Domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads.
Using domestic predators such as cats to control rodent pest problems around farms and homesteads is common across the world. However, practical scientific evidence on the impact of such biological control in agricultural settings is often lacking. We tested whether the presence of domestic cats and...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2017-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171593&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1826579305224732672 |
|---|---|
| author | Themb'alilahlwa A M Mahlaba Ara Monadjem Robert McCleery Steven R Belmain |
| author_facet | Themb'alilahlwa A M Mahlaba Ara Monadjem Robert McCleery Steven R Belmain |
| author_sort | Themb'alilahlwa A M Mahlaba |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Using domestic predators such as cats to control rodent pest problems around farms and homesteads is common across the world. However, practical scientific evidence on the impact of such biological control in agricultural settings is often lacking. We tested whether the presence of domestic cats and/or dogs in rural homesteads would affect the foraging behaviour of pest rodents. We estimated giving up densities (GUDs) from established feeding patches and estimated relative rodent activity using tracking tiles at 40 homesteads across four agricultural communities. We found that the presence of cats and dogs at the same homestead significantly reduced activity and increased GUDs (i.e. increased perception of foraging cost) of pest rodent species. However, if only cats or dogs alone were present at the homestead there was no observed difference in rodent foraging activity in comparison to homesteads with no cats or dogs. Our results suggest that pest rodent activity can be discouraged through the presence of domestic predators. When different types of predator are present together they likely create a heightened landscape of fear for foraging rodents. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T19:36:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-43d9517588ba4da7a0abbf2e3087edc4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-14T14:16:10Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-43d9517588ba4da7a0abbf2e3087edc42025-02-27T05:33:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01122e017159310.1371/journal.pone.0171593Domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads.Themb'alilahlwa A M MahlabaAra MonadjemRobert McCleerySteven R BelmainUsing domestic predators such as cats to control rodent pest problems around farms and homesteads is common across the world. However, practical scientific evidence on the impact of such biological control in agricultural settings is often lacking. We tested whether the presence of domestic cats and/or dogs in rural homesteads would affect the foraging behaviour of pest rodents. We estimated giving up densities (GUDs) from established feeding patches and estimated relative rodent activity using tracking tiles at 40 homesteads across four agricultural communities. We found that the presence of cats and dogs at the same homestead significantly reduced activity and increased GUDs (i.e. increased perception of foraging cost) of pest rodent species. However, if only cats or dogs alone were present at the homestead there was no observed difference in rodent foraging activity in comparison to homesteads with no cats or dogs. Our results suggest that pest rodent activity can be discouraged through the presence of domestic predators. When different types of predator are present together they likely create a heightened landscape of fear for foraging rodents.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171593&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Themb'alilahlwa A M Mahlaba Ara Monadjem Robert McCleery Steven R Belmain Domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads. PLoS ONE |
| title | Domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads. |
| title_full | Domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads. |
| title_fullStr | Domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads. |
| title_short | Domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads. |
| title_sort | domestic cats and dogs create a landscape of fear for pest rodents around rural homesteads |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171593&type=printable |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT thembalilahlwaammahlaba domesticcatsanddogscreatealandscapeoffearforpestrodentsaroundruralhomesteads AT aramonadjem domesticcatsanddogscreatealandscapeoffearforpestrodentsaroundruralhomesteads AT robertmccleery domesticcatsanddogscreatealandscapeoffearforpestrodentsaroundruralhomesteads AT stevenrbelmain domesticcatsanddogscreatealandscapeoffearforpestrodentsaroundruralhomesteads |