2021 Red Card Events:
2021 saw the Yarra Yarra Catchment Management Group host another pair of successful Red Card Event weekends, and declared two more Feral Pest Champions on our Feral Pest Championship Trophy!
The Red Card Events are a community based feral pest management program operating across Western Australia’s Agricultural Regions, working together for maximum impact for the control of feral foxes, rabbits and cats across the state.
The Red Card for Foxes and Rabbits events are organised by the Wheatbelt NRM and operate with funding through Western Australia’s Government State NRM Program as well as sponsorship from the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (Western Australia) and the Regional Men’s Health Initiative.
The SSAAWA donate $5 per fox or cat to support the Regional Men’s Health Initiative – so not only do these events help keep feral pest populations down, but participation also raises money towards a vital service for our community.
The YYCMG’s prize support, participation and funding is supplied through generous contributions from the Northern Agricultural Catchment Council.
The YYCMG hosted two events during 2021, which ran over two weekends, the 12-13th of Feb and the 12-13th of March. Participation could be for as little as one night, or as long as both weekends, it is up to the participant. Shoots began at sunset on the Friday and Saturday evenings, and were to conclude at midnight each night.
After each night teams tally their scores and forward the results onto the YYCMG Community Landcare Coordinator for reporting.
The YYCMG encourages everyone interested to join, if you have a gun license and permission from a landholder within the Yarra Yarra Catchment Region to shoot on their premise then you should contact the YYCMG Landcare Coordinator to sign up for our 2022 event!
Feb 2021 Red Card Event:
Our February event saw the local team SAGE take the prize for first place, earning them the title of Feb 2021 Feral Pest Champions with 370 points for the weekend.
In total over the two nights we had a combined tally of 33 foxes, 6 cats and 94 rabbits!
March 2021 Red Card Event:
Our first place team for March, earning themselves a place on the trophy, was One Hit Wonders with 535 points for the March weekend!
In total for March we tallied 13 foxes and 114 rabbits!
It is imperative to note that the culling of declared pest species (such as foxes, rabbits and cats) is a respected option for protecting overall biodiversity quality. We attempt to ensure the culling is done as quickly and humanely as possible, stipulating that minimal stress is caused to the animal. We promote the “shoot to kill” approach to our participants, which requires shooters to make only head shots from a stationary position using an adequate calibre firearm.
The YYCMG would like to extend our thanks to all the participants who attended this years Red Card Event – without you it wouldn’t have been possible, and two hundred and sixty more feral pests would be roaming our region!
We hope you will join us again for our 2022 events, which will be even bigger and better than before!
We would also like to thank Red Card for Foxes and Rabbits who are the organisers of these events, and the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council for their funding assistance.
Hope to see you next year,
Kezia Rea
Community Landcare Coordinator – Yarra Yarra Catchment Management Group Inc.
This post was prepared by the Yarra Yarra Catchment Management Group Community Landcare Coordinator – Kezia Rea.
Supported by NACC NRM and achieved through funding from the Western Australian Government’s State NRM Program.
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