An Aussie gardener has shared a simple yet ingenious method to keep neighbouring cats away from native birds currently nesting on her property, highlighting a growing concern for many residents in suburbs around the country. And it’s an issue that sparked debate in one state’s parliament this week.
Taking to social media, the woman shared how wrapping a tree in aluminium foil helped allow her to prevent cats from climbing up and disturbing or killing the young birds.
“For the past three years a pair of Eastern Rosellas have used our nesting box in our front garden,” she said. “They have recently raised six chicks, [but] one morning we opened the curtains to see a big wandering, neighbourhood cat up the tree in the box.”
Cats dislike the texture and feel of foil under their paws. Source: Facebook
Why do cats hate aluminium foil?
Online, the South Australian woman explained she went searching on the internet for a solution to ward off the cat, and landed on the eye-catching “deterrent”. Pictures show much of the tree wrapped with foil, particularly around the base, which experts say acts as a shiny deterrent.
“It worked!” the woman exclaimed, revealing the issue appeared to have subsided after making the move.
It’s believed cats dislike the texture and feel of the material under their paws, with the animals known for their sensitivities toward unusual surfaces.
The smooth, slippery foil also makes it difficult for them to climb and the reflective and crinkling properties of foil tends to startle felines, making this technique an effective and non-harmful way to protect trees and birds from intrusions.
In a local bird group on Facebook, other Aussies praised the woman for her clever work at keeping the young birds safe. “What a fantastic idea! I’ve seen videos of cats versus al-foil on counter tops — I never thought about using it in this scenario,” a woman said.
Environmental damage from cats and feral felines in the spotlight
But it’s not just domestic cats that can force such imaginative garden security measures. In Australia, it’s believed there are between one and five million feral cats across the country, which wreak often irreversible damage on native wildlife populations.
The aluminium foil tactic comes as wildlife authorities around the country ramp up efforts to reduce the devastating impacts cats have on local ecosystems, with a national action plan to tackle the problem now formally underway.
Feral and escaped domestic cats kill an estimated two billion animals every year in Australia. Source: NT Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Speaking to Yahoo News this week, Jack Gough from the Invasive Species Council of Australia said a “cultural shift” is needed across the country to help overcome the impact of cats, which cause the deaths of millions of birds, lizards and mammals.
He said because most cats don’t routinely bring their kills home or have a big appetite, many pet owners falsely believe their purring pet doesn’t have a secret life where it’s maiming and killing wildlife, making stricter controls a controversial topic.
But researchers estimate the average pet cat kills 110 native animals each year, roughly 320 million across Australia, and that doesn’t even include frogs or insects.
After fronting the NSW parliamentary inquiry into the management of cat populations on Monday, Gough said the state should look to neighbouring Victoria where a bold solution appears to be helping to fix the problem. Laws there have enabled regional governments like Bass Coast Council to legislate 24-hour cat containment to “protect the region’s significant native wildlife from death and disease”.
The ACT has introduced similar legislation, forcing cat owners to keep them contained.
“There’s really effective legislation that’s empowering local government to take action on the issue of roaming pet cats… We want rules that can be owned and implemented by local communities,” Gough argued.
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