The stealthy feral tabby cat

Some may argue that the fox is our most cunning varmint and the crow the most clever, while I’d say the starling in the field is the most difficult to shoot with a centrefire rifle. Those who regularly hunt wild dogs would surely say they are the smartest. For me, even though a wild dog comes close, bagging a prowling feral cat gives me more satisfaction than any other of our pests.

When rabbits were in plague proportions before the advent of myxomatosis, large numbers of cats were released into the wild so as to reduce the bunnies’ numbers. However, this wreaked havoc on our native species, which were not