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Ethological response of the domestic cat to the presence of catnip
MIŠÁKOVÁ, Johana
The aim of the bachelor's thesis is to describe the ethology of the domestic cat, the characteristics of the catnip and, through an experiment, also the relationship between them. The experiment consisted in gradually placing 10 cats (subjects) in a clean and closed space, always together with one plant. Two types of plants were used - catnip (examined) and lemon balm (control). For an organized comparison, three categories of behavior were defined - nervous, calm, and playful. Furthermore, the share of activities and types of interaction with the plant were evaluated. The obtained results provide more detailed information regarding the ethological response of the domestic cat to the live catnip plant.
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Faktory ovlivňující početnost nepůvodního savčího predátora kočky domácí (Felis catus) ve středoevropské kulturní krajině a lidských sídlech.
KALENDOVÁ, Pavlína
The domestic cat is currently one of the most widespread invasive predators, which causes great losses to populations of many species. Due to its strong association with humans, individuals of this species are found on almost every continent and many islands, where it acts as a strong extinction factor. Using point counts, I surveyed the abundance of cats and bird species in the vicinity of České Budějovice and evaluated whether selected environmental factors influence the presence of domestic cats. The selected factors included site type, habitat, weather, temperature, season, and amount of vegetation at the site at the time of the inspection. The weather was only factor that had a statistically significant effect. Specifically, more cats were recorded on partly cloudy and sunny days than on bright or gloomy days. I also investigated whether the presence of the domestic cat at a given location has an effect on the number of recorded bird species or the number of individuals. According to the results, the presence of one or more cats at particular sites did not have a statistically significant effect on the number of bird species or the number of individuals.
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Reproduction failure as a counterstrategy against potential infanticide
Ivanková, Lucia ; Bartoš, Luděk (advisor) ; Adéla, Adéla (referee)
The domestic cat is along with the dog recently the most common and popular pet. Unlike the dog the cat kept her appearance and nature without major changes despite long years of domestication. She has been highly adaptive to extremely variable conditions.
Beeing a prolific species she breeds succesfully in wide range of enviromental conditions and in a large spectrum of climatic conditions from subarctic to tropical regions. She reproduces successfully in urban colonies in high density of thousands of cats per square kilometre as well as in arctic regions with the population density equal to one cat per square kilometre. Mating strategy varies from promiscuous behaviour, through polygyny/polyandry system, to monogamy.
The infanticide in felinae is a common reproductive strategy. Male kills dependent offspring sired by another male in order to hasten the female oestrus and to reproduce with her himself. In domestic cats the infanticide attracts long-lasting discussion. However, in reality reports on the incidence of infanticide has been scarce.
One of the possible female counter-strategies is pregnancy block, known as a Bruce effect. The mated female blocks the blastocyte implantation when facing the treath of possible infanticide to avoid waste of energy by delivering offspring with poor chance for survival. Based on the questionnaire survey we have estimated the possibility of reproduction failure in a situation of potential male infanticide. From data which we have obtained we could not yet check the advanced hypothesis due to lack of variation and very few recorded cases of reproduction failure. On the other hand, we have accumulated extended information of the cat reproduction. In the future we are planning to collect more data in order to be able to test properly the hypothesis.
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Fragmentation and mammalian carnivores in forest habitats: variables which affect carnivores distribution and habitat choice
PAVLUVČÍK, Petr
The human use of landscape causes fragmentation and loss of original habitats. Different species vary in their sensitivity to habitat loss. Especially carnivores can be more sensitive to decrease of their habitat because of lower abundance of their prey. On the other hand several opportunistic carnivores can profit in human modified habitats. This study was carried out in the České Budějovice basin, Czech Republic during the years 2008 and 2009 and the aim of this study was to determine carnivore{\crq}s habitat preferences in the fragmented landscape. During these two years were seven carnivore species monitored in forest patches by using scent stations. Records of this monitoring were compared with physiognomy of these patches and structure of surrounding landscape.
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