Last Chance Ranch / Yvonne Reese

08/19/2026

Northeast of our lower ranch now, in Dehesa..

08/19/2026

Wow, just Wow. " Feline grooming trap" puts poisons on Cats fur...

AI robots are being used to kill feral cats. The devices, called Felixer grooming traps, use cameras, AI and sensors to identify feral cats and foxes, then spray a toxic gel onto their fur. When the animal grooms itself, it ingests the poison. The entire idea is to target invasive predators while avoiding native wildlife in Australia.

In Australia, Feral cats are estimated to kill more than 1.5 billion native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs every year, and they threaten more than 200 nationally threatened species. Cats have also contributed to the extinction of more than 20 Australian mammal species. This isn’t only an Australian problem either: researchers estimate free-ranging cats kill roughly 1.3 to 4 billion birds every year in the United States.

A lot of people get mad about Australia killing feral cats, and I understand why people have an emotional reaction to it. But I still haven’t had anyone explain to me why we shouldn’t remove an invasive predator that is killing billions of native animals and helping push species toward extinction. At some point, wildlife conservation requires making some uncomfortable decisions.

— Stephen Ziegler
Outdoor writer | Rack Junkies Podcast