Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio Pay brain Stuff Lauren Boglebaum. Here, humans have tolerated the haughty demeanor of cats for at least ten thousand years, in large part because our furry feline friends are so good at keeping vermin like mice under control. But research published in the journal Frontiers and Ecology and Evolution shows that cats, while quite good at slaying small birds and mice, may
have very little impact on rat populations. A team of researchers made like a modern pied piper, microchipping and monitoring about sixty rats living in a Brooklyn, New York, recycling center. The team manipulated the rat population by unleashing various rat pheromones to see how those chemicals would affect the rats behaviors. These experiments had an unintended side effect, though, as feral cats, probably attracted by the smell of potential prey, slinked into
the building. At first, the researchers, apparently unfamiliar with the futility of hurting cats, tried and failed to evict the unwanted feelines. Then they decided to capitalize on this unintended invasion by including the five cats in the study to see what effect they had on the rats. With hundreds of video clips as evidence, scientists logged just twenty stocking attempts, three kill attempts, and only two successful kills by the cats during the seventy nine day experiment. Most of the
time the cats ignored the rats. That kill rate is pretty low. However, the researchers did note that for every additional cat sighting, a rat was one point one nine times more likely to seek shelter. The researchers concluded that this might be the reason people have thought that cats
are good at controlling a rat population. Lead researcher Michael Parsons said in a press statement, but people see you were rats and assume it's because the cats have killed them, whereas it's actually due to the rats changing their behavior. So why were the cats not more aggressive hunters? Probably because feral cats instinctively understand that one unlucky bite from a hefty twelve ounce rat that's about a third of a kilo could lead to a life altering or life
ending injury. Indeed, other research has shown that cats are much more likely to kill birds and small rodents like mice, which typically weigh about an ounce or thirty Grahams and won't put up as much of a fight. Paper co author Michael A. Jute said in the same press statement, we are not saying that cats will not predate city rats, only that conditions must be right for it to happen. The cat must be hungry, have no alternative, less risky
food source, and usually needs the element of surprise. And to that end, researchers suggest replicating this experiment in some other place with less food of ailable than a waste management facility in New York City. Unrelated to this research, a program called Blue Collar Cats was launched in Washington, d C. Wherein unadoptable feral cats are released into rat
infested neighborhoods upon request to help control rodent populations. Although some questioned the wisdom of doing this, the president of the Humane Resource Alliance, the group behind the program, pointed out in a Washington Post letter that the cats were quote meant to deter rodents, not solve the city's rodent problem. It seems likely that the cats are keeping the rats on the move. Today's episode was written by Nathan Chandler and produced by Tyler Klang. For more on this and
lots of other curious topics. Visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio or more podcasts to my heart radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.