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The thing I love about cats is that
they're very independent,

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but very loving.

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You can play with them.
They're comforting. They're furry.

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00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:27,400
If he's out, I get lonely.
When he's in, fine, I'm all right.

5
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Well, you can see how lovely
it is to have him near me

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and be able to stroke him.

7
00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:43,360
We may love our cats,
but how much do we really know them?

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00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,600
They have a secret life
that remains a mystery.

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With leading cat scientists,

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Horizon has set up an experiment
to find out what they get up to.

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..Wandering round. Go back.
Go back a bit.

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Across the week,

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50 cats in this village will be put
under 24-hour surveillance.

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Good boy! Are you wanting to go
outside and we can see what
you're doing with that camera on?

15
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They'll be wearing specially
designed cat cameras to show us

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what they do
when they're not at home.

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And carrying GPS receivers to
reveal their secret journeys.

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What's unique about this
experiment is that it reveals

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how 50 cats live,
crowded together...

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..how they hunt and fight...

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Really a classic stand-off.

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..and the surprising strategies
they use to get along.

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It raises the intriguing possibility
that our cats may be changing

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and that could be down to us.

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I'm going to find Shamley
on the map for us.

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John Bradshaw and Sarah Ellis

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are two of Britain's
leading cat scientists.

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It should sweep round to the right.

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They're on their way to the village
of Shamley Green in Surrey to

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recruit cats for the study.

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I think one of the things that will
be really interesting about this

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study is, it's every owner's
dream to find out what their cat

33
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does as soon as they go
through that cat flap.

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Well, let's hope it's going to
be...their dreams are going to

35
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be satisfied,
it won't be a nightmare.

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The cat sniffing into the butcher's
next door and stealing sausages.
SHE LAUGHS

37
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There are over ten million
cats in the UK

38
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and the highest density of them
are found here,

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in the southeast of England.

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But despite their popularity,
scientists know surprisingly little

41
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about their behaviour once
they've left the cat flap.

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Got a fairly wide
range of types of housing

43
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and, hopefully, types of cat here.

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Yeah, definitely.

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The built-up area, if I'm looking
at the map, seems to be behind us.

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And then these houses in front of us
look to back all on to fields.

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They want to find out more about how
far cats travel each day...

48
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So hopefully we'll get cats roaming
out of their back gardens

49
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and up into the farms.

50
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..how these solitary creatures
manage to live side by side...

51
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I'll expect some of these
houses in this more built-up area,

52
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there might be multi-cat households.

53
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..and where cats really
find their food.

54
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I've really been
interested in the cat

55
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because it's that combination of wild
animal and domestic animal,

56
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and the changes
that are going on within it,

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that I find fascinating
as a biologist.

58
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The scientists are looking to
recruit 50 cats of all ages,

59
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sizes and breeds.

60
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I've got three cats,
if that's any good!

61
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I've got one.

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On average, cats live to about 15
and weigh in at around four kilos.

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This is Lily. She's
an 18-month-old Bengal that I bred.

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This is Obi,
short for Obi Wan Kenobi.

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This is Kato.
Claude's quite a character

66
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and he has various
girlfriends in the district.

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Does quite a lot of hunting.

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I want to find out where he gets
them all from. That's what I said.

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They go out every night
and come back and sleep all day,

70
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so it'll be quite
interesting to see how far they go.

71
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My husband thinks
he just goes ten feet up the woods,

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but I think he goes a lot further.

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He used to belong to a lady over
the road, but he left home.

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They've now got a dog.

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Everyone's gathered in the village
hall to meet the scientists

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and find out more
about what the study will involve.

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We want to get a picture
of your cat's natural, normal life,

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so don't do anything different,
don't change your routines,

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don't lock the cat flap,

80
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don't suddenly call up the local
handyman and get a cat flap put in.

81
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Let the cat do what it usually does
and hopefully we will build up

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this picture of what it's like
to be a cat in Shamley Green.

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I'll now hand over to Alan,
who is the technical expert,

84
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among many other things.

85
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Alan Wilson's task is to devise
a new way to track the cats.

86
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He's a world expert in tracking
wild animals.

87
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Where we do most of that work
is in Botswana, in Africa.

88
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So we design and build things
like this. This will fit on a lion.

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LAUGHTER
This will fit on a cheetah
or an African wild dog.

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The technology that Alan has
developed for the big cats is

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an advanced GPS tracker.

92
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It tracks the animal's
position, speed

93
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and how fast they're accelerating,
step by step.

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The collar has got solar
panels on the top, it's got

95
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electronics in the top here and then
the batteries on the bottom,

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and a radio antenna.

97
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So this will give us
the position of our animals

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to tens of centimetres,
300 times a second,

99
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and how fast they're going,

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so we actually get exquisitely fine
detail about what they're doing,

101
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where they're moving,
what terrain they're moving in,

102
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how they're hunting, when they're
successful and when they aren't.

103
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It really is opening up whole new
measurements that weren't

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possible before with traditional
tracking collars.

105
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The information he's gathered has
transformed our understanding

106
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about how these fearsome predators
live in the wild.

107
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We're going to turn on the GPS
loggers.

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He now has to do
the same for our pet moggies

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by miniaturising his technology.

110
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And today, he's testing it
out for the first time.

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This is Zach, this is my dog.

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Zach's quite an expert on testing
our collars for us.

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Here's one of our wildlife collars
that we're using in Botswana.

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We've developed three smaller GPS
modules we want to try on the cats.

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And we can then compare
the performance of those

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and see how well they work, compared
to what's our gold standard,

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which is our wildlife collar.
I think it's going to be quite
challenging.

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I think they're going to object to
it a lot more than our wild cats do.

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And they're a lot smaller,
so the size of the collar is much
more of a challenge.

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And, yes,
I don't think it's going to be easy.

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Here, at the Royal Veterinary
College,

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Alan Wilson's
colleagues are developing

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a cat-tracking system that is
accurate to within centimetres,

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incredibly lightweight,
so the cats will wear it,

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with a battery life that will
last 24 hours.

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Zach, come!

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Cats are known to travel
up to 31mph,

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often under the cover of trees
and undergrowth.

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So Alan now has to analyse his data

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and choose a tracker that is robust
and accurate enough.

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And here it is.

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There are 50 of them,

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and the owners are queuing up to
get their hands on one.

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Fantastic!

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Give her another stroke.

