Feral Cats Versus Invasive Rats !
The story of the Bengal – Tabby mix feral cat that lives wild in the jungle behind the backyard continues – past videos on this cat are listed below.
As an avid birder and an animal lover I began studying this amazing cat just as one would any animal – and he has forced me to reconsider my preconceived notions about feral cats. I'm working on a new full length documentary about this cat after a lucky breakthrough finding its daytime lair and have crossed through the portal into the wild to film in his secret nocturnal world!
Nearly everyone has an opinion about feral cats – but who talks about invasive rats?
The Roof Rat, Palm Rat, fruit rat or Rattus Rattus – the lesser known of the two introduced rats in the US - infests Florida and much of the Southeast U.S. There are tens of millions of them in the Southeast and hundreds just in the jungle behind the Backyard.
They live in trees in the wild, but also like the thick brush and marshy habitat of drainage ditches and canals surrounded by Pametto thickets and use fence lines and powerlines as their highways. They are omnivorous, and can have four to six litters a year, with six to eight babies per litter.
In six months of studying this cat I did not document any significant negative impact on the birds and small daytime mammals in my backyard such as squirrels – but I clearly observed the negative impact of the invasive roof rat.
Not a single cavity nesting bird or bird nesting in Palmetto's have a snowball's chance in hell of having a successful nest in a tree with these rodents around. That is probably why all my protected nest boxes have birds fighting and waiting in line to use them! The rats are relentless in displacing birds from nesting sites even eating their eggs .
This feral cat spends all night - every night - hunting rats and lizards and anything else it can find to survive, but birds are generally out of the cats reach, but not the reach of the rats with their amazing climbing and jumping ability to reach almost any nest in any tree.
There is much more to the secret world of this feral cat. Stay tuned for the whole story coming in July!
Previous videos on this cat:
The Secret Life of a Feral Cat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVPWvFW0Jwk
Feral Cat Staring Contest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEOEob5Ja6g
Feral Cat Documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-p-Hqfab9Y
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