Have you always thought that cats are infallible predators of mice? According to science you have to change your mind because although felines try in every way to hunt rats, their aim is not so fruitful.
Have you always thought that cats are infallible predators of mice? According to science you have to change your mind because although felines try in every way to hunt rats, their aim is not so fruitful.
Just search the internet for 'remedies to get rid of mice' and the word cat always comes up. A relationship that has always lived on clichés and is often used par excellence when describing a warlike relationship between two people. Without forgetting the dispute in cartoons.
Yet perhaps this is not the case. A study led by Fordham University in the US and published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution explains that cats prefer smaller prey such as birds and other fauna, which would make them potentially dangerous for the preservation of urban ecosystems.
The researchers conducted an experiment in a New York City waste recycling center where many stray cats and as many mice that have been micro-chipped live. The goal is to observe the behavior of these animals.
“We were interested in seeing the effect of the presence of cats on mice and their movements,” he explains Michael H. Parsons, at the head of the study.
In total, 306 videos shot in 79 days were examined. And here is what emerged: of the hundred cats, only three were particularly active in hunting and there were only 20 attempts and there were two dead mice in all.
From the images you can see that rodents are very skilled in avoiding felines for survival instinct.
"We are not saying that cats will not be able to prey on mice, but only that there must be favorable conditions for this to happen, that is, the cat must be really hungry and have no other food alternatives," he points out. Michael A German, co-author of the study.
All this therefore would cast doubt on the validity of the experiment that has been carried out for some years in New York, namely that of releasing in some areas, cats to hunt mice.
The researchers will continue to collect data, but it seems to us that for now it is 1 to zero for mice.
Read also:
- Mice and cats friends: who said you can't? 4 viral videos of interspecies friendship
Dominella Trunfio