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Excellent, and let her eat.

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Have one of these.
More food for him?

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Amazing.

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Within a few days, we've got
50 collars on 50 cats.

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Everything is now in place
for the study to begin.

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The scientists are setting up
base in the village hall.

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The operation will run day
and night, across the week.

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They've brought in an undercover
surveillance crew

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so they can secretly film the cats.

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We're having five more cameras dotted
around. One on top of the garage.

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So hopefully,
we'll be able to see what's going on.

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With the technology in place,
it's now all down to the cats.

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The scientists
arrive at the village hall,

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just as the first day's GPS
data is coming in.

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261.

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301, 302, 303.

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Alan's team of engineers have
worked through the night,

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wrangling the data and finding a way

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to visualise the cats'
precise movements over 24 hours.

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This is our village green here.
The deli's here, isn't it? Or here.

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A detailed picture of the cats'
first 24 hours of activity

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now starts to emerge.

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Have you seen this one?
It's quite exciting.

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Each cat is represented
by a different trace.

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Brutus,
who simply patrols around his home.

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Molly, who's drawn
to the neighbouring wood.

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And Ginger, who heads out
to a neighbour's house.

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The first question is, how far
they travel beyond the cat flap,

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which is what scientists
call the cat's home range.

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Sooty, who lives on the edge of the
village, grabs everyone's attention.

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It's quite a big range. Hmm.

167
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What do we know about Sooty, John?

168
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OK, so Sooty is an ex-farm cat,

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so that would figure.

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Sooty has walked
two miles in the first day,

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but he's gone just 160 metres
in each direction from his home.

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Sooty's really covering
about three hectares.

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He tends to travel quite a range
in this one particular time period.

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But Sooty is unusual.

175
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In the heart of the village

176
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the average male cat goes
just over 100 metres from his house,

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and female cats just over half that.

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Some of our cats that lived
in this much more dense area,

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actually how far they went was much
denser, was much closer, wasn't it?
Yes.

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So the cat density is probably
much higher here than it is here.

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And we've got a much wider
roaming on this particular day.

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Another thing that's clear
is that these cats

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seem to have distinct patches
that they roam in.

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Some areas of the village

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which apparently
aren't being used by the cats,

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but then it may not be,
of course, a typical evening.

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One day.
Not the greatest of weather.

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So the secret world of cats
happens close to your back door,

189
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just out of sight.

190
00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,840
Even if they don't
go far from the cat flap,

191
00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:14,520
they are still busy patrolling
round and round the same area.

192
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,920
Which do you think is
the one who's travelled furthest?

193
00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,480
I think Sooty's the one
who's done most walking around.

194
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,320
What we're seeing here
on the screen is

195
00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:29,720
the very first indication
we've ever had

196
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,800
of the detail of the pet cat's life
when it's outside the home.

197
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,840
Billy's travelled on this excursion
up to the farm and back,

198
00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,000
but looking at Sooty, Sooty
may not have ranged quite as far

199
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,240
but there's a lot more loops here.

200
00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,680
I think the fact
that we have got 50 GPS collars

201
00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,320
on cats in this village
is fantastic,

202
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,080
because one cat's behaviour
will influence another's,

203
00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,120
undoubtedly, when they're sharing
the same physical space.

204
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,760
Thomas is active nearly three
times - a little bit after dawn

205
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and then in the early afternoon

206
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:03,040
and then a big burst of activity
in the evening, 10, 11 o'clock.

207
00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:04,960
Quite a rush to get to this point

208
00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:06,960
and so many things
could have gone wrong,

209
00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:08,840
they don't seem to have done so
so far,

210
00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:10,600
so I'm really pleased,
really excited

211
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,040
about what we're going to see
over the next week

212
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:14,440
and what data we'll get.

213
00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,520
It'll be nice to see
as we go over the whole week

214
00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:21,360
whether we see any usage in areas
we're not seeing
just after one day, won't it?

215
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:22,600
Oh, yeah.

216
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,800
So what are the cats
actually getting up to

217
00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,440
when they're out on patrol?

218
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:37,000
In order to find out,

219
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,920
the BBC's research and development
department

220
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:41,880
has created a new type of camera

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00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,160
that will capture
a cat's eye view of our world.

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00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:55,480
Today, Dr Sarah Ellis and Alia
Sheikh, who developed the camera,

223
00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,040
are out to test a prototype.

224
00:16:58,040 --> 00:16:59,960
I wonder if that's recording.

225
00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:02,760
Oh, I see, that's clever.
Is it recording?

226
00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,720
It's recording now. Is it? It is.

227
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:11,960
The cat's welfare
is the first priority.

228
00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,040
The cameras are very light,

229
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:16,680
and will be fitted
onto quick-release collars

230
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:18,240
in case they get caught up.

231
00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:21,720
He's a good boy!

232
00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,120
We'll give him
a bit of fuss, that's lovely.

233
00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:26,760
And we'll play with him.

234
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,640
There's a good boy, such a good boy.

235
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,280
You're a good boy!
Are you wanting to go outside

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00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,520
and we can see what you're doing
with that camera on?

237
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,640
The cameras are then made smaller,

238
00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:47,720
able to film in the dark,

239
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,120
even record sound...

240
00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,280
..and then connected
to the GPS collars

241
00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,320
so that we can see
exactly where cats are

242
00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,720
and exactly
what they are looking at.

243
00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,200
We've chosen 14 cats
to put cameras on,

244
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:16,480
and soon the world
through their eyes starts to unfold.

245
00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:31,520
Hello, Coco.

246
00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:33,800
How are you this morning, hey?

247
00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:35,200
Yes.

248
00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,600
Cats have excellent
long-distance vision,

249
00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:01,200
but they can't focus their eyes
under 25 centimetres,

250
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,440
which is why they have whiskers.

251
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,600
They can jump up
to seven times their own height...

252
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,160
..and jump down much further.

253
00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:42,600
So far, the experiment
has revealed just how close to home

254
00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:44,840
most of the cats
in the village stay.

255
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:51,400
But as everyone knows, when cats
stray into each other's areas,

256
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,120
trouble begins.

257
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,920
GROWLING AND HISSING

258
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,760
For some cats, the privet hedges
and gravel paths

259
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:12,920
off our back gardens
are a battle ground.

260
00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:17,000
There was one cat
that came into the garden.

