Determining daytime resting site habitats of exurban feral cats
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Determining daytime resting site habitats of exurban feral cats Catherine Normand 1 & Rachael E. Urbanek 1,2 & Carson L. Hicks 2 Accepted: 5 October 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Predicting daytime resting sites (DRS) in feral cat (Felis catus) populations provides a means for further understanding what habitat characteristics are used by the species, which in turn may help in managing their populations. Between May – August 2013, we identified 319 summer DRSs used by 24 radiocollared feral cats in Russellville, Arkansas. Our goal was to characterize summer DRS use by feral cats via microhabitat and macrohabitat analysis in an exurban city. We identified DRSs by homing in on individuals between 1000 and 1600 h and sampled the habitat of one DRS for each cat weekly. We developed 13 a priori models focused on six micro- and macrohabitat variables that explained 97% of the data variability. Most cats used DRSs in thick vegetation or under anthropogenic structures, but we also observed cats inside anthropogenic structures, underground openings, and in open areas with no protective cover. Most DRSs were located within the open-low intensity developed land cover type. Two competing models that included 82% of the model weights indicated that DRS locations with relatively cooler temperatures, high overhead cover, and high ground-level visual obscurity were used frequently by cats. We also observed seven occasions of DRS sharing which were all within 165 m to known artificial food sources. Given the variety of habitats used by feral cats in this study, it would be difficult to predict specific daytime trapping locations with no established colony associated with a subsidized feeding area. Keywords Animal behavior . Animal control . Daytime resting sites . Felis catus . Trap-neuter-release . Wildlife management
Introduction Domestic cats (Felis catus) have been introduced worldwide (United States: Guttilla and Stapp 2010, Horn et al. 2011; Europe: Devillard and Say 2003; Bonanni et al. 2007; Australia: Jones and Coman 1982; Edwards et al. 2001; New Zealand: Norbury et al. 1998; Harper 2007; and Africa: Tennent and Downs 2008) and are a highly adaptive species as they have established feral populations in a variety of habitats (Devillard and Say 2003; Tennent and Downs 2008; Longcore et al. 2009; Loyd and Miller 2010). Feral cats are ubiquitous in natural and urban ecosystems where they can negatively impact their communities. The impacts of feral cats on their communities include depredation on native wildlife; competition with native predators for prey (Ogan and Jurek 1997; Clarke and Pacin 2002; Schmidt et al. 2007; Schmidt * Carson L. Hicks [email protected] 1
Department of Biological Sciences, Arkansas Tech University, 1605 Coliseum Drive, Russellville, AR 72801, USA
2
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 601 S. College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403, USA
et al. 2009; Guttilla and Stapp 2010); and potential for disease transm
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