Ever let your cat out, watched it vanish and wondered where it goes and what it does all day?
New research involving Perth cats might help satisfy your curiosity.
Since 2007, Philip Roetman has been running projects engaging citizen scientists to count koalas, track cats, spotlight rock pools and record bat calls, gathering data on species distribution, home ranges of domestic pets, species management and threatened species location.
His University of South Australia research into how far cats roam is now expanding across the nation with an eight-day study mapping the day and night-time movements of up to 1400 cats volunteered by their owners.
The City of Bayswater is the only WA council taking part in the study, which will establish how far the cats are travelling and whether they're crossing main roads or venturing into local wetland and bushland.
It will also evaluate the personalities of the cats, which will all sit somewhere on a continuum of five types according to existing research - skittish, outgoing, dominant, spontaneous or friendly.
The aim is to help owners make informed decisions about their cats and also provide insights to help reduce cat predation on native animals.
"Cats have contributed to a decline in native fauna around Australia, and we have a few sensitive areas such as Maylands Lakes, Lightning Swamp and the Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary," Bayswater's deputy Mayor Chris Cornish said.
"This isn't about judging anyone or finding naughty cats, it's about participating in this research and letting people know how far cats can travel.
"We're excited to be the only city in Perth participating and we're