Ecology and predation of free ranging farm cats

 Kitts-Morgan SE, Caires KC, Bohannon LA, Parsons EI, Hilburn KA (2015) Free-Ranging Farm Cats: Home Range Size and Predation on a Livestock Unit In Northwest Georgia. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0120513. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120513

This study’s objective was to determine seasonal and diurnal vs. nocturnal home range size, as well as predation for free-ranging farm cats at a livestock unit in Northwest Georgia. Seven adult cats were tracked with attached GPS units for up to two weeks for one spring and two summer seasons from May 2010 through August 2011. Three and five cats were tracked for up to two weeks during the fall and winter seasons, respectively. Feline scat was collected during this entire period. Cats were fed a commercial cat food daily. There was no seasonal effect (P > 0.05) on overall (95% KDE and 90% KDE) or core home range size (50% KDE). Male cats tended (P = 0.08) to have larger diurnal and nocturnal core home ranges (1.09 ha) compared to female cats (0.64 ha). Reproductively intact cats (n = 2) had larger (P < 0.0001) diurnal and nocturnal home ranges as compared to altered cats. Feline scat processing separated scat into prey parts, and of the 210 feline scats collected during the study, 75.24% contained hair. Of these 158 scat samples, 86 contained non-cat hair and 72 contained only cat hair. Other prey components included fragments of bone in 21.43% of scat and teeth in 12.86% of scat. Teeth were used to identify mammalian prey hunted by these cats, of which the Hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) was the primary rodent. Other targeted mammals were Peromyscus sp., Sylvilagus sp. and Microtus sp. Invertebrates and birds were less important as prey, but all mammalian prey identified in this study consisted of native animals. While the free-ranging farm cats in this study did not adjust their home range seasonally, sex and reproductive status did increase diurnal and nocturnal home range size. Ultimately, larger home ranges of free-ranging cats could negatively impact native wildlife.

Activity and exploration range of house cats in rural areas of central Poland

Goszczynski, J., Krauze, D., and Gryz, J. (2009). Activity and exploration range of house cats in rural areas of central Poland. Folia Zoologica 58, 363–371.  

Domestic cats are the most numerous predators in Poland. They are commonly kept at farms but hardly controlled, so penetrate freely wide range of habitats. The work aimed at determining the range of greatest impact of cats by identifying patterns of their activity and area searching, over daily, monthly and annual cycles. The density index, estimated from transect counts, performed along standard routes, proved to be dependent on temperature, precipitation and time of the day. In spring and summer, cats presented a two-peaked activity pattern, while in cold seasons it was more stable throughout the day. In warm months cats were registered at a further distance from the buildings than in colder ones. The animals were much less active when rain was falling. Cats’ responses on noticing an observer showed that the further they were from the edges of settlements the more timid and cautious they became. The results showed that the potential pressure that cats may exert on their prey is the biggest around dawn and dusk and in summer. During a daytime it is confined to the immediate vicinity of build-up areas.

Exurban development brings cats and dogs and changes bird communities

Maestas, J. D., Knight, R. L., & Gilgert, W. C. (2003). Biodiversity across a Rural Land‐Use Gradient. Conservation Biology, 17(5), 1425-1434.

Private lands in the American West are undergoing a land-use conversion from agriculture to exurban development, although little is known about the ecological consequences of this change. Some nongovernmental organizations are working with ranchers to keep their lands out of development and in ranching, ostensibly because they believe biodiversity is better protected on ranches than on exurban developments. However, there are several assumptions underlying this approach that have not been tested. To better inform conservation efforts, we compared avian, mesopredator, and plant communities across the gradient of intensifying human uses from nature reserves to cattle ranches to exurban developments. We conducted surveys at randomly selected points on each type of land use in one Colorado watershed between May and August of 2000 and 2001. Seven bird species, characterized as human commensals or tree nesters, reached higher densities (all p < 0.02) on exurban developments than on either ranches or reserves. Six bird species, characterized as ground and shrub nesters, reached greater densities (all p < 0.015) on ranches, reserves, or both of these types of land use than on exurban developments. Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and house cats (Felis catus) were encountered almost exclusively on exurban developments, whereas coyotes (Canis latrans) were detected more frequently (p = 0.047) on ranchlands than exurban developments. Ranches had plant communities with higher native species richness and lower non-native species richness and cover than did the other types of land use (all p < 0.10). Our results support the notion that ranches are important for protecting biodiversity and suggest that future conservation efforts may require less reliance on reserves and a greater focus on private lands.

