A Michael Broad Blog
NEWS AND COMMENT: There is an interesting little article in The Times today about the rare hazel dormouse going extinct in effect in the UK. The gradual extinction of the hazel dormouse in the UK is a paradigm of the causes of extinction of other species in the UK, which is why I am …
A mice infestation is seeing 7 mice in 24 hours in your kitchen according to this woman and her daughter. I think that is a pretty fair assessment. So, let’s decide that if you see 7 or more mice in your home in one 24-hour cycle you have a genuine mice infestation which means …
There is a lot of talk nowadays about the killing of small mammals, marsupials and reptiles plus birds by unsupervised domestic cats outdoors, stray cats and feral cats. This topic highlights the biggest negative against domestic cat ownership currently on the agenda. Since 2005 there have been discussions about how to minimise the impact …
In general, cat owners don’t like the fact that their domestic cat companions hunt. Clearly, I’m referring to cats allowed outside. A lot of cat owners also want their cats to go outside so that they are mentally stimulated and can express their natural desires. But they don’t like the fact that they kill …
Why do domestic cats eat the heads of mice that they catch? The answer is simple: it’s nutritious food. The domestic cat does not differentiate between different parts of the body except for one part which is the gallbladder because it’s too bitter. It contains bile. Often domestic cats will leave it behind. But …
It is said that Australia’s out-of-control mouse plague could last for up to 2 years unless the government takes urgent action in giving farmers free poison which is an anticoagulant. The mice die of internal bleeding. The trouble is that the poison is dangerous to other wildlife. Trying to kill a specific animal with …
Professor Benjamin Hart from the University of California’s School of Veterinary Medicine claims that mice produce lactones which act like catnip on domestic cats and, in doing so, it acts as a defence against being killed by said cats! Catnip contains a molecule called nepetalactone. You can see the connection in terms of chemistry. …
Because of eons of gradually refining evolution, the domestic cat is at the pinnacle of her predatory skills. She is one of the world’s finest predators, top of their food chain, highly efficient and devastating. Domestic cats vary in their eagerness to hunt and mine is at the top end of the spectrum in …
