The natural preditors in the gulf range have been thinned out to the point of extinction, I’m guessing here from the red wolf and puma. Preditors are critical to the health of a prey species. They kill the sick and the weak leaving the stronger animals to breed. If wolves, coyotes or pumas were wandering around down there, they would eat up the feral cats in no time so I’m guessing that these cats are taking the place of the natural preditors and need to be there.
And btw, our couch potato cat Bob routinely kills birds, rabbits and ground squirrels. It saves on cat food and keeps him healthy.
I haven’t heard of any wolves or pumas in the Texas Gulf Coast lately but I’ll tell you for sure that the coyotes are thick in Galveston and Brazoria Counties. There are even coyotes in the center of Houston along Buffalo Bayou. I have seen dead ones on Memorial Drive in the middle of Memorial Park and have talked to people who have seen them alive and heard them howling. People in my part of town along the bayou have lost cats and small dogs so I am sure the feral cat population is down too. Now if the coyotes would just finish off the rabbits in my back yard I could have flowers again.