Yikes!! Giant rat at work today.

[Saluki]

Sounds like an ROUS to me. You'll need to get a pirate in.

 

[Profpointy]

2

Very true Accy. Unfortunately cat owners rarely see the behaviour of their pets in those terms however

Cats exist at approximately 8x the natural density of predators in UK and as such cause massive pressure on bird and rodent populations

Are pigeons and rats are almost extinct in cities?

 

[Reynard]

And given the sheer number of barn owls I see around here while out and about, I really doubt Poppy & Lexi's activities are putting much of a dent in the rodent population here.

Besides, I'd much rather use the services of a good mouser than set traps or poison bait.

 

[Profpointy]

And given the sheer number of barn owls I see around here while out and about, I really doubt Poppy & Lexi's activities are putting much of a dent in the rodent population here.

Besides, I'd much rather use the services of a good mouser than set traps or poison bait.

I suspect rats and mice populations are controlled largely by the amount of available food, so predation by cats or owls makes negligable difference, and just lets another rat or mouse take up the vacant niche.

I can't really see any value in poisoning or trapping rats outside in any case, just seems sensless to be honest, but I'm not especially bothered if the cat harvests as many as she wants - providing she doesn't let live ones loose in the kitchen !

 

[Reynard]

I suspect rats and mice populations are controlled largely by the amount of available food, so predation by cats or owls makes negligable difference, and just lets another rat or mouse take up the vacant niche.

I can't really see any value in poisoning or trapping rats outside in any case, just seems sensless to be honest, but I'm not especially bothered if the cat harvests as many as she wants - providing she doesn't let live ones loose in the kitchen !

Weather and habitat as well. It's mostly farmland and grazing (horses) out this way, plus a couple of wee woods. We have a lot of birds of prey here, and not just owls, along with the inevitable corvids, that will take rodents and small birds. Plus foxes, stoats etc.

It's one of the reasons I won't use poison. Not only does Madam Lexi like to snack on a mouse or three, I don't want any nasties to get into the food chain. I rarely use garden chemicals for that matter as well - for similar reasons.

 

[nickyboy]

I have no strong view on cats either way, but the widely held notion they are responsible for declining bird populations is inaccurate - according to the RSPB.

Cats kill birds, but as the RSPB points out that isn't quite the same thing.

They did a survey a few years ago which found there was just as much bird activity in an area with lots of cats as there was in a similar area with very few cats.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-w...-garden-birds/are-cats-causing-bird-declines/

That's quite correct. Long term changes in populations are caused by changes in the number of offspring they produce. Remove the habitat for breeding and populations reduce

Predation by cats doesn't reduce populations ongoing. What it does do is permanently depress the populations below their natural level. So for example, blue tit populations may be (say) permanently 90% of their natural level. But long term changes in blue tit populations are caused by other things