Daufuskie effort shows way to control feral cats

For at least 15 years, the feral cat population on Daufuskie Island was managed by random trapping or shooting. In 2006, a group of residents recognized that the feral cat population was unsightly and caused nuisance behaviors. So the Daufuskie Island Feral Cat Project was born.

Soon after our group started implementing a trap, neuter and release program, a vocal minority spoke out against the project. They were concerned about leash laws, disease and birds, and believed culling feral cats was effective. We continued to do our work and slowly began to build a 32-member volunteer team. Cats were trapped and sterilized weekly. A small portion of them were identified as abandoned; we found homes for them. Kittens less than eight weeks old were tamed and adopted. Pregnant female cats were aborted.

In more than three years, we have humanely reduced the total managed feral cat population on Daufuskie Island by nearly 30 percent. There have been no kittens born in the colonies of cats since December 2007. We believe this reduction will be permanent and hope that in five years feral cats will be rare on Daufuskie.

The success of our project is based on community support, perseverance and the Hilton Head Humane Association. Now the proof is evident not only on paper, but also visibly in our community.

The few who initially opposed the program on Daufuskie now are on our list of references.

Laura Winholt

Daufuskie Island