What mammal is responsible for annually killing 38 million songbirds, four
million cottontail rabbits and 100 million small mammals in Wisconsin?
(A) Skunk (B) Fox (C) Raccoon (D) Pine Marten (E) All of the above (F) None
of the above
If you chose (F), you are correct.
Can you name the mammal? If you say "cat", step to the head of
the class.
A study on predation by cats found that old Tabby is one of the major predators
of wildlife in Wisconsin and throughout the United States. The kill estimates
result from a five-year study completed in 1994 by University of Wisconsin-Madison
graduate student John Coleman and Professor Stanley Temple.
The study's purpose was to determine the impact of "free ranging"
domestic cats on rural wildlife. A "free ranging" cat is defined
as a feline that lives in a house, barn or other structure, be is free to
roam at will.
By radio-collaring 60 free ranging cats, the UW scientists studied their
movements. The two identified what cats preyed upon by noting what they
brought back to the farm and performing scat (fecal dropping) analysis.
Mr. Coleman estimates, on average, that each cat can kill up to 200 birds
and small mammals each year. His study area in south central Wisconsin averaged
eight to nine cats per farm, with some having 35 or more. Non-farm rural
dwellings averaged four to five cats per household.
Another part of the study involved surveying households around Wisconsin
to get an idea of cat densities throughout the state. There's an estimated
1.4 to 2.0 million free ranging cats roaming rural Wisconsin resulting in
cat densities of 30 to 60 felines per square mile. In some rural areas,
this cat density is higher than all other mid-sized predators such as raccoons,
foxes and skunks combined.
Cat densities in certain southeastern Wisconsin counties can be up to 104
felines per square mile. This breaks down to one cat for every six acres.
The vast majority of cats in rural Wisconsin are at non-farm residences.
Mr. Coleman found the maximum cat density on farms was 23 per square mile,
while the maximum density for non-farm dwellings was 98 per square mile.
The intriguing personalities and behavior of cats have made them the number
one pet in America. Couple this with rural residential development and it
produces a two-fold effect.
Birds and mammals not only lose habitat to development, but they gain a
predator in the form of cats. This can act as a "double whammy"
on wildlife, notes Bruce Moss, wildlife management supervisor for the Department
of Natural Resource's 12 County Northwest District, in that the loss of
habitat forces animals to concentrate their nesting sites, making them more
vulnerable to predators.
In the wild, Mother Nature keeps everything in balance because of normal
predator-prey relationships, but that natural balance does not exist between
cats and their prey because felines are not dependent on what they catch
for survival.
"Many cat owners believe that because they keep their cat well fed
it doesn't need to kill," Moss said. "However", he added,
"research studies have shown that well fed cats kill at a rate equal
to hungry ones."
Cat predation has both a direct and indirect impact on wildlife populations,
the wildlife manager explained. The direct impact is when cats kill birds
and mammals outright. This type of predation is especially prevalent during
the nesting season with young birds still on the nest.
Also, cats have an indirect impact on wildlife by disturbing nesting sites,
sometimes resulting in nest abandonment.
Recently, wildlife biologists have been concerned about declining numbers
of ground-nesting songbirds in the Midwest such as bobolinks, dickcissels,
vesper sparrows and western meadowlarks, along with game species such as
pheasants and waterfowl.
In Wisconsin, the critical time period for grassland bird nesting activity
begins as early as March for horned larks and continues until mid-August
for grasshopper sparrows.
Even though the UW pair concentrated their research on the effects of cat
predation on Wisconsin wildlife, dogs, too, have been cited in the literature
as wildlife predators. Any attempts to reduce the impacts of cat and dog
predation on wildlife will "therefore be primarily a human management
problem," Moss said.
"As pet owners, we need to be more conscious and responsible for the
actions and whereabouts of our animals," the biologist said.
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