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Los terrenos privados del oeste de América están experimentando una conversión del suelo de un uso agrícola a un uso urbano, aunque se conoce poco acerca de las consecuencias ecológicas de este cambio. Algunas organizaciones no gubernamentales están trabajando con granjeros para que sus tierras permanezcan sin urbanizar, ostensiblemente porque piensan que la biodiversidad se protege mejor en tierras rurales que en urbanizaciones. Sin embargo, hay varios supuestos subyacentes a este modelo que no han sido comprobadas. Para informarnos mejor sobre los esfuerzos de conservación, comparamos comunidades de aves, mesodepredadores y plantas a lo largo del gradiente de intensidad de uso humano de reservas naturales, granjas y zonas de urbanización. Realizamos muestreos en sitios seleccionados aleatoriamente en cada uso de suelo en una cuenca del Colorado entre mayo y agosto de 2000 y 2001. Siete especies de aves, caracterizadas como comensales humanos o nidificantes arbóreos, alcanzaron densidades más altas (todas p < 0.02) en urbanizaciones nuevas que en granjas o reservas. Seis especies de aves, caracterizadas como nidificantes de suelo y arbustos, alcanzaron densidades mayores (todas p < 0.015) en granjas, reservas o usos mixtos del suelo que en las nuevas urbanizaciones. Se encontraron perros (Canis familiaris) y gatos (Felis catus) domésticos casi exclusivamente en nuevas urbanizaciones, mientras que se detectaron coyotes (Canis latrans) más frecuentemente (p = 0.047) en granjas que en nuevas urbanizaciones. Las granjas tenían comunidades de plantas con mayor riqueza de especies nativas y menor riqueza y cobertura de especies no nativas que en todos los demás usos de suelo (todas p < 0.10). Nuestros resultados apoyan la noción de que las granjas son importantes para la protección de la biodiversidad y sugieren que los futuros esfuerzos de conservación pueden requerir de menos confianza en las reservas y un mayor enfoque en terrenos privados.

Farm cat ecology in Australia

Barratt, D. G. (1997). Home range size, habitat utilisation and movement patterns of suburban and farm cats Felis catus. Ecography, 20(3), 271-280.

The movements of 10 house cats (4 desexed females, 5 desexed males and 1 intact male) living on the edge of a suburb adjoining grassland and forest/woodland habitat, and a neighbouring colony of seven farm cats, were examined using radio-telemetry over nine months. Nocturnal home range areas of the suburban cats varied between 0,02 and 27,93 ha (mean 7,89 ha), and were larger than diurnal home range areas (range 0,02 to 17 19 ha – mean 2 73 ha) Nocturnal home range areas of cats from the farm cat colony varied between 1,38 and 4,46 ha (mean 2,54 ha), and were also larger than diurnal home range areas (range 0,77 to 3,70 ha – mean 1,70 ha) Home ranges of cats in the farm cat colony overlapped extensively, as did those of cats living at the same suburban residence There was no overlap of home ranges of female cats from different residences, and little overlap between males and females from different residences Four of the suburban house cats moved between 390 m and 900 m into habitat adjoining the suburb Polygons describing the home ranges of these animals were strongly spatially biased away from the suburban environment, though the cats spent the majority of their time within the bounds of the suburb Movements further than 100–200 m beyond the suburb edge were always made at night There is evidence that home range sizes and spatial movement patterns of house cats are largely determined by a) the density and spatial distribution of cats utilising separate food resources, b) the personality and social dominance of individual cats, c) the location of favoured hunting and resting/sunning sites, and, d) barriers such as busy roads