Free-ranging Cats : Behavior, Ecology, Management

 Content: Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Preface; Abbreviations and symbols; About the companion website; Chapter 1 Dominance; 1.1 Introduction; 1.2 Dominance defined; 1.3 Dominance status and dominance hierarchies; 1.4 Dominance-submissive behavior; 1.5 Dominance in free-ranging cats; Chapter 2 Space; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 Space defined; 2.3 Diel activity; 2.4 Dispersal; 2.5 Inbreeding avoidance; 2.6 Home-range boundaries; 2.7 Determinants of home-range size; 2.8 Habitat selection; 2.9 Scent-marking; Chapter 3 Interaction; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 The asocial domestic cat 3.3 Solitary or social?3.4 Cooperative or not?; 3.5 The kinship dilemma; 3.6 What it takes to be social; Chapter 4 Reproduction; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Female reproductive biology; 4.3 Male reproductive biology; 4.4 The cat mating system: promiscuity or polygyny?; 4.5 Female mating behavior; 4.6 Male mating behavior; 4.7 Female choice; Chapter 5 Development; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 Intrauterine development; 5.3 Dens; 5.4 Parturition; 5.5 Early maturation; 5.6 Nursing; 5.7 Weaning; 5.8 Survival; 5.9 Effect of early weaning and separation; 5.10 Early predatory behavior Chapter 6 Emulative learning and play6.1 Introduction; 6.2 Emulative learning; 6.3 Play; 6.4 Ontogenesis of play; 6.5 What is play?; Chapter 7 Nutrition; 7.1 Introduction; 7.2 Proximate composition; 7.3 Proteins; 7.4 Fats; 7.5 Carbohydrates; 7.6 Fiber; 7.7 Vitamins; Chapter 8 Water balance and energy; 8.1 Introduction; 8.2 Water balance; 8.3 Energy; 8.4 Energy needs of free-ranging cats; 8.5 Energy costs of pregnancy and lactation; 8.6 Obesity; Chapter 9 Foraging; 9.1 Introduction; 9.2 Cats as predators; 9.3 Scavenging; 9.4 When cats hunt; 9.5 Food intake of feral cats 9.6 How cats detect prey9.7 How cats hunt; 9.8 What cats hunt; 9.9 Prey selection; 9.10 The motivation to hunt; Chapter 10 Management; 10.1 Introduction; 10.2 Effect of free-ranging cats on wildlife; 10.3 Trap-neuter-release (TNR); 10.4 Biological control; 10.5 Poisoning and other eradication methods; 10.6 Integrated control; 10.7 Preparation for eradication programs; 10.8 ''Secondary'' prey management; References; Index; EULA
 Abstract:             Feral and stray domestic cats occupy many different habitats. They can resist dehydration for months by relying exclusively on the tissue water of their prey allowing them to colonize remote deserts and other inhospitableplaces. They thrive and reproduce in humid equatorial rainforests and windswept subantarctic islands. In many areas of the world feral cats have driven some species of birds and mammals to extinction and others to the edge, becoming a huge conservation concern. With the control of feral and stray cats now a top conservation priority, biologists are intensifying effort