著者

Akihiro YAMANE Yuiti ONO Teruo DOI

出版者

The Mammal Society of Japan

雑誌

Journal of the Mammalogical Society of Japan (ISSN:09141855)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.19, no.1, pp.9-20, 1994 (Released:2007-12-28)

参考文献数

20

被引用文献数

2

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Home range size and spacing patterns of feral cats (Felis catus) were investigated and data analyzed quantitatively, to clarify the factors affecting their social organization. "Feeding groups" were identified. These consisted of male and female members which used the same garbage site mainly for feeding (Izawa et al. 1982). The spacing patterns of females showed that they defended their feeding sites from use by females of other groups. During each season mean home range size was significantly greater for males than for females. Males expanded their ranges during the females' estrous season when their mean size exceeded the predicted size based purely on metabolic requirements. Furthermore, male home range size (during the estrous season) was correlated directly with the number of females they courted. These results suggest that the mating resource, the number of receptive females, is more important in determining male home range size during the estrous season than is the food resource.