Some early morning pics.

Toward Tekapo Saddle


Toward the Seven Sisters


RIP An overly fat wild cat. Makes me wonder what its been eating. Should of had a look.

might have been belly full of arms n legs of feline variety.... so a timely shot. natures beauty on display ,you have captured it well.

And to 'get away' from all the bullshit 

"Melanie's having a birthday on Saturday."
"Wot ...... she had one last year !"
"So, you're gonna have to wash."

"f**k off ........ I'm going hunting."

Or sitting, or hiding .......... or just avoiding the bloody dishes 

Two questions to those of you that know wild cats.. do they all look similar through the whole of NZ, they certainly do in this part of the world, and do adopted wild cats tend to wander back to the wild more than the more domesticated varieties.

To be honest HC, havn't shoot 1 in a while, but when I was shooting around Culverden regularly yes seem to be all tabbies.
But few years later was shooting around Wamaik Gorge regularly and they were a mixed bag and were id'ed by their body condition (or lack there of) and duly dispatched.
I put it down to more people dumping their pets around the wamaik gorge and the poor domestic kittycat having no idea how to survive ??
Only problem with this conversation is we are making Gareth Morgan sound like a conservationist.

The announcement of the death of this cat on Facebook caused quite a few angry comments such as ''f**king hunters'' and this person needs to be reported to the police etc... Its rather disappointing but indicative of just how removed from reality some members of the public are , after they have relocated themselves to live in the Mackenzie Basin.

There where also quite a few comments supporting the owner for stating she had recently removed the pesky collier and bell it had on its neck, ''so it could hunt better''. WTF are these people thinking.

My reply.

For clarity: The cat was not shot by a ''hunter''. It was shot some distance from the town , about 3 km from the town boundary, during  lawful and necessary pest control work on Private Land.  Wilding cats are one of New Zealand's introduced predators and cats outside in the wild are a danger to New Zealands endangered small species such as skinks, frogs and birds. A single cat will eat or kill up to 20 native lizards in a day. No Problem. We endeavor to reduce the number of wild cats in the Mackenzie. All cats hunt. It is the bent of their nature. All cats can at times return to the wild and some stay there, as food is often plentiful. Cats that are adopted from litters of wild cats are possibly more prone to wandering and making long journeys. It is part of their genetic make up. Just as their markings are passed from generation to generation so too their strong hunt drive. I do not recommend adopting wild cats. It can end in tears. They are trapped and shot through all areas of the Mackenzie, where YOU are now living, and the pressure on wild cats will only increase as New Zealand moves toward its stated goal of being predator free by 2050.  If anyone is wanting to discuss the circumstances further txt or call me on 021......  Stephen.  RIP Daisy.

headcase wrote on Sep 12^th, 2020 at 8:48am:


Well said.
Some people have no grasp of reality, unfortunately

The owner of the cat posted a rather nice reply saying he agreed with everything I said except one should not adopt them and saying he had just had it spayed. Also recieved two rather nasty but not threatening txt messages.  They were not unexpected.. 

We could form a pussy posse trout.