Volume 18, Issue 3, 21 September 2015, Pages 895-906
a
Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University (TCT, ACC, AM, DLP), Box 5640, Flagstaff, AZ, United States
b US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, (DLB), 8836 N 23 Avenue, Suite 2, Phoenix, AZ, United States
b US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, (DLB), 8836 N 23 Avenue, Suite 2, Phoenix, AZ, United States
Abstract
Cat food left out for
feral and domestic cats and bird seed spilled from backyard bird
feeders are two common anthropogenic food sources that may attract
non-target animals like urban mesocarnivores but no studies have
quantified mesocarnivore visitation at these food sources. We used
motion-activated video cameras to monitor mesocarnivore use of spilled
bird seed below 25 bird feeders maintained by residents in four
neighborhoods in Flagstaff, Arizona, June-September 2012 and 2014.
During the first five nights of monitoring only seed that spilled
naturally below feeders was available. On each of the subsequent five
nights, we placed a bowl of commercially available dry cat food below
feeders so that both spilled seed and cat food were present. In both
years, after cat food was added, the number of visits by striped skunks
(Mephitis mephitis), raccoons
(Procyon lotor) and domestic cats (Felis cattus) doubled and the number
of times two animals were present simultaneously also increased.
Aggressive interactions, in the form of displays or contacts, increased
for all species combinations but significantly only between skunks in
the presence of cat food. These results demonstrate that both spilled
bird seed and cat food may be exploited frequently by urban
mesocarnivores and that the type of food can elicit different behavioral
responses that could have important implications for human-wildlife
conflict and disease transmission. © 2015, The Author(s).
Author keywords
Bird feeders; Bird seed; Disease; Pet food; Rabies; Skunk