261
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:21,440
It wasn't so much a fight, it was
a showdown between the two of them

262
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,280
sort of staring at each other.

263
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,200
He was out all the time, he
was like the king cat of the close,

264
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,560
and he was always fighting

265
00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:32,400
and literally no-one would come...

266
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:34,440
Any other cat would be, like,
"Oh, it's Kato."

267
00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,440
I heard this tremendous fight
going on, so I got the ladder,

268
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:41,480
climbed up the hedge

269
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:42,840
to see what was going on,

270
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:46,160
and the cat was having a fight
with the neighbour's cat

271
00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:47,400
on top of the hedge.

272
00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:48,840
On top of the hedge?

273
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,280
That was... Scarface? Scarface.

274
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:54,920
He does come in occasionally,

275
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,240
frightens the life out of them.

276
00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,920
Charlie runs up the stairs to hide.

277
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,880
Scientists think that

278
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,960
many cats have a territory
much smaller than its home range.

279
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,600
It's territory
is its own personal space

280
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,720
where it eats, sleeps
and rears its young.

281
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:23,080
When another cat enters this space,

282
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,000
they instinctively
want to defend it.

283
00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:36,960
CAT MEOWS

284
00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,240
One of the questions
for the scientists

285
00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,680
is how cats establish
and defend these territories.

286
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,400
Ginger has lived in
the village for ten years,

287
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,720
and seems to be
a pretty placid, well-behaved cat.

288
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,760
We think that he just goes next door,
catches the odd bird, and sleeps.

289
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:01,760
We don't think
he goes out at night,

290
00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,280
because when you watch him,
he doesn't seem to like getting
his paws wet

291
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:09,720
or being out in the rain
or he doesn't like the cold,
he doesn't like the snow.

292
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,360
In the summer he'll just
sit and sunbathe in the garden,

293
00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:14,560
so, yes, it will be interesting.

294
00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:21,160
But appearances deceive.

295
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:25,040
Ginger, it turns out,
has a secret life.

296
00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,720
Here's Ginger, he came over here
and if we just move forward.

297
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:39,760
The GPS data shows he's making
a deliberate, provocative journey

298
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,000
into another cat's garden.

299
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,760
To see what he's up to,
the scientists put a camera on him.

300
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,680
At 8.36pm Ginger leaves the house.

301
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,560
He spends a few minutes
patrolling his own back garden.

302
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,200
Then takes a trip
across the village common.

303
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:31,560
At exactly 8.48pm, Ginger stops...

304
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,160
dead in his tracks.

305
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,200
Just as he's entered
the other cat's garden.

306
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,600
And that cat is at home.

307
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,960
HISSING AND GROWLING

308
00:23:58,120 --> 00:23:59,920
YOWLING

309
00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:03,640
Eventually Ginger makes
a run for it.

310
00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:06,080
HISSING

311
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:10,160
If you want to come in and have a
look, we've got some footage that's
come in on one of the cat cameras.

312
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:11,280
This is from Ginger,

313
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,280
and Ginger's been roaming
around the area near its house,

314
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:15,880
going through some fields.

315
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:19,480
Moving quite fast.

316
00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:23,360
He's stopped.

317
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:26,440
You can see right away there,

318
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:28,880
there's a pair of eyes
from another cat.

319
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:33,480
HISSING

320
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,560
GROWLING

321
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,240
He's running towards the other cat.

322
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,200
I think he's trying to get
a bit of distance, really,

323
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,480
more than anything, because
the other cat came towards him.

324
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,040
Definitely doesn't want
to be anywhere near him anyway.

325
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,680
Wow! That's OK.

326
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,600
It looks like really a piece
of classic stand-off

327
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,720
between two cats,

328
00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,400
where they are using hissing,
growling and yowling

329
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:08,120
to really try and keep
a distance from each other. Yeah.

330
00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:10,880
And it looks as if
it was reasonably effective there.

331
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,280
And this is Tigger,

332
00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:17,960
the cat whose garden he was in.

333
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,400
She lives in the house
on the other side of the common.

334
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:25,520
Didn't hear anything last night.

335
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,800
We do hear fights on occasions but
I didn't hear anything last night.

336
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:33,200
I'm surprised, actually,
because I always thought
that Tigger just let anyone in.

337
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,280
No, she doesn't. She does fight.

338
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:43,760
So this is how cats establish,

339
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,640
defend and even expand
their territories.

340
00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:54,920
Our night-time pictures

341
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,520
reveal that these stand-offs
are going on all the time.

342
00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:05,520
GROWLING

343
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,400
But although they found this
happening over and over again,

344
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,480
rarely did it lead to fighting.

345
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,480
They are descended
from a solitary species,

346
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,360
so if they blunder into one another,

347
00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:21,000
then it's very difficult
for either of them to back down,

348
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,640
because turning your back on another
cat is a dangerous thing to do,

349
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,440
and most cats will have learnt that
very early on.

350
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:36,960
They would actively defend
a piece of land

351
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,000
which contains their core resources.

352
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,720
Cats do sometimes actually fight.

353
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:45,560
There are actual wounds,
claws and teeth get used.

354
00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,600
But most cats will tend
to try and avoid conflicts

355
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,800
because if you rely
on yourself for survival,

356
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,120
it is not good in terms of fitness

357
00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,160
to get yourself injured.
It's incredibly costly.

358
00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:06,680
So this is a big part of what
your cat does beyond the cat flap.

359
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,960
Patrolling and facing off
the neighbours' cats...

360
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,840
..but, above all,
trying to avoid a scrap.

361
00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:44,520
Big Ginge. Big Ginge! Pebbles with
a hat on, looking quite cross.

362
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:53,160
The way they avoid fighting
isn't just by having stand-offs.

363
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,280
The scientists think there's
something intriguing happening,

364
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,880
where the cats' spaces overlap
in the middle of the village.

365
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,240
This is Phoebe, she's
been living here for six years.

366
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,200
And this is Kato.

367
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,600
He's been here even longer,
and his owner wants to find out

368
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,320
why the two cats
have become permanent enemies.

369
00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,480
He's got enemies across the road.
And do you know who that is?

370
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:29,840
Phoebe. Phoebe, OK.

371
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,040
Sarah thinks that
she may now have the answer.

372
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:39,320
The GPS data reveals
this is what Kato gets up to

373
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,520
over 24 hours as he travels
around the cul-de-sac.

