner of South Australia state in March. At one stage

> there were 50 feral

> cats rotting in the tree. Today 17 cat carcasses swing in

> the stinking

> breeze.

> > " Everybody in the town supports the tree. We call it

> pussy willow, " said

> store owner Peter White from William Creek, population

> 12. " There's 17 cats

> in the tree now. When they rot and drop off, or the

> eagles or dingoes take

> them away, then they will be replaced, " White told

> Reuters on Wednesday. >

> But no one in William Creek will say who is putting the > dead cats in

the

> tree, which has now become a popular tourist attraction > on the remote

> Oodnadatta Track, with some 100 cars a day stopping for a > quick, thanks

to

> the smell, photograph. White said " pussy willow " raised > awareness of

the

> feral cat problem and tourists who stop in William Creek

> are given a pamphlet > titled " Cat Facts " which details the wildcat

problem.

> " Most people don't

> know we have a feral cat problem. They think cats live in > cities. But

out

> here they are killing the wildlife, " he said. > > OVERSEAS VISITORS >

> Feral cats arrived in Australia in the 16th and 17th

> centuries via Portuguese

> and Dutch ships and Asian fishermen. Australia's feral > cat population

is

> estimated at around 15 million and wildlife experts say > many native

species

> are being threatened with extinction as a result of the > huge feral cat

> population and other introduced predators like foxes. > " Feral cats

occupy

> every piece of Australian habitat, " said World Wildlife > Fund (Australia

)

> chief executive David Butcher. >

> " They are a serious threat to native mammals, marsupials > and birds, "

said

> Butcher, but added that shooting feral cats and hanging

> them in a tree may be

> a startling way to raise awareness of the pest but was > not an effective

way

> to control feral cats. " If you shoot one cat, another > will just come

along

> and occupy that territory. Cat populations just fill the > size of the

> territory available. " >

> The feral cat can live without water for weeks, getting

> enough moisture from

> its dead prey, which makes it an ideal killer in the dry

> Australian outback. > It is a stealth predator, killing at night when

many

> outback nocturnal native

> animals emerge from their underground burrows where they > have spent the

day

> escaping the searing heat. Feral cats also carry a

> disease -- toxoplasmosis

> -- which is often fatal in marsupials such as wallabies. >

> A photograph on a wall of the William Creek Store > graphically shows the

> impact of feral cats, which can weigh up to 10 kilograms > (22 pounds).

The

> large cat has been cut open and the contents of its > stomach included 35

> different species of native animals, mainly birds and

> lizards. " The cat ate > all these animals in one day, can you imagine

what

> millions of these cats are > doing? " said White. > >