They are very tasty so poor you. I have two in my freezer at the moment, I can sense a rabbit casserole coming on.

Oh dear! (Blocking Flopsy's ears quick)

I like a good rabbit stew. Cannibalism I know but do I feel guilty? No chance.

I have just finished eating and it was delicious, I will have the remainder tomorrow.

Seriously? Camels? I can imagine feral camels would create quite a problem.

I am sure they do. There are more wild camels there than anywhere else in the world.They were imported into Australia in the 1800's for transport. Then when cars arrived they were released into the wild. Apparently they cause damage to crops and drink a lot of water which is scarce in desert areas. Big problem. I suppose there is a limit to how many camel rides you can sell to the tourists.

True! They are confined to the middle of Australia, which is mostly desert, so it would be highly improbable to see a herd charging through the streets of Sydney. They cause a lot of damage to the vegetation, because they eat almost any plant they can find, and in the inland, there are not that many plants!

Camels were imported from the Middle East when Australia was being explored in the 19th century. With the arrival of motor vehicles, their usefulness was past, and they were let run wild. There are probably a million or so out there. In the Northern Territory and the top part of Western Australia, camel races are popular.

Snap Greg!

I bet they don't have any feral camels in HK, either!

Nope.(could solve the transport probs) Lots of monkeys though.

I can't imagine how you could eat those fluffy, nose wiggling bunnies. Don't you remember Thumper in Disney's "Bambi"? Just think about a bunny hopping by with a fluffy tail the next time you stick your fork in one. And think of sweet little Thumper, all fluff, softness and cute.

Then think of the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog and eat it before it eats you!

We saw a lot of feral camels when we toured the Northern Territory in 2010 - mostly on the journey from Ayer's Rock (or Uluru to the PC brigade) to Kings Canyon to Alice Springs. I believe that there are culling programmes which result in the meat being processed and exported to Saudi Arabia.

Getting back to the original topic, I don't put my cats on a leash because I don't talk them for walks. However, they are confined to the house and a "cattery" that we built onto the house. It's like a large walk-in aviary which runs down one side of the house. If they wish to go outside, they go into their cattery which they access from the laundry. It contains cat toys and things for them to climb on such as logs and platforms. Keeps them safe, keeps the local wildlife safe and keeps the neighbours happy.

Oh Mother Goose - I would have loved to have had such a thing for my cat! We considered making our balcony into a little one, but by that time, our cat was so old he didn't seem to care about anything besides laying in the sunbeams.

For years the land next door to us lay vacant. Then a young couple built a house on it and moved in with their young and aggressive cat. In almost every respect they were great neighbours, however, their cat kept coming into our yard and attacking my two cats, who were very old (17) and, like your cat, did nothing other than lay around sunning themselves.

Unfortunately, when I approached the young lady about trying to keep her cat out of our yard, she refused to accept that her cat was wandering and insisted that our cats were entering her house - which I knew to be untrue. I really did not want a bad relationship with my neighbour, so I thought the cattery was the best solution to the problem. In the six months prior to building the cattery, I spent about $1500 in vet bills for abscesses caused by her cat attacking my cats. The cattery cost me slightly less than that and I have never had a vet bill for abscesses since. I think the cattery has probably paid for itself in that regard.

Hi Mother Goose:

What a terrific idea. It sounds like a good solution for dogs too.

Until last Easter we had a dog. Unfortunately we lost him to cancer. He was a lovely dog and very friendly as long as we were around. But if you tried to enter our yard when we weren't home, he got very protective. For this reason, there were occasions when there were people coming to the house when we weren't there, e.g. tradespeople, and we would have to do something with him to ensure their safety. The cattery came in handy for housing him on a temporary basis!

Oh no! Is that your big dog that I met the day I met you MG? He was beautiful, so gentle and placid. That's sad that he's now gone

Yes, it was the same dog.

Same as MotherGoose......we have an outside Cattery for our 4 elderly cats. Our eldest is 20 years old, then one at 16, one at 15 and "the lad" at 11..............too many people in this locality have lost their pets thanks to speeding motorists. It is supposed to be a 30mph zone.........very few, if any, stick to it and a policeman comes under "urban myth" as I can't recall the last time I saw one around here.
So "Boy Racers" use our road a a short cut and a Formula 1 track unchecked.

We don't have to worry about speeding motorists, but the small outdoor pets have to be on the alert for coyotes and large hawks. The coyotes, especially, have become a problem since people keep encroaching on their habitat.

People don't encroach on coyotes; coyotes encroach on people.

I used to walk my cat on a leash. But when I moved more into the downtown area, I haven't let him outside because he developed deep anxiety about the cars, the stairs and elevator. Sad in a way but it's a busy town and he doesn't belong out there.

I live in a rural area, with a neutered male cat. He was a happy indoor cat till we got invaded by aggressive toms. By the time we had trapped and delivered 42 feral cats to the RSPCA, Leo had developed deep neurosis. The only way I could stop him spraying and clawing everything in sight was to let him outside so he could mark his territory twice a night. Fortunately he's too old and clumsy to do much damage to the native wildlife, and he's normally back inside within a couple of minutes.