374
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,840
And when you put Phoebe's
trace on the screen,

375
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,400
you get a snapshot
of HER daily routines.

376
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:50,720
So, in the green,

377
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,320
huge amount of overlap
in the space that they use.

378
00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:56,600
There is, isn't there?

379
00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,000
For cats,
which seek their own space,

380
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,640
these two cats are
on top of each other.

381
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:05,680
No wonder they are stressed.

382
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,400
But they don't seem to be
fighting much. So what's going on?

383
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:23,360
It's 11.50pm, here's Kato
heading out on his night patrol.

384
00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:27,640
He stays mostly
around the cul-de-sac,

385
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,240
and takes a trip
into the local woods.

386
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:33,920
He comes back around dawn.

387
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:36,840
An uneventful night.

388
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:42,680
And that's because Phoebe
hasn't left her home all night.

389
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:54,640
But at 7.45 in the morning,
Phoebe heads out on HER patrol.

390
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:02,360
And Kato, he's at home.

391
00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,840
Watching nervously.

392
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:13,560
A deeper look at the data
suggests that the two cats may be

393
00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:18,240
sharing the same space,
but not at the same time.

394
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:25,560
Kato's out a lot, Kato's out a lot
late in the night here,

395
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,000
and a few short forays
in the morning.

396
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,760
Phoebe's active during the day,
and mainly after lunch,
in that period here.

397
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:35,080
Not much overlap
in when they're outside.

398
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,720
So when one was active outside,
the other wasn't.

399
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,600
So we think what they're doing is...
Avoiding each other.

400
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:42,440
Yeah. Using a shift system,

401
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,240
and the occasional time
when it doesn't work,

402
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,120
that's when you're getting a fight.
Right, OK.

403
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,880
So it's nice to know that
they have got the shift system

404
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:52,840
and they are managing themselves.

405
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:58,400
And it's not just these two cats.

406
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,440
Other cats, like Billy and Molly...

407
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,560
Interesting. Molly is out at one,
two o'clock in the morning,

408
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,760
a lot of activity here in the early
morning, when Billy wasn't out.

409
00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:09,600
One's going in, one's going out.

410
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,680
..and Claude and Thomas
seem to be doing the same thing.

411
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,280
Claude comes over
into the area of Thomas,

412
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,040
Thomas is much further over,

413
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,480
they're not in the same place
at the same time,

414
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:28,440
they may time-share that area.

415
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:34,360
It seems to be happening
all over the village.

416
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:38,840
And here's how they're doing it.

417
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:44,080
A set of chemical signals
and scents which are secreted

418
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,960
from the cats' glands
in their cheeks when they rub...

419
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,320
..and from their paws
when they scratch...

420
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:03,560
..marks out who was where, and when.

421
00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:06,560
If we imagine that the cat
is putting down a Post-it note,

422
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:08,920
it says what time it was there,
who it was,

423
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:10,680
and then it leaves that area.

424
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,880
Now, the nice thing about
leaving a chemical signal

425
00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:15,920
is that you can physically leave,

426
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,280
but you have left a message
for another cat,

427
00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:20,400
so when that other cat comes along

428
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,520
and reads that message,
or that Post-it note, if you like,

429
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,800
it's gaining information
about who is using that space,

430
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,040
and how long ago they were using it.

431
00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:41,240
Sarah and John have believed
for a while that cats time shift,

432
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,080
to share space and avoid fighting.

433
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:51,240
But this data is the strongest
evidence they've gathered so far

434
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,000
that it's really happening.

435
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:04,160
The week progresses,
and the data continues to flood in.

436
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:07,960
The scientists have been looking

437
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,480
at how much time the cats
spend outside the cat flap.

438
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:14,920
The proportion of time
they spend outdoors

439
00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:16,160
is actually quite low,

440
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,800
it might be as little
as 20% on average,

441
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:21,120
and some cats we know now
don't go out at all.

442
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,400
Even though
they have access to the outdoors,

443
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:25,920
they just simply choose not to do so.

444
00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:30,880
At any one time, there are
many more cats inside than out.

445
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:36,960
Outside, the most we've ever really
got is ten cats outside at one time.

446
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,080
There's a nice place to rest at home,

447
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,520
they go out because they feel like it
rather than because they need to.

448
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,360
So the next question to answer is,

449
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:49,440
what has happened to the wild
sides of the cats of Shamley Green?

450
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,840
Cats haven't always been our pets.

451
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:02,640
We started living alongside them
around 9,000 years ago,

452
00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:05,520
when we started farming.

453
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,120
And they had to work for a living.

454
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:10,280
We gave them food and shelter,

455
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:12,800
in return for keeping
mice and rats at bay.

456
00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:17,120
It's the same reason these cats

457
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:21,080
live on David Hicks's
Oxfordshire farm today.

458
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,800
We were just overrun with rats
and the poison wasn't working.

459
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,840
They were burrowing under
the floors of the buildings,

460
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:28,880
undermining the floor
so the floor collapsed,

461
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,360
making holes in the bags of food,

462
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,080
and mucking and peeing in the food,

463
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:33,680
making it inedible for the animals.

464
00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,400
We had such a rat problem,
in the end,

465
00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:38,320
a friend suggested we got some cats

466
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,680
because they sorted
his rat problem out.

467
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:45,600
We're three, four years on now,

468
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,360
we've got lots of cats but no rats.

469
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,720
This relationship explains
why it was beneficial

470
00:34:54,720 --> 00:34:57,880
for cats to hold on
to their wild side.

471
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:00,360
Cats like these must live

472
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:02,840
much in the same way
as we imagine cats must have lived

473
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:04,960
right at the beginning
of domestication,

474
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:07,880
when cats were first beginning
to associate themselves with man.

475
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,160
These cats
are really here as hunters,

476
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:14,200
they are here to keep the rats
and mice down on this farm.

477
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:17,640
And in that respect,
they behave much like wild animals,

478
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,920
they use the same hunting tactics
that wild cats do,

479
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:25,560
and every cat still has within it
the instinct to go hunting.

480
00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:35,520
Cats are undoubtedly much wilder than
the average domestic animal is.

481
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:38,960
They choose their own mates,
who is going to father which kittens,

482
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,280
rather than, as with most domestic
animals like sheep or cattle,

483
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,080
or whatever, it's the farmer
that makes the decisions.

484
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,960
Cats are still really in charge
of their own destinies.

