WEBVTT - Are Cats Actually Good at Catching Rats?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio Pay brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren Boglebaum. Here, humans have tolerated the haughty demeanor

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<v Speaker 1>of cats for at least ten thousand years, in large

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<v Speaker 1>part because our furry feline friends are so good at

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<v Speaker 1>keeping vermin like mice under control. But research published in

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<v Speaker 1>the journal Frontiers and Ecology and Evolution shows that cats,

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<v Speaker 1>while quite good at slaying small birds and mice, may

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<v Speaker 1>have very little impact on rat populations. A team of

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<v Speaker 1>researchers made like a modern pied piper, microchipping and monitoring

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<v Speaker 1>about sixty rats living in a Brooklyn, New York, recycling center.

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<v Speaker 1>The team manipulated the rat population by unleashing various rat

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<v Speaker 1>pheromones to see how those chemicals would affect the rats behaviors.

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<v Speaker 1>These experiments had an unintended side effect, though, as feral cats,

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<v Speaker 1>probably attracted by the smell of potential prey, slinked into

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<v Speaker 1>the building. At first, the researchers, apparently unfamiliar with the

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<v Speaker 1>futility of hurting cats, tried and failed to evict the

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<v Speaker 1>unwanted feelines. Then they decided to capitalize on this unintended

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<v Speaker 1>invasion by including the five cats in the study to

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<v Speaker 1>see what effect they had on the rats. With hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of video clips as evidence, scientists logged just twenty stocking attempts,

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<v Speaker 1>three kill attempts, and only two successful kills by the

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<v Speaker 1>cats during the seventy nine day experiment. Most of the

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<v Speaker 1>time the cats ignored the rats. That kill rate is

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<v Speaker 1>pretty low. However, the researchers did note that for every

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<v Speaker 1>additional cat sighting, a rat was one point one nine

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<v Speaker 1>times more likely to seek shelter. The researchers concluded that

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<v Speaker 1>this might be the reason people have thought that cats

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<v Speaker 1>are good at controlling a rat population. Lead researcher Michael

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<v Speaker 1>Parsons said in a press statement, but people see you

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<v Speaker 1>were rats and assume it's because the cats have killed them,

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<v Speaker 1>whereas it's actually due to the rats changing their behavior.

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<v Speaker 1>So why were the cats not more aggressive hunters? Probably

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<v Speaker 1>because feral cats instinctively understand that one unlucky bite from

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<v Speaker 1>a hefty twelve ounce rat that's about a third of

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<v Speaker 1>a kilo could lead to a life altering or life

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<v Speaker 1>ending injury. Indeed, other research has shown that cats are

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<v Speaker 1>much more likely to kill birds and small rodents like mice,

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<v Speaker 1>which typically weigh about an ounce or thirty Grahams and

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<v Speaker 1>won't put up as much of a fight. Paper co

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<v Speaker 1>author Michael A. Jute said in the same press statement,

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<v Speaker 1>we are not saying that cats will not predate city rats,

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<v Speaker 1>only that conditions must be right for it to happen.

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<v Speaker 1>The cat must be hungry, have no alternative, less risky

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<v Speaker 1>food source, and usually needs the element of surprise. And

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<v Speaker 1>to that end, researchers suggest replicating this experiment in some

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<v Speaker 1>other place with less food of ailable than a waste

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<v Speaker 1>management facility in New York City. Unrelated to this research,

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<v Speaker 1>a program called Blue Collar Cats was launched in Washington,

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<v Speaker 1>d C. Wherein unadoptable feral cats are released into rat

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<v Speaker 1>infested neighborhoods upon request to help control rodent populations. Although

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<v Speaker 1>some questioned the wisdom of doing this, the president of

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<v Speaker 1>the Humane Resource Alliance, the group behind the program, pointed

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<v Speaker 1>out in a Washington Post letter that the cats were

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<v Speaker 1>quote meant to deter rodents, not solve the city's rodent problem.

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<v Speaker 1>It seems likely that the cats are keeping the rats

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<v Speaker 1>on the move. Today's episode was written by Nathan Chandler

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Klang. For more on this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other curious topics. Visit how stuffworks dot com.

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