My Last Observation #8

Site: A pond in Melody Ranch
Date: May 30, 2008
Time: 6: 45pm
Temperature: 55 Degrees F
Weather Conditions: Cloudy
Soil Conditions: moist
Today in my observation area there has been little change. The water level has continued to stay very high over the last couple of days due to the light rain. I also witnessed the killing of a field mouse by one of my visicous cats. This shows a food chain. The grass is a primary consumer wich is then eaten by a mouse who is also the primary consumer. This mouse is then eaten by my cat. The food chain i just described could continue but lets hope it does not for i like my cats. The relationship between my cats and the mice could also be clasified as a Paratism Relationship. This relationship means one organism benefits while the other is harmed. For example a field mice dies and is consumed by my cat wich is now no longer hungery. After my cat brings the dead mouse over to our patio another one of my cats aproach the food as if to steal it away. I would call this an intraspecific competition wich means to individuals of the same species fight over survival needs. The two cats continue to fight hissing and growling. In the end the original hunter won fending the other cat off and feeding on its prey. These types of interactions happen frequently in my house. Another paratism relationship I can think of is when a dog comes into our yard. As you know dogs seem to be the natural enemy of the cat so when one comes into our yrad our cats run for protection. The aspen trees in our yard have been brutaly injured by my cats. In site of the dog normaly one cat will go up the house and the other up our aspen trees. As a result of this the aspen trees have long dark grooves penetrated by a cats claws. The cats will also at some points venture out on to a branch and when the branch cant support our heavy animals it snaps. Hopefuly this summer our cats wont do to much damage to other organisms and we will be able to enjoy there presence.