485
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,400
And whether they do become our pets

486
00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:57,640
is down to how
they are reared as kittens.

487
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:00,920
There is really a very short window
of opportunity

488
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:05,400
during which kittens can learn
about how to socialise with people.

489
00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:08,000
It's just between about four weeks
of age and eight weeks,

490
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,840
which is considerably shorter
than other domestic animals.

491
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:14,680
So if a kitten doesn't meet people
within that first eight weeks

492
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:16,960
then it essentially goes feral,

493
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,400
it becomes an animal which is
more or less like a wild animal.

494
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:22,600
It's still got
the domestic genes in it,

495
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:24,680
but it is, in terms of its behaviour

496
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,920
and its attitude to people,
much more like a wild animal.

497
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,840
This ability to tolerate humans

498
00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,320
yet hold on to their wild side

499
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,320
was crucial
for the domestication of the cat.

500
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,640
Even if we think we've managed
to domesticate cats,

501
00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:54,000
they still retain their wild sides.

502
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:14,880
And that's because
cats remain natural born hunters.

503
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:31,320
They're often vilified
for killing off other animals.

504
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,160
But the extent of this predatory
behaviour, in the UK at least,

505
00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:39,480
is uncertain.

506
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,960
We found this mole here this morning
and we don't know if Ginger

507
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:52,840
caught it or not, but it's dead,
so we're going to pop it in here.

508
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,480
Pick him up so we can take him
up to the hall tonight

509
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,320
and they can have
a look at him up there.

510
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,560
The scientists are hoping
to use this study

511
00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:05,120
in Shamley Green to see if there are
any clues as to what's going on.

512
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:07,160
It's a little shrew,

513
00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:08,880
from Phoebus.

514
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:11,680
And he caught it
a couple of nights ago.

515
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:14,160
We've ask the owners
to collect everything

516
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:16,760
their cats bring home
throughout the week.

517
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:18,520
Lovely!

518
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:22,120
It's been in the freezer
for one night.

519
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:23,800
Probably died of old age.

520
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:25,960
I think he's been around
the gardens for ages.

521
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:28,520
Because cats
usually hunt out of sight,

522
00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:31,200
often under the cover of night,

523
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:34,280
the scientists are hoping
the cat cameras and GPS collars

524
00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:36,960
may help reveal
what they are up to.

525
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:39,360
When I came down this morning,

526
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:43,400
I opened the back door
and on the mat outside was this.

527
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,560
OK. On the back lawn, was it?

528
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:56,040
Yes, on the back lawn.

529
00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:57,640
Think it's a bird.

530
00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,400
He walked in very nonchalantly,
looking very satisfied,

531
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,080
so I went out and had a look, and
all that was left was one eyeball.

532
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:10,640
This is the green.

533
00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:13,640
That's the green over here,
this is the other side of the road.

534
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:15,200
John, Sarah and Alan

535
00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:18,760
have started combing
through the cats' traces

536
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:23,000
to look for unusual night-time
activity which may indicate hunting.

537
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:26,680
So that's Billy, and he looks
like he's travelling up to a farm

538
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:30,720
or a single household,
one single trip up and back down.

539
00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:35,040
This is another cat
that he lives with, is it?

540
00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:37,200
Molly's from the same house as Billy,

541
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:39,640
they're both British Blues,
pedigree cats.

542
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,720
This big trip is at night-time.

543
00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:45,760
So I guess he's going to be
hunting up that hedgerow.

544
00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:48,200
What he was doing at the farm,
of course, we don't know.

545
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:51,600
They were right
to suspect hunting that night.

546
00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:56,720
Billy and Molly's owner has seen
the cats the following morning.

547
00:39:56,720 --> 00:40:00,000
I think they were out pretty well
most of the night, actually.

548
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,040
I'm pretty certain they went out
as soon as we went to bed.

549
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,480
Billy in particular
came in with a very bloated tummy,

550
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:08,520
so I don't know
quite what he's been up to,

551
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,760
but probably eaten quite
a few bits and pieces along the way,

552
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,960
and he's very sleepy today. In fact,
both of them are very sleepy,

553
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:17,600
so I think they've been
hunting a lot last night.

554
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:21,120
They start to identify the cats

555
00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:25,000
that seem to have the strongest
indications they've been hunting.

556
00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:27,840
Like Sooty.

557
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:30,640
Spends quite a lot of periods
of time there.

558
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:34,680
Backwards and forwards
and backwards and forwards,

559
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:37,640
suggesting he may be using that
as a bit of a hunting ground.

560
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:40,200
A lot of time
and a lot of movement in that area

561
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:41,800
before he comes back down.

562
00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:43,680
So this is very much a journey,

563
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:47,800
whereas this would be
more suggestive of hunting-type
behaviour,

564
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:50,960
just because he's covering
the same area a lot.

565
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:56,240
The next night, the scientists
put a camera on Sooty.

566
00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:02,320
At night, cats' eyes
only need a sixth of the light
that humans need to see.

567
00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:09,080
And what helps them hunt is they can
hear a broader range of sounds

568
00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:11,240
than almost any other mammal.

569
00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:24,480
He appears to be
looking for something in a tree.

570
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:28,120
But tonight, Sooty is not
successful.

571
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:36,920
The pub cat, Chip, spends a lot
of time in her neighbour's garden.

572
00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:47,840
And here's why.

573
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:50,680
He climbs a tree
to get into a hedge...

574
00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:07,120
..where there's a bird's nest
ready to be plundered.

575
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:15,880
The camera falls off so we don't
see the aftermath of his attack.

576
00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:20,720
But we do have the evidence.

577
00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:29,240
So by the end of the week, John
wants to know how many birds

578
00:42:29,240 --> 00:42:32,480
and small animals
the cats have brought home.

579
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:34,400
And what, if anything,

580
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:38,600
it tells us about the true nature
of their hunting abilities.

581
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:41,480
We've got about 15 items here,

582
00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:44,320
brought in by the cats, which
the owners have managed to collect.

583
00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:45,720
The owners have also told us

584
00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:49,000
that there was probably
seven or eight other things
that have been brought in

585
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:52,600
but have been consumed in front
of them, so a total of just over 20,

586
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:54,680
divided up between 50 cats,

587
00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:57,480
so that's less than half a prey item
per cat over the whole week.

588
00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:58,720
It's not a huge amount.

589
00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:01,440
I don't think our cats
are hunting very seriously.

