Hi Everyone,
First of all I like cats I use to own two myself.But now i find myself on catwatch and this morning was no exception.A new cat a few doors down has taken a fancy to my garden and just stares at me when i go to shoo it away so I have to make quite a song and dance about it.Today It decided to eat the mealworms I scattered around for the ground feeding birds, I couldn't believe it,I have about four different cats stop by in my garden.
I know many of you have posted about cats on here and believe me i have read them.But those of you who have put the green stuff or wire on your fences could you please post me some pics I am at the end of my tether now and would like to see what you have done.
Many thanks
Littleowl : - (
Yep, absolutely - they have a lot less taste buds than mammals, and their sense of smell is also less developed (they make up for this by finding food with eyesight that detects movement faster than mammals and stretches into wider colour wavelengths, enabing UV vision in many).
Birds are unaffected by "capsaicin" - the active ingredient in chilli peppers. Research has shown that there is no evidence that birds code capsaicin as an irritant at concentrations as high as 20,000 ppm (parts per million) -the hottest chilli is about 2,000 ppm. Mammals reject capsaicin concentrations as low as 1-10 ppm.
Most botanists and ornithologists believe that chilli peppers evolved this way so that small mammals would avoid the hot taste, while birds freely eat pungent pepper pods. This adaptation/coevolution would result in wide-ranging dispersal of undigested chilli seeds to ensure natural growth and long term survival of the chilli pepper plant. Chilli pepper seeds consumed by birds pass through the digestive tract unharmed, whereas those consumed by mammals do not germinate at all. The presence of capsaicin in the chillies therefore protects them from being consumed by mammals, which have molars that can kill seeds.
This is why it can also be an effective way to deter squirrels from eating your bird food.....
Help swifts by letting us know what they're up to - fill in the 2010 survey