Food Habits of the Feral House Cat in East-Central Texas

Abstract

During a 2-year ecological study (1950-51) in the Post Oak Region of east-central Texas, 33 house cats were collected in Brazos, Robertson and neighboring counties in an effort to determine the significance of this mammal as a potential predator of the bobwhite. Rodents constituted the largest percentage of vertebrate prey, especially the cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), 15 of which were removed from the stomachs of 13 cats. The remains of a bobwhite quail were found in one cat stomach. Remains of the cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus), the house mouse (Mus musculus), the hispid pocket mouse (Perognathus hispidus) and the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus sp.), as well as 4 species of reptiles, the domestic chicken, the red-wing blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) and numerous insects were also encountered. Apparently, bobwhites in the Post Oak Region are preyed upon by the feral house cat only incidentally.