590
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:04,400
They obviously spend
a lot of time out of doors,

591
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,240
or at least many of them do,
looking around,

592
00:43:07,240 --> 00:43:08,680
as if they're hunting,

593
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:11,480
but the actual pouncing attempts
are comparatively rare.

594
00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:16,200
There's a couple of birds actually
been eaten, at the back here,

595
00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:20,080
a house mouse, just one, which
is the traditional prey of the cat.

596
00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:23,600
That's a vole, and here, almost in
pride of place, is a mole,

597
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:26,360
which is very difficult
to catch for a cat,

598
00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:29,360
because of course they spend
a lot of time under ground.

599
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:31,320
This is no more than a snapshot

600
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:34,080
of what's going on
over one week in this village.

601
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:38,520
But while we've been here,
the impact has been rather minimal.

602
00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:42,880
So what might be going on here?

603
00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:47,880
It could be that
this year's cold spring

604
00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:50,120
has delayed the birth
of the baby animals.

605
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:54,440
Or that cats just don't like
being outside in bad weather.

606
00:43:55,720 --> 00:43:59,080
But the data from the experiment
has thrown up

607
00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:01,280
an even more
intriguing possibility.

608
00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:10,640
When Coco's GPS collar
is first turned on,

609
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:12,360
she's in this house,

610
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:13,880
and it's not hers.

611
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:20,640
On Tuesday, here's Chip.

612
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:23,400
Again, he enters
a neighbouring house.

613
00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:26,840
And a day later,

614
00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:29,480
here's Claude doing the same.

615
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,400
It's only when
we install surveillance cameras

616
00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:38,320
by the cat flaps that we see
exactly what is happening here.

617
00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:45,360
Rosie has her evening meal.

618
00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:50,240
And then half an hour later,
her neighbour, Claude,

619
00:44:50,240 --> 00:44:51,840
boldly enters her home

620
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:55,480
and helps himself to the leftovers
when she is out of the way.

621
00:44:57,360 --> 00:45:00,920
At 3pm the next day,
he's at it again.

622
00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:04,440
And it won't be the last time.

623
00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:10,120
It's a bit of a surprise
to Claude's owner.

624
00:45:10,120 --> 00:45:13,960
Three minutes of scoffing
in Rosie's house, non stop.

625
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:15,320
How embarrassing.

626
00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:17,480
We've watched this video
several times,

627
00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:21,720
and he doesn't spend much time
lifting his head, looking around.

628
00:45:21,720 --> 00:45:23,760
Worrying about anything.
Exactly. He's at home.

629
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:27,240
This is normal. I feel that
he's confidently doing this,

630
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:29,800
and so he's done this
probably more than once,

631
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:31,520
this may be routine for him.

632
00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:32,960
Oh, dear.

633
00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:37,320
So, yes, midnight snacking
is definitely happening
in Claude's life.

634
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,040
I think one of the things
that I've been surprised by

635
00:45:45,040 --> 00:45:48,560
has been just how many cats
are going into other people's houses.

636
00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:51,240
I'm not sure yet quite how
many of those people are aware

637
00:45:51,240 --> 00:45:53,000
that those cats are coming in,

638
00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:55,440
but one of the main reasons
they come in will be to get food.

639
00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:58,280
They'll be stealing food
from other cats, essentially.

640
00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:01,520
I think you can almost bounce that
off against the rather small numbers

641
00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:03,160
of prey that we've seen this week.

642
00:46:03,160 --> 00:46:05,160
Some of that may be
down to the weather,

643
00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:06,160
but I think a lot of it is

644
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:09,680
these cats are getting a varied diet
by raiding other people's houses,

645
00:46:09,680 --> 00:46:11,880
they don't really need
to go out and kill things.

646
00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:14,960
Over the past decade

647
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:19,000
pet food has become more nutritional
and more common.

648
00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:23,520
So perhaps
what we are witnessing here

649
00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:28,000
is cats changing their behaviour
as we change their environment.

650
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:40,000
But there's another part
of the cats' secret life,

651
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:43,600
where they've adapted
to being more like our pets,

652
00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:46,760
and it's to do with
how they communicate with us.

653
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:51,600
This cat meows a lot.
They both purr.

654
00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:54,200
If he's got no-one to play with
and he's just on his own,

655
00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:57,040
he'll walk around -
meow, meow, meow, meow -

656
00:46:57,040 --> 00:46:58,560
until someone comes.

657
00:46:58,560 --> 00:47:02,440
Sometimes, I can hardly hear it.

658
00:47:02,440 --> 00:47:04,360
IMITATES SOFT PURR

659
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:06,720
And sometimes it's...

660
00:47:06,720 --> 00:47:08,560
IMITATES LOUDER PURR

661
00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:12,280
..this sort of thing.
He does have various purrs, yes.

662
00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:15,080
We may think cats are our pets,

663
00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:18,120
but many owners are left
with the uncomfortable feeling

664
00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:21,560
that the cats
are really calling the shots.

665
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:24,200
We tend to fit in with
the cat's lifestyle.

666
00:47:24,200 --> 00:47:26,240
Very much so.

667
00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:29,120
The cat's in charge?
No doubt about it.

668
00:47:29,120 --> 00:47:32,560
It probably makes us quite unique,
in some respects. Do you reckon?

669
00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:35,200
I reckon, most households,
I think the cats are in charge.

670
00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:37,200
Not quite as much as this one,
I don't think. Yes.

671
00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:41,440
This is very much
a feline-focused family, we are.

672
00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:44,520
By his purrs,
I know more or less what he wants.

673
00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:54,160
They get their own way

674
00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:57,120
because as cats
have become domesticated,

675
00:47:57,120 --> 00:47:59,920
they've learnt to change
the way they communicate.

676
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:09,880
When an animal meows

677
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:14,800
or purrs, we tend to
verbalise back to that.

678
00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:18,120
And it's almost like we have this
idea of there being a conversation.

679
00:48:20,640 --> 00:48:22,920
And I think
that definitely does

680
00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:25,440
have a part
in strengthening the bond.

681
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:31,280
Sarah Ellis
is going to repeat an experiment

682
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:35,520
first conducted at the University
of Sussex on her own cats.

683
00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:39,760
It focuses on
two different types of purr.

684
00:48:39,760 --> 00:48:41,400
She's going to record them

685
00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:44,480
to find out what makes purring
such an effective way

686
00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:46,400
for cats to get our attention.

