The rich resource of rodents in urban areas is likely to have encouraged the first cats into close association with humans, as discussed earlier. Rodents and birds (especially synanthropic species, e.g. sparrows, pigeons) are also a major food source for a number of other carnivore species, most notably coyotes, red foxes, stone martens and badgers. Rodents are present in 42% of Chicago coyote scats (Morey et al., 2007) and 26% of Zürich red fox stomachs (where
they make up 11% of total stomach content; Staurosporine clinical trial Contesse et al., 2004). Rodent remains are present in 14.3% of Tokyo Japanese badger scats in spring (Kaneko et al., 2006). Although they only make up 5% of stomach volume, bird prey were present in 24% of Zürich red fox stomachs (Contesse et al.,
2004). In California, bird remains are present in 70% of fox scats in built-up areas including extensive amounts of duck and passerine remains, with egg shell in 5% of scats (Lewis et al., 1993). 6.2% of badger samples collected in Bristol (Harris, 1984), but 29% of urban Tokyo Japanese badger scats (Kaneko et al., 2006) include bird remains during spring (when birds are breeding). In urban Luxembourg, stone martens prey principally on synanthropic birds and mammals www.selleckchem.com/products/abt-199.html (Herr, 2008). Lanszki (2003) compared stone
marten scats from a small village and surrounding agricultural area in Hungary. Stone martens from both areas relied heavily on fruit (cultivated fruit for village animals, more wild fruit in rural animals), while village check details martens included a high proportion of birds (e.g. house sparrows) in their diet (20% for village compared with 11% for rural animals) but fewer mammals (13% for village compared with 35% for rural animals). Urban carnivores may also make use of domestic animals as prey. For example, three studies report that between 1 and 13% of the diet of urban coyotes is made up of cats (MacCracken, 1982; Quinn, 1997b; Morey et al., 2007). Urban areas may also provide food for scavenging in that the numbers of road kills around towns and cities is likely to be higher than it is for rural areas. For example, in a park surrounded by urbanization in Ohio, US, coyotes eat a primarily ‘natural’ diet of small to large mammals, but they also take advantage of the many white-tailed deer road-kill carcasses (Cepak, 2004), a resource that would normally be rare. Pets and livestock (including hens, cats, dogs, rabbits and cattle) make up 4.5% of the gut volume of Zürich red foxes (Contesse et al., 2004) and a small proportion of the diet of Californian red foxes (Lewis et al., 1993).