Bibs for cats cut hunting deaths

Cat owners will be familiar with the problem of their pets bringing home dead mice, birds and other small animals. But scientists have found a way to stop cats hunting and killing wildlife.

A study in Australia has shown that the number of birds and other creatures capture by cats fell dramatically if the pets were fitted with brightly coloured bibs.

Cats wearing the bibs were still able to eat, run and groom themselves, but it was much harder for them to catch wild birds and animals. The bibs are completely safe for the pets to wear and most cats become accustomed to them within a few days.

Domestic cats are a particular problem in Australia, where they kill about 100 million native animals each year. Because of this, pet cats have a poor image in the country and cat ownership is falling.

In the study, a team led by Mike Calver, a biologist at Murdoch University in Western Australia, recruited the owners of 56 cats that regularly brought dead animals back home.

The owners were asked to keep a record of the creatures the cats brought back over a six-week period. For the final three weeks the cats were fitted with bibs.

Together the cats brought back 296 creatures, including 65 birds, 67 amphibians or reptiles and 164 mammals, such as mice, rats and bats.

Putting bibs on the cats prevented 81% from catching birds, 45% from capturing mammals and 33% from taking amphibians and reptiles. According to the study, the bibs cut bird deaths by 67%.

Calver thinks the bibs are a good answer to the problem. "We are trying to find a way to allow people to have all the pleasures of owning a pet cat, while at the same time not to have the problem of them catching wildlife," he said.

Lesson Plan

Tell students they are going to read an article about an invention for cats. Ask if anybody owns a cat and elicit information about it. Put students into groups and ask them to brainstorm the advantages/disadvantages of keeping a pet cat. Write their ideas on the board as a group (leave up ideas, as they will be needed later). Aim to cover the following words during this stage: pet, domestic cat, owner, ownership, groom, mice, creature, mammal - 7 mins

Give out a copy of the photo (minus headline and caption) to students in pairs. Point to the cat bib in the picture and ask: what do you think this thing is? Write on the board the phrase: "It's a thing which ..." Demonstrate how to use the phrase. Students in pairs write their own sentences about the possible use of the object. Discuss whose idea sounds the most probable without revealing the real answer. - 8 mins

Give out copies of the article. Ask students to quickly read the headline and the first three paragraphs to see if their idea about the object were correct. Class feedback. Work out an appropriate sentence as a class, eg, "It's a thing which stops cats from catching mice." - 5 mins

Write up the sentences below on the board and explain any unknown words. Students read the whole article and choose the correct word in each sentence. Pair check. Class feedback - 10 mins

1. The new study was done in Australia/Australia and Britain.
2. The bibs stop/don't stop cats from doing normal things such as eating.
3. Cats take a few days/weeks to become accustomed to the bibs.
4. Cats in Australia have a positive/negative image.
5. Cat ownership in Australia is going up/down.
6. The study looked at cats that often/rarely brought home dead animals.
7. The bibs were most successful at stopping cats from catching small mammals/birds.

Look back at the advantages and disadvantages of owning a cat from step 1. Do students want to add any more things to the list? Then explain to students that they are going to work in "families" of four. Two members of the family want to get a cat, but the other two don't. As a class go through the phrases that would be useful to persuade someone to get a cat/not get a cat. Then put the students into their "families" to discuss and finally decide on whether to get a cat or not. Class feedback. - 20 mins