687
00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:50,720
The first is
the non-solicitation purr.

688
00:48:53,560 --> 00:48:55,880
GENTLE PURRING

689
00:48:59,120 --> 00:49:01,680
The non-solicitation purr

690
00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:03,960
will be the one that people
are most familiar with.

691
00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:08,200
That's the purr that cats do
when they are content, relaxed,

692
00:49:08,200 --> 00:49:11,400
when they're being stroked
or interacted with by their owners,

693
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:13,680
or if they're sitting on your knee,
for example.

694
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:18,480
In you come, good boy.

695
00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:21,280
But scientists
are particularly interested

696
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:23,520
in another type of purr,

697
00:49:23,520 --> 00:49:26,720
the so-called solicitation purr.

698
00:49:26,720 --> 00:49:29,160
Cat owners will definitely
be aware of this,

699
00:49:29,160 --> 00:49:33,000
but it may not be so well known
amongst non-cat owners,

700
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:35,040
and this is the purr
that cats do

701
00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:37,280
when they want something
from their owners,

702
00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:40,080
and very often
that is in anticipation of food

703
00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:41,960
or if you're preparing food.

704
00:49:49,240 --> 00:49:52,880
LOUDER PURRING

705
00:49:55,960 --> 00:49:58,200
It's constantly
chopping and changing

706
00:49:58,200 --> 00:50:00,400
the length of those purr bouts.

707
00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:04,040
And the purr is much faster
in certain parts, isn't it?

708
00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:06,120
Back at the lab,

709
00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:09,160
Sarah's colleague examines
the frequencies of the purrs.

710
00:50:11,200 --> 00:50:14,480
At the top, we've got
the solicitation purr

711
00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:17,360
and down below, we've got
the non-solicitation purr.

712
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:19,720
Both of these
are low-frequency purrs,

713
00:50:19,720 --> 00:50:22,240
but what particularly stands out
quite clearly

714
00:50:22,240 --> 00:50:25,200
is that complete stand-out peak you
can see with a solicitation purr.

715
00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:28,720
It's very isolated from the other
frequencies around it,

716
00:50:28,720 --> 00:50:31,960
which suggests it would
really stand out quite clearly.

717
00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:35,320
You don't see that at all
in the non-solicitation purr.

718
00:50:39,840 --> 00:50:43,080
And there's a surprising
reason why we react so strongly

719
00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:45,080
to this frequency in the purrs.

720
00:50:49,280 --> 00:50:51,880
Because embedded within it
is the same frequency

721
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:54,320
as a baby's cry.

722
00:50:59,040 --> 00:51:03,600
As humans, we are
more sensitive to vocalisations
in that frequency range,

723
00:51:03,600 --> 00:51:06,240
and we're more likely
to respond to them.

724
00:51:06,240 --> 00:51:12,120
And that's likely
because it taps into
our care-giving or nurturing need,

725
00:51:12,120 --> 00:51:14,920
and it's this, I think,
that makes them so successful

726
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:16,600
at being our pets,

727
00:51:16,600 --> 00:51:19,960
because they have to
illicit care-giving from us,

728
00:51:19,960 --> 00:51:22,280
and they've become
very, very good at that.

729
00:51:37,720 --> 00:51:41,160
The experiment
is drawing to an end.

730
00:51:41,160 --> 00:51:43,200
The scientists
are starting to see the ways

731
00:51:43,200 --> 00:51:46,400
in which cats' behaviour
is shaped by us,

732
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:49,280
and by all the other cats
living so close by...

733
00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:54,280
..how they've created
tightly packed territories...

734
00:51:55,600 --> 00:51:58,840
Todd came up here, really close
to where Thomas has been.

735
00:52:00,040 --> 00:52:03,720
..how they may be time-sharing
to avoid fighting...

736
00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:10,000
..and how they may be hunting less
and eating each other's food.

737
00:52:12,840 --> 00:52:15,240
But there's one surprise
left in the village.

738
00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:22,480
This is the Edwards' house.

739
00:52:24,240 --> 00:52:29,600
And they have not one but six
unrelated cats living together.

740
00:52:31,840 --> 00:52:33,280
Meet Duffy,

741
00:52:33,280 --> 00:52:35,360
Patch,

742
00:52:35,360 --> 00:52:37,200
Daisy,

743
00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:38,720
Coco,

744
00:52:38,720 --> 00:52:40,240
Pumpkin

745
00:52:40,240 --> 00:52:41,720
and Ralph.

746
00:52:43,960 --> 00:52:47,120
They seem a pretty happy lot,
and given that the cats

747
00:52:47,120 --> 00:52:49,320
are both solitary and territorial,

748
00:52:49,320 --> 00:52:52,880
they do seem
to get on pretty well together.

749
00:52:52,880 --> 00:52:56,680
But no-one is sure
what happens beyond the cat flap.

750
00:52:57,960 --> 00:53:02,920
Yellow's Daisy. What colour is
Pumpkin? Pumpkin's pink. Coco is red.

751
00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:07,680
So while Patch roams
the local neighbourhood,

752
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:11,160
Duffy, Daisy, Coco,
Pumpkin and Ralph

753
00:53:11,160 --> 00:53:15,400
are all out at the same time
and sticking very close together.

754
00:53:17,400 --> 00:53:19,120
Which is a genuine surprise.

755
00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:24,080
Your cats
are actually really interesting.

756
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:28,640
Down in the village, we've got
lots of reports of hostility,

757
00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:33,080
including fights, and in a
multi-cat household, which you have,

758
00:53:33,080 --> 00:53:36,320
you're our largest number
in our study, with six cats,

759
00:53:36,320 --> 00:53:39,600
we would expect there to be
quite a bit of tension,

760
00:53:39,600 --> 00:53:43,640
quite a bit of
using different space outside.

761
00:53:43,640 --> 00:53:46,480
What's really, really unusual
is we don't see that

762
00:53:46,480 --> 00:53:48,000
with your cats at all.

763
00:53:48,000 --> 00:53:51,360
And apart from Patch,
who is the blue,

764
00:53:51,360 --> 00:53:53,200
and he does have a further range,

765
00:53:53,200 --> 00:53:55,320
he does go much further
than the others,

766
00:53:55,320 --> 00:53:58,880
they're very, very much centred
around your home,

767
00:53:58,880 --> 00:54:00,080
around your garden,

768
00:54:00,080 --> 00:54:04,640
and the really interesting thing is,
they're all there at the same time.

