![Exploring the Serene Beauty of Nature: A Reflection on [YouTube video title]](https://cavemangardens.art/storage/2024/04/114803-exploring-the-serene-beauty-of-nature-a-reflection-on-youtube-video-title-360x180.jpg)
Own a cat that wanders the neighbourhood?
Ever wonder what they do when they’re not at home?
Curious about their impact on local environments, Jonathan Chu wondered as well, and then he came up with the idea of recording felines with a ‘cat-cam.’
BC SPCA rescues more than 200 cats and kittens from home
A PhD student at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Chu is hoping to learn more about the effect cats have.
Story continues below advertisement
“We brought them over as our companion animals, so we want to know if this introduced species (to North America) is having an impact on the native species,” said Chu.
“Some early work suggests that cats may be eating a lot from the environment. Past studies have indicated 100 million to 350 million birds in Canada. That’s quite a big number.”
According to one publication, cat owners reported that their pets brought home 3.5 prey items a month.
Meet Cody the cat and learn pet safety measures from the City of Calgary
Chu says previous studies have asked cat owners to list things that cats have brought home, “but it doesn’t give you the full picture, because they may be killing things that they don’t bring home to their owners.”
Breaking news from Canada and around the world
sent to your email, as it happens.
“The cameras allow us to measure directly everything the cat is potentially hunting. It allows us to measure all the species that it’s hunting. Is it a sensitive species? Is it a native species? That could be one type of problem. If it’s mostly invasive species, like house sparrows, that’s maybe less of a conversation problem. But it would be interesting to know, and that’s what’s unknown currently.”
Story continues below advertisement
Chu has previously recorded cats in the Guelph area, and now he’s heading to the South Okanagan, where he’s looking for volunteers to place cat-cams on their felines.
Cat cloning process success for Okanagan woman
Trending Now
Asked what type of video he’s captured to date, Chu said he’s seen cats hunt down a surprising variety of animals.
“When we first saw an Eastern cottontail (rabbit), I didn’t really realize that they could catch something so big,” said Chu. “But one of the cool realizations I’ve had is that they eat a lot of invertebrates. So, moths, cicadas, grasshoppers. There’s even some footage of a cat bringing a centipede back.”
Chu said this means cats are opportunistic and can eat a lot of things.
And by bringing the study to B.C., he’s wondering if local cats hunt different prey than what’s been studied so far in Ontario.
Story continues below advertisement
“We’d expect it to be (different),” said Chu, “but we’d like to know for sure.”
Yoga with cats grows in popularity
He added that some cats don’t hunt but that others are voracious, “so there’s variation on how much a cat eats from the outdoors. Wnd that’s another huge unknown: Why are certain cats eating a lot?”
Chu said understanding cat predation rates in Canada can lead to management strategies.
If you’re a cat owner and interested in joining the study, go online for more information.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Discover more from CaveNews Times
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
