IN CARTOON world, Jerry got to know Tom very well. Now it seems that in the real world rodents can also get to know their local felines on an individual basis 鈥� the first time this has been observed in a prey animal.
and colleagues from the University of Sydney, Australia, found that rats would stop reacting to the smell of a cat that they had been exposed to repeatedly. Yet when they sniffed a new cat, the rats bolted back into their burrows and became extra vigilant.
Dissecting the rats鈥� brains showed that the part that responds to cat pheromones became less active the more familiar they became with each cat. However, the brains of rats presented with the odour of a new cat became more active, confirming that the rodents reacted differently to the smells of individual cats ().
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Being able to recognise individual predators would have real benefits for wild rodents, says McGregor. 鈥淜now thine enemy in order to survive,鈥� he says.
When a new cat moves into the neighbourhood, it is best for the rat to be extra vigilant and defensive for a while until it gets to know the cat鈥檚 habits and the threat it poses, McGregor says. 鈥淚f you treat it exactly the same as the lazy old geriatric tom that has lived next door then you might become new cat lunch very quickly.鈥�
