24 October 2020 | New Scientist | 51The back pages
VASILIY^
VISHNEVSKIY/
ALAMY^Layal Liverpool is a
digital journalist at
New Scientist. She believes
everyone can be a scientist,
including you. @layallivs
These articles are
posted each week at
newscientist.com/makerWhat you need
To be in the UK and have a
pet cat that goes outdoors
The ability to
access the website
whatthecatdraggedin.org
A diary for recording your
observations in
NEXT time your cat brings you a
gruesome gift from outdoors, why
not capture the moment with a
photo or diary entry? This could
really help researchers who are
investigating the impact that
domestic cats have on wildlife.
These pets are notorious for
their opportunistic hunting,
but the extent to which their
predatory activities influence
prey populations, such as those
of small mammals, birds and
even reptiles and amphibians,
is still controversial.
In New Zealand, there is some
evidence that cats contributed
to the decline of native species
there. That country’s birds evolved
without mammals around, other
than a few bats. With no large land
animals hunting them, nesting on
the ground and being unable to fly
were common. As a result, these
birds are particularly vulnerable
to predation by cats.
Since birds and small
mammals in the UK evolved
alongside wildcats and other
carnivores, it isn’t clear how much
of a threat domestic cats pose to
their populations. To get more
evidence, researcher Hannah
Lockwood at the University of
Derby in the UK set up What
The Cat Dragged In.
If you live in the UK and have a
pet cat that goes outdoors, you can
take part by registering online at
whatthecatdraggedin.org. You will
be asked to start a diary of all prey
species brought home by your
furry friend over a year.
Taking photos is optional, but
it could help you to identify theYour cat could help nail hard evidence about their impact on the
UK’s small wildlife, especially birds. Layal Liverpool explains howCitizen science
Put that down, kitty
prey using guides on the project’s
website. Even if your cat doesn’t
usually bring anything home, you
can still provide valuable data by
selecting the “no prey” option.
If your cat is lucky, it might be
selected for the second part of the
project. This time, GPS will track
its movements so that researchers
like Lockwood can learn more
about how cats interact with the
environment, and they will also
be fitted with “cat-cams” to get a
clearer understanding of how
much prey domestic cats kill,
but don’t bring home.
Since the project launched in
2018, hundreds of cat owners
have taken part and the data
from 550 pets is already providing
important insights into their
hunting behaviour. This shows a
seasonal pattern in hunting andsuggests that a small number of
pets may be responsible for most
of the prey captured by the UK’s
domestic cats every month.
There is a peak in hunting
during summer, says Lockwood,
when cats bring home an average
of 2.5 prey each month. Most don’t
bring anything home, but there
are super predators that can
return with 50 items a month,
“which is unbelievable”, she adds.
Lockwood hopes the project
will inform interventions, such
as keeping cats in at certain times,
that help to limit their impact on
animals like small birds, which
are already facing other threats,
including climate change. ❚Feedback
Spreadsheet error
doom returns: the
week in weird p56Tom Gauld for
New Scientist
A cartoonist’s take
on the world p55Almost the last word
Does a hop trump
a step in the world
of birds? p54Puzzles
Try our quick
crossword, quiz
and brain-teaser p52Twisteddoodles
for New Scientist
Picturing the lighter
side of life p56Citizen science will be
back again in four weeks
Next week
Science of gardening