“We wanted to do a really big study, so we went with the citizen science approach, where we had volunteers track their cats and share their data with us,” Kays said.
Since May 2014, the research team on the project has been affixing GPS units to cats to track their movement around the neighborhood. Collars can sometimes be loaned to the participants and are also available for purchase at about $50. Currently, the project tracks cats everywhere from Australia to Connecticut.
House cats are known predators of birds, reptiles and small mammals, but where that predation occurs is extremely important. Cats killing common birds right around the house is probably less of an issue than cats killing rarer birds in more natural areas farther from their homes. If cats travel long distances from home into natural areas, it stands to reason they might be killing wildlife there also. So far, the researchers found that most cats have not ventured too far from home.
This project also tests whether cats avoid coyotes or not. Coyotes have spread across much of the country and are often seen close very to dwellings.
“We know coyotes sometimes kill cats, and we know coyotes are usually in the woods, so if the cats are avoiding coyotes, they might also be avoiding the woods,” Kays said.
The team has partnered with homeowners in Long Island, New York, an area without coyotes, just to test this hypothesis. They want to know if cats in Long Island move farther than cats in other areas that have coyotes. If so, this might be evidence that housecat ranges are slightly limited by the presence of coyotes.
Regardless of whether cats move into natural areas when hunting, pet owners need to keep their cats indoors, according to Chris DePerno, associate professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources.
“I am a cat fan, as long as they are inside,” DePerno said. “Remember, they are a nonnative species to the U.S. They have no business being outdoors.”
DePerno said he believes that cats have a very important impact on native species but that responsible cat owners can very easily stop predation by keeping them indoors. They are born with the instinctual desire to hunt and kill and are estimated to kill somewhere between 1.4 billion to 3.7 billion birds annually, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications.
Beyond looking at issues with cat predation on native species, this ongoing project has revealed some very interesting aspects of individual cat behavior. It seemed that each cat had individual quirks, as some would roam far and wide, while others would stay much closer to home. Among the 150 cats that have been tracked so far, most cats lived on around five acres, but some covered as much as 116 acres or more of ground.
“Some of our cats ‘cheat’ on their owners,” said Troi Perkins, a senior studying zoology who is working with Kays on the project. “They would have specific movements between certain houses, and when we contacted the homeowners, it turns out they were being fed by different families.”
Those who have interest in the project, or who want their cats to be considered for this study, can visit www.cats.yourwildlife.org for more information.