For project two, I decided to follow and evaluate the stray
cat population on the Arizona State University campus. The cats on campus caught my eye the first
day of school and caused the curiosity of why so many were just left without a
home. They congregate outside of dorms and under the trees, or even in the
trees. It should be more concerning to
people about the wellbeing of the animals and if they are living a decent life
as a stray on campus. I plan on finding
the main places that the cats tend to be and evaluate the type of life that
these cats are living. I will attempt to figure out what they eat, how often,
if any of them actually have a home, and maybe even try to figure out why they
stay on campus after being left behind.
The
first source I will use for this project is the book Cats by Dean Morris that is 272 pages long. This book establishes
an introduction to wild and domestic cats, their common behavior patterns, and
even individual traits of specific cats. This book helps people understand the
basic fundamentals of cats and why they act a certain way. This book will allow
me to compare and contrast the differences between domestic and wild cats. I
can use this source while trying to understand the basic behaviors of cats and
it will help me explain the topic easily. I will mainly use this book for its
information on behavior patterns since it is the biggest section in the book.
The
second source I will be using for the project is an article called The social behavior of cats. I. Competitive
and aggressive behavior in an experimental runaway situation, by C. N.
Winslow that is 19 pages. This articles goes in depth about how cats can become
competitive and aggressive when they are left to fend for themselves or in a
runaway situation. It observes a cats
aggressiveness towards other felines and other animals such as dogs, birds, and
even humans. This article will become handy when I try to explain how leaving a
cat or approaching a stray cat is dangerous for both the animal and yourself.
Having animals on campus that could potentially attack you is never a good
thing, and should be addressed.
The last source I will be using for this
project is another book called Animal
Behavior, by Reena Mathur and it has 287 pages. This book goes over all of
the biological, genetic, and chemical processes that happen to animals when
they were once domestic but turn into a strays and abandoned animals. It also
explains the “pact” attitudes of animals and why the congregate when owners are
no longer in the picture. I will be able
to use this book when I look at the habits and patterns of large groups of
cats. It will also help me understand why they do certain things in groups or
how they have developed certain personalities or attitudes in situations.
I think that this can definitely be an interesting topic to write about. I always see these cats around campus, it is pretty sketchy I have never seen anything like it. I think it could be cool to see where all these cats are living and what they eat. A suggestion being that maybe you could find how these cats work together while talking about how they are also competing against each other. I sometimes see two cats traveling together and it could be interesting to see why they do that. Another thing you can check out is I don’t know if there are different types of cats like there is dogs, I know I have seen different color cats so maybe that has something to do with their lifestyles. Then the last thing being if the community is doing anything about these cats on campus, maybe giving them homes or relocating them, I know I wouldn’t want a stray cat but maybe there is people who would.
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