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Post by NellyDee on Oct 7, 2019 11:56:20 GMT
I was fascinated to see Feral cat wandering down the path to where a Pine Marten was busy feeding (I put food out for it under the BBQ cover). I don't know which got the fright first but they both rushed off in the same direction. A few seconds later the cat reappears and walks off towards the gate. If you watch the trailer, the Pine Marten reappears from under the trailer and goes back to feeding. I must say I was relieved as I thought the feral cats would go for the Pine Martens, butit seems they are frightened of the Pine Martens, I have seen them on subsequent vidoes, turning and walking away if they see a Pine Marten.  Cat V Pine Marten fright by Helen Skelton, on Flickr |
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Post by Tringa on Oct 8, 2019 7:56:47 GMT
Interesting video, as interactions between animals always are. This is what happens here. The cats generally chase the pine martens, or the martens disappear before a chase can happen.
I don't know how serious the chases are because I never see the end of them. Perhaps it would end in a fight if the pine martens could not escape somewhere, or perhaps its just, I suspect, 'seeing the other animal off'.
I have not seen your other observation, ie cats walking away from pine martens.
Dave
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Post by NellyDee on Oct 8, 2019 11:57:28 GMT
Re cats walking away from Pine Martens, generally pick this up when watching the Pine Marten, one of the feral cats actually runs away if it spots the Pine Marten and one turns and walks away. Another intersting observation last night It was very busy on the mammal front, as well as the weather being artocious - gales force wind and heavy rain. This was from one CCTV Camera which covers what I call the deck and where I put food for Pine Marten under BBQ Cover, The stone wall up to a higher level where there is a feeder (table with various hangers etc) and then to the side the road and up towards the railway. So first Pine Marten came down the stonewall and, was busy feeding under BBQ cover, every now and then dashed out and ran under one of the benches or stood up and looked around. The fox appeared up by the feeders and had a good old sniff around, think trying to pick up scent and came along the road and looked past the car then ran down the road. The Pine Marten at this point had gone to the Veranda, where I also put food. The feral cat then appeared went up the wall and went around the feeders - think was eating dropped nuts or something. It then went up the back and to my surprised the Fox appeared and chased it up towards the railway line. don't know what happened as by this point I could only see pairs of eyes weaving amid the shrubs. It seemed to me that the Fox was obviously following scents and looking around. The feral cat checked the Pine Marten was nowhere near the BBQ before progressing up to the feeders (as a bye the Bye the feral cats eat sultanas and peanuts. The Fox eats apples and leaves the skins). The Pine Marten, though being cautious and checking now then just continued to eat. It is probably comfortable in the knowledge that there are plenty of hight places it can escape to - tht is the roof of the house and nearby trees. Here is a clip from last night with Pine Marten having a look. i did not trim down photo so you can see what I am talking about re lay of the land  Pine Marten observing 1 by Helen Skelton, on Flickr |
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Post by Tringa on Oct 8, 2019 13:07:15 GMT
Typical pine marten having a good look around there.
Interesting that the fox chased the cat.
Back in London when we had a cat(she was semi-feral and had adopted us) the interactions between her and foxes followed one of two courses.
Either, while aware of each other, they left each other alone(well over 95% of the the time), or the fox was made aware whose garden they were in and that its presence was not acceptable. My interpretation was that two predators of, very roughly, comparable size would avoid a fight, especially as food is easy to get in an urban area.
Perhaps because you are in a rural area, food is more difficult for both to come by and competition is greater.
Dave
What did we do before CCTV and trail cameras?
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Post by rowanberry on Oct 9, 2019 21:06:11 GMT
It's certainly been interesting, seeing just how much activity is going on out there after dark!
I've only seen a few interactions between foxes and cats, but they seem to have an agreement to ignore each other. The cats seem to know when the foxes are about to put in an appearance and wander off nonchalantly. I've not see any aggression displayed, but the cats are extremely well-fed and don't have any need to squabble. I think the attraction of chasing frogs and mice is for entertainment purposes only.
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