> You’ll often read the argument that it was this that led humans to keep cats around in their early settlements. However, I strongly disagree with these arguments. Ancient humans did not keep cats around to control mouse populations. That’s just ridiculous. There are just too many mice to effectively control with any number of cats. Seriously… think about it… a typical female mouse can birth anywhere between five and ten litters a year, with each litter consisting of around six baby mouse pups. Mouse populations can, therefore, theoretically, multiply by 15x to 30x over the course of a single year.
>
> There is no way any number of cats can control this many rodents.
And how many mice do cats eat per year? And what are the effects on birth rates when mice are terrified 24/7 they are being stalked by predators, and will be killed the moment they stop being terrified and casually stroll around eating grain?
I get what you’re saying, but I think the numbers still don’t add up. We have a study from 2013 that shows that each feral cat kills an average of between 129 and 338 small mammals a year. That’s all small mammals so includes a bunch of different animals other than mice. It might seem like a large number, but considering how each female mouse is able to give birth to 35+ mice each year, you’d need the town to be overrun by stray and feral cats to get any form of meaningful rodent control.
You would basically need 1 cat per 8 mice to keep the mouse population under control. That’s a lot of cats.
> You’ll often read the argument that it was this that led humans to keep cats around in their early settlements. However, I strongly disagree with these arguments. Ancient humans did not keep cats around to control mouse populations. That’s just ridiculous. There are just too many mice to effectively control with any number of cats. Seriously… think about it… a typical female mouse can birth anywhere between five and ten litters a year, with each litter consisting of around six baby mouse pups. Mouse populations can, therefore, theoretically, multiply by 15x to 30x over the course of a single year.
>
> There is no way any number of cats can control this many rodents.
And how many mice do cats eat per year? And what are the effects on birth rates when mice are terrified 24/7 they are being stalked by predators, and will be killed the moment they stop being terrified and casually stroll around eating grain?
Hi. Thanks for the comment.
I get what you’re saying, but I think the numbers still don’t add up. We have a study from 2013 that shows that each feral cat kills an average of between 129 and 338 small mammals a year. That’s all small mammals so includes a bunch of different animals other than mice. It might seem like a large number, but considering how each female mouse is able to give birth to 35+ mice each year, you’d need the town to be overrun by stray and feral cats to get any form of meaningful rodent control.
You would basically need 1 cat per 8 mice to keep the mouse population under control. That’s a lot of cats.