Scrunchies saving wildlife from being killed by cats: study

[douglas9]

A fashion relic of the late eighties and nineties, the humble scrunchie has found a new lease on life preventing the slaughter of wildlife by domestic cats.

In a new study, West Australian researchers found putting a scrunchie-like collar on cats reduced the amount of native wildlife killed by more than half.

Murdoch University PhD student Catherine Hall spearheaded the research which observed the behaviour of 114 cats for two years.

Over the course of the study, the owners of the cats froze everything their pets caught, both with and without the collar.

She said the results showed the scrunchie-esque neckwear reduced the number of birds, reptiles and amphibians captured by the cats by 54 per cent.

"Bright colours are very noticeable to songbirds, they should see the cats further away, allowing them to escape earlier," Ms Hall said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-20/scrunchies-prevent-wildlife-death-study-finds/6337222

[Curmudgeoness]

1. Now that is an interesting study

and makes me wonder who came up with the idea in the first place. I do wonder if the conclusion is right or not, since I would think that a bright colored collar on a cat would serve the same purpose. No matter, since this is a cheap and easy solution and since the scrunchies are elastic, they would not harm the cats.

Now, how to keep it on a cat!

[catbyte]

2. Scrunchies make sense because oftentimes a collar is hidden by the cat's ruff--especially

medium and long haired cats.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. I did notice that the scrunchies were more noticeable.

It is also interesting that they were still able to catch the same numbers of rodents with or without the scrunchies, so all the other explanations that I can come up with so far fail. I'm just glad that this is working and, if it were to be used on a large scale, it could save birds.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. I wish it would work on lizards

but they are attracted to bright colors, esp. shades of red/deep pink.
Cats around here kill off a lot of the various types of lizards, so I am not going to replace our current elderly cat.

Well, that is my intention, anyhow. We all know that cats often find us.

[TheProgressive]

5. Cats should be on leashes and/or kept in pens.

Cats kill for fun - especially birds. This must be stopped.

[mike_c]

8. I'd sooner apply that rule to your children....

Let's not talk seriously about which species "kills for fun." Cats kill to eat. Well fed cats still hunt some, instinctively. I found a dead rat beside my bed this afternoon, no doubt left as a present by one of my cat friends (not sure that's really a bad thing, but it won't be troubling me otherwise).

Humans kill for just about every other reason imaginable. Don't complain about cats doing what they've evolved to do until we manage to undo what we've evolved to do.

[TheProgressive]

9. Well, that was rather rude of you...

No, cats absolutely kill for fun. They kill birds. I am sure you have read the studies.

Just like dogs, cat owners must take care that their cat does not roam and kill. Put them on leases, put them in pens,
or just keep them in *your* house as to not harm birds and other animals.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. Fashion relic?

[mike_c]

7. that's interesting....

Years ago I put a bell on one of my cats who particularly hunted rodents, and especially chipmunks. I found that the bell caused his prey to freeze, and actually increased his hunting success dramatically. The still chipmunks were easy prey. Visual stimuli might work differently.