Mystery animal in our midst

Mystery animal in our midst

453 words

12 August 2009

Buderim Weekly

Main

5

English

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au Copyright 2009 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved

It’s strong and clever enough to set itself free from a metal trap

The animal was incredibly strong and clever.

Buderim resident Bob Linnane knows that much for sure.

As for what type of animal it was that managed to escape from a feral cat trap which Mr Linnane set near Buderim Forest Park on Sunday night – that remains a mystery.

The animal somehow had the strength and know-how to pull the metal flap inwards on itself and crawl out of the trap.

“To only attack the door and not the rest of the cage shows us that the animal knows it came in that way, to understand that (is very clever),” Mr Linnane said.

Mr Linnane set the cat trap on the edge of his property a few weeks ago after he discovered a mauled turkey.

He said he believed the animal that escaped from the trap was a wild dog, not the infamous “Buderim Beast”– a Tasmanian Tiger-esque creature which has been sighted sporadically around Buderim in the past few years.

“People have said maybe it was a fox, but I don’t know if a fox would be able to distort the shape of the gate the way this animal did,” Mr Linnane said.

The trap was found about one metre from its original position, which indicated the animal had “thrashed around” for some time to free itself.

Mr Linnane said a wild-looking female brindle bull terrier, which appeared to have recently given birth to a litter of pups, had been spotted skulking around the area in previous weeks.

He said he was concerned the animal could pose a risk to children.

“Just to have dogs living in the bush and breeding, you never know … there’s a lot of schools not far away from here,” Mr Linnane said.

Nearby resident Deb Wagner said she was concerned by the damage she had seen done to the trap.

“Some of our family members are chooks and something that can pull a trap open like that could make mince meat of them,” Ms Wagner said. “If it was powerful enough to pull a trap about like that I hate to think what it could do to wildlife, pets or people.”

Ms Wagner, like Mr Linnane, said it was clear the animal was clever.

“It must be a fairly smart animal because it didn’t try to destroy the trap, it just attacked the gate,” she said.

“It’s a bit of a concern because we’re right on the edge of suburbia – who knows what’s wandering around?”