Data from: Free-ranging farm cats: home range size and predation on a livestock unit in Northwest Georgia

This study’s objective was to determine seasonal and diurnal vs. nocturnal home range size, as well as predation for free-ranging farm cats at a livestock unit in Northwest Georgia. Seven adult cats were tracked with attached GPS units for up to two weeks for one spring and two summer seasons from May 2010 through August 2011. Three and five cats were tracked for up to two weeks during the fall and winter seasons, respectively. Feline scat was collected during this entire period. Cats were fed a commercial cat food daily. There was no seasonal effect (P > 0.05) on overall (95% KDE and 90% KDE) or core home range size (50% KDE). Male cats tended (P = 0.08) to have larger diurnal and nocturnal core home ranges (1.09 ha) compared to female cats (0.64 ha). Reproductively intact cats (n = 2) had larger (P < 0.0001) diurnal and nocturnal home ranges as compared to altered cats. Feline scat processing separated scat into prey parts, and of the 210 feline scats collected during the study, 75.24% contained hair. Of these 158 scat samples, 86 contained non-cat hair and 72 contained only cat hair. Other prey components included fragments of bone in 21.43% of scat and teeth in 12.86% of scat. Teeth were used to identify mammalian prey hunted by these cats, of which the Hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) was the primary rodent. Other targeted mammals were Peromyscus sp., Sylvilagus sp. and Microtus sp. Invertebrates and birds were less important as prey, but all mammalian prey identified in this study consisted of native animals. While the free-ranging farm cats in this study did not adjust their home range seasonally, sex and reproductive status did increase diurnal and nocturnal home range size. Ultimately, larger home ranges of free-ranging cats could negatively impact native wildlife.

本研究旨在明确佐治亚州西北部某畜牧场内的农场散养家猫的季节差异、昼夜与夜间活动家域（home range）大小，及其捕食特征。2010年5月至2011年8月期间，针对1个春季与2个夏季时段，研究人员为7只成年家猫佩戴GPS追踪设备，开展最长两周的追踪监测；秋季与冬季时段则分别追踪3只、5只家猫，单次追踪时长同样不超过两周。整个研究周期内均收集猫粪样本，并每日为受试家猫投喂商品猫粮。整体家域（95%KDE与90%KDE）及核心家域（50%KDE）大小均未表现出显著季节效应（P>0.05）。相较于雌性家猫（0.64公顷），雄性家猫的昼夜与夜间核心家域面积更大，二者差异接近显著水平（P=0.08），平均面积达1.09公顷。生殖状态完整的家猫（n=2）的昼夜与夜间家域面积显著大于已绝育家猫（P<0.0001）。研究人员对收集的猫粪开展猎物残体组分分离工作：本次研究共收集210份猫粪样本，其中75.24%的样本含有毛发。在上述158份含毛发的样本中，86份含有非家猫毛发，72份仅含家猫自身毛发。其余猎物残体组分包括：21.43%的粪样中含有骨骼碎片，12.86%的粪样中含有牙齿。研究人员通过牙齿样本鉴定受试家猫捕食的哺乳类猎物，其中刚毛棉鼠（Sigmodon hispidus）为主要啮齿类猎物；其余被捕食的哺乳类包括鹿鼠属（Peromyscus sp.）、棉尾兔属（Sylvilagus sp.）以及田鼠属（Microtus sp.）物种。无脊椎动物与鸟类在其捕食对象中占比相对较低，但本次研究鉴定出的所有哺乳类猎物均为本土物种。尽管本研究中的农场散养家猫并未随季节调整家域范围，但性别与生殖状态确实会影响其昼夜与夜间家域面积。综上，散养家猫更大的家域范围可能对本土野生动物产生负面影响。