Tag Archives: predation

Cats in print

A study examining the role of  cats in New York Times' stories over the year revealed some interesting patterns: cats were mostly hated in the 1800's, and beginning in the 1970's, stories about cats were more focused on welfare issues and treatment of cats. This shift likely reflects the growing interest in human-animal relations, and on-going debates over how we treat all animals. Fascinating!

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Cats + Tech

The MousR is a cat toy being developed to respond to your cats' movements - with "vision" that can detect your cat's reactions. MousR was created by cat-loving PhD students in Engineering at UC Illinois and I'm now wondering if I went into the wrong field! They've almost convinced me to spend $150 on a cat toy! After a successful kickstarter, MousR is set for a fall 2015 release.

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Now, the Meowlingual has me less convinced. For $169, it will apparently read your cat's facial expressions and meows. Given the Bowlingual's less than overwhelming success (Behaviorist Sophia Yin reviewed it on her blog and said: "Overall, my final ruling is that the Bow-lingual is fun to play with for a while if you got it for free, but it’s not very useful since the translations aren’t trustworthy and most don’t make sense." I'm guessing the same is true of Meowlingual. Buyer beware!

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What happens if there aren't enough rabbits for cats?

I recently wrote about a study about cat's individual prey preferences, and one of the authors of that study is a co-author on a new paper looking at the effects of the rabbit population of feral cat predation in Australia. Apparently, cats really love rabbits, but when there aren't enough rabbits, they focus more heavily on other animals, including native birds and rodents. This means thinking twice about rabbit-eradication programs. Read about the study here.

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Why do cats love boxes?

A subject that pops up from time to time, I've even written about it before! People REALLY WANT TO KNOW: why do cats love boxes? It's quite simple really: heat and safety. Wired dug deeper and talked to some cat experts.

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Killer Cone Snails

Cone snails expose their prey to a massive dose of insulin that sends the fish into a low blood sugar state, making them easier to kill. Are the fish just "hangry"?

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Like us, chimps like to talk about food

A new study found a relationship between the types of chimps calls, and their discovery of delicious fruits. Seems like they might be talking about the quality and quantity of the fruit on a tree.

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Sister fish stick together

Cichlid fish are really cool! Recently, it was discovered that among African Neolamprologus caudopunctatus, the females are the ones who disperse, not males. In groups of fish, DNA analysis revealed that small females tend to hang with their bigger sisters. This kind of sibling-shoaling was not found in males of the same species.

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It's Squirrel Appreciation Day! What could be better than getting caught up on all the latest squirrel news?

Imaginary squirrels can be helpful or harmful

housefireA man heard a sound at night that he dismissed as the pitter-patter of tiny squirrel feet. He went back to sleep and woke up when the sound was much louder and he realized that in fact his house was on fire. Luckily, he was not injured, although the home was a goner.

In Omaha, Nebraska, an intoxicated man who was causing a disturbance told police he was on the run from a “pink squirrel with sharp teeth.” He was later taken in for psychiatric evaluation.

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Squirrels are gonna shut you down

Squirrel-related power outages recently happened in Redding, CA, Charleston, RI, Tampa, FL (again!), Forest Park in Cincinatti, OH (leading the local high school to be dismissed early), Santa Clarita Valley, CA, and Kansas City, MO.

“Chicken of the tree”

Eating squirrel is gaining popularity, it’s not just for J-Law and rednecks any more. The lean meat is supposedly gamey but tasty. I’m a veg, so I won’t be trying it out. You can even buy it on-line.

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Grey squirrel invasion

The grey squirrel controversy continues, with the UK about to spend millions of tax payer’s money to kill grey squirrels in order to protect the endangered red squirrel. Some of that money will also go toward squirrel birth control. Some people are unhappy (at least about the cull, I’m not sure if the Catholics will opposed birth control for squirrels).

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Meanwhile Europeans fear a grey squirrel invasion of their own, with the French and Swiss up in arms about Italian grey squirrels hitting their turf (note, they are actually American squirrels who were brought to Italy many years ago).

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Squirrel sports

No we’re not talking about a sports event interrupted by squirrels, we’re talking about a competition designed FOR squirrels. This awesome British dude created an assault course in his back yard, the Squirrel Grand Nutional. It’s almost as good as the feral cat fish-lifting competition.

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kittyweight

Photo Ops

Holiday Stocking

stockingA little post-holiday joy, as if you haven’t had enough of santa, a cute squirrel playing with a stocking.

New meaning of “robo-squirrel”

roboNo, not the Republican-labeled "government pork" study - squirrels will eat from a giant horsehead mask, a squirrel head mask, so why not a robot mask?

Mom with babies

Watch a mama squirrel move her babies, then take a well-deserved nap.

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A squirrel makes a snowball

Or this photo was completely a set up

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Have you ever been peed on by a squirrel?

Twiggy the famous squirrel apparently loves waterskiing and water sports.

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Have you ever seen a squirrel tongue?

It’s a bit strange.

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“Shocking” incident

The Irish News reported that this park squirrel “shocked” children by climbing all over them looking for food. I guess nothing shocks me much anymore. At least not when it comes to hungry squirrels.

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Look up! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a…squirrel nest!

If you take a moment to look up, you will likely see a drey (a squirrel nest) or two dotting the trees.

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Predator vs Prey

Bobcat carries dead squirrel around

bobcatKitty’s gotta eat

Flipping out

Watch these ground squirrels practice their evasive leap maneuver to avoid a simulated snake. These squirrels are known for throwing rocks at snakes, and perhaps even taunting them with their tail flagging.

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Who is predator and who is prey?

Eagles chase this squirrel out of their nest – squirrels are known for making snacks of birds’ eggs.

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Squirrel fashion

I’ve previously written about squirrel sweaters. Dita Von Teese (who is she again?) made a splash recently with this squirrel-skirt.

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Belding’s Ground Squirrels – in decline – and eating each other?

cannibalNote that this click-bait title is misleading, there is nothing about squirrels eating each other in this article. It does talk about the impact of climate change on this little rodent friend, and the impact of the BGS on the local crops.

 

 

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Photo by Andrew/Polandeze via Flickr/Creative Commons

Photo by Andrew/Polandeze via Flickr/Creative Commons

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that our pet cats are predators at heart, especially if you just fill their bowl of kibble every now and then. But beneath that fuzzy, cute exterior is a potentially vicious killer, even if your cat doesn’t have the opportunity to practice mass destruction of small animals. That’s where playtime with interactive toys comes in! But more on that later!

There are two major categories of predators: specialists – those who hunt just one or two prey types; and generalists – animals with a broad diet or who may show a wide range of prey preferences within a species. Both types are likely related to prey available, and how an animal has adapted over time to that prey availability. These preferences could be learned during development, such as when a mother cat brings injured prey to her kittens, or could be a response to changes in the environment. If prey abundance changes, predators have to change their responses too…or go hungry.

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All the squirrel news that's "fit to print" - squirrels got busy in November!

 Squirrels love the holiday season!

cinciEvery year, the Cincinatti Zoo has a “Festival of Lights” – with millions of beautiful lights for their holiday festival. The squirrels historically chewed the wires and removed light bulbs – burying them as if they were nuts – leaving the zoo to switch to LED and not hang the lights until the very last minute. The video is pretty awesome.

Squirrel damage seems to be a theme in the news these days, with this article: “Squirrels are cute until they cause property damage” which outlines the many ways squirrels can damage your attic, trees, and bird feeders.

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You got your squirrel in my pumpkin…

Squirrels and Halloween go together like chocolate and peanut butter. I remember the first year we put out a jack-o-lantern, only to find tiny nibbles and bits of pumpkin all over our porch. Great! Well, Halloween was just a few days ago, so it’s not too late to look at some squirrel-related Halloween stories.

Squirrels ruined over $100 worth of pumpkins in this guy’s yard ($100 in pumpkins? Really?)

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What happens when you let the squirrel carve the pumpkin?

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And yes, squirrels are naïve enough to stick their head in a pumpkin for cute photos

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Why is there an alpaca in my grocery store?

What is the deal with emotional support animals? For the record, they are not the same thing as a service animal - but there's a lot of confusion about what is allowed and what isn't - and it's easy to fake a letter. Patricia Marx goes undercover and explores what happens when you bring a "therapy turtle" to a museum. Read here!

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Guide dogs don't know their owners are blind

Guide dogs may be good at their jobs, but maybe they don't exactly know why they are doing them? Dogs are very sensitive to human gaze, and will look at their owners to help them solve a problem, or when they want food. Turns out that guide dogs for the blind still look to their human's eyes when they want a snack.

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Citizen Science strikes again!

citsciI love the idea of public contributions to scientific data collection! Recent publications that utilized citizen science include observations of gulls, foxes, geese, lady beetles and beach garbage. Read more about it here!

 

Can you chew quietly, please?

Turns out that plants are sensitive to noise - but not all noises are treated equally. They are particularly sensitive to the chomping sounds of caterpillars.

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Spying on dogs

dogspiesDogSpies, one of my favorite blogs, had a busy week! Finding a roaming,  unneutered cat, reporting back on the canine science conference and updating us on recent dog-related readings!

 

 

 

 

An unusual fashion style

Assassin bugs, as you might guess from their name, kill other bugs. But some species take it to the next level, sucking the corpses of their victims dry, and wearing them - often MANY of them! These corpses function as both visual and olfactory camouflage, and may offer some physical protection as well. Fascinating! Read more here.

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Raccoons - cute, scary, kind of awesome

I've had plenty of urban encounters with raccoons and they kind of scare the crap out of me. Like many urban "pest" species, they are amazingly understudied given their obvious problem solving behaviors and survival skills. Jason Goldman tells us more about the behavior and lifestyle of this fascinating animal.

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