Many National Parks have free-roaming cats. The Parks are responsible for removing the cats to protect native species from predation, competition, and diseases. However, their cat control efforts are hindered by native mammals (e.g. foxes, skunks, raccoons, and opossums) attracted to the bait that is used to trap cats and therefore they end up being trapped instead of the cats. The native animals not only, in general, occur in greater densities in the Parks than cats but, unlike cats, they rely on olfactory cues that can detect the bait from greater distances. Therefore the native mammals are more likely to be caught in the traps than the target species. MORE
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/brdscience/pobs1.aspx?region=National Capital
Page Contact Information: Paul_Geissler@usgs.gov