769
00:54:04,640 --> 00:54:08,720
Fantastic. None of them
are moving particularly quickly,

770
00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:11,400
they're all just bumbling
around together, really.

771
00:54:13,080 --> 00:54:15,480
That, for us, is fascinating,

772
00:54:15,480 --> 00:54:18,760
because a whole group
of unrelated cats...

773
00:54:18,760 --> 00:54:21,800
we just wouldn't
necessarily expect that at all.

774
00:54:23,920 --> 00:54:25,680
Out of all the lot we've had,

775
00:54:25,680 --> 00:54:27,720
this has been the ones
that have gelled the most.

776
00:54:27,720 --> 00:54:30,120
Especially the boys,
they're always...

777
00:54:30,120 --> 00:54:31,760
You'll see them playing together,

778
00:54:31,760 --> 00:54:33,040
they will lie together.

779
00:54:33,040 --> 00:54:36,480
Pumpkin and Ralph lie on top of each
other, not just next to each other.

780
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:39,720
It's so cute the way
they get on so well together.

781
00:54:39,720 --> 00:54:43,160
Do you ever see them rubbing
their faces against each other? Yes.

782
00:54:43,160 --> 00:54:46,760
And Pumpkin and Ralph spent
a lot of time grooming each other.

783
00:54:54,320 --> 00:54:58,200
This cat camaraderie is another
example from the experiment

784
00:54:58,200 --> 00:55:01,240
to suggest that cats
may be changing,

785
00:55:01,240 --> 00:55:05,640
evolving away from hunters
to fit in better with us.

786
00:55:05,640 --> 00:55:07,520
As we're domesticating cats,

787
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:09,800
we're retaining a lot more of

788
00:55:09,800 --> 00:55:12,840
what we call
their juvenile characteristics.

789
00:55:12,840 --> 00:55:17,280
So they purr a lot, they play a lot,
we see them needing behaviour.

790
00:55:17,280 --> 00:55:20,520
With our pet cats,
if we are domesticating them

791
00:55:20,520 --> 00:55:22,360
and they are evolving, in a sense

792
00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:24,800
that they are retaining
lots of these characteristics,

793
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:27,840
they might be more likely to be able
to get on with each other. Yes.

794
00:55:27,840 --> 00:55:30,480
But we're right
at the cusp of that,

795
00:55:30,480 --> 00:55:32,920
in sort of
the domestic cat's evolution.

796
00:55:36,280 --> 00:55:39,560
If she's right,
this sort of feline harmony

797
00:55:39,560 --> 00:55:41,880
could be a vision of the future,

798
00:55:41,880 --> 00:55:45,120
as cats evolve
to please the hand that feeds them.

799
00:55:59,960 --> 00:56:03,200
At the end of the week, the team
have pieced together

800
00:56:03,200 --> 00:56:05,400
a picture of what the cats of
Shamley Green

801
00:56:05,400 --> 00:56:08,640
get up to
when they leave the cat flap.

802
00:56:08,640 --> 00:56:10,680
Look, she's gone so far!

803
00:56:10,680 --> 00:56:13,360
The scientists have seen
that all the cats

804
00:56:13,360 --> 00:56:16,560
have very different routines
and roaming patterns.

805
00:56:19,040 --> 00:56:22,600
One of the most stay-at-home cats
is Brutus.

806
00:56:22,600 --> 00:56:24,000
Didn't think he did,

807
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:26,520
but now I've got the proof
he doesn't go very far,

808
00:56:26,520 --> 00:56:29,080
so that's reassuring.

809
00:56:29,080 --> 00:56:33,440
And Hermie is definitely
our roamer of the week.

810
00:56:35,320 --> 00:56:37,640
From the top to the bottom,
that's 300 metres,

811
00:56:37,640 --> 00:56:39,960
it's 200 metres across,
so that's six hectares,

812
00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:43,440
15 acres which
he's actually ranging over,

813
00:56:43,440 --> 00:56:46,640
he's really going
a long way overnight,
covering a great deal of distance.

814
00:56:46,640 --> 00:56:47,880
Quite exciting.

815
00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:51,360
I had suspicions he may have found
himself a sofa in the village

816
00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:53,560
that he likes to sit on,
but evidently not.

817
00:56:56,280 --> 00:56:58,640
The remarkable thing
about this study

818
00:56:58,640 --> 00:57:02,360
is its sheer size
and the accuracy of the data.

819
00:57:02,360 --> 00:57:04,200
Because we're looking at 50 cats,

820
00:57:04,200 --> 00:57:07,680
you can start to look at a lot
of different effects in the data

821
00:57:07,680 --> 00:57:10,840
which you just don't get
with a smaller study
of five or ten animals.

822
00:57:10,840 --> 00:57:12,880
So this has come together
really nicely

823
00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:17,520
to give a dataset that's a size
that you can actually
make those comparisons of.

824
00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:23,800
And what the scientists are seeing
is a community of cats
that is changing.

825
00:57:27,360 --> 00:57:29,720
The cat,
when it goes through our cat flap,

826
00:57:29,720 --> 00:57:32,920
exhibits some of the behaviours
of its wild ancestors,

827
00:57:32,920 --> 00:57:34,000
such as hunting,

828
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:36,200
and then it will come
back through our cat flap

829
00:57:36,200 --> 00:57:38,600
and have a social bond with
the owner and be a family pet.

830
00:57:39,960 --> 00:57:44,320
Cats are still evolving and probably
will still evolve into the future,

831
00:57:44,320 --> 00:57:46,600
becoming much more pet-like animals,

832
00:57:46,600 --> 00:57:48,760
and will lose
some of those wild instincts

833
00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:52,440
because many of those things
don't actually serve them very well
in the 21st century.

834
00:57:57,560 --> 00:58:01,560
Perhaps cats will become less wild
and even more pet-like,

835
00:58:01,560 --> 00:58:05,200
because that, it seems,
is what we want them to be.

836
00:58:09,480 --> 00:58:12,640
And if you want to follow more
of our cats' journeys

837
00:58:12,640 --> 00:58:15,000
you can log on at...

838
00:58:19,320 --> 00:58:23,320
MUSIC: "The Pink Panther" Theme Tune

839
00:58:43,040 --> 00:58:46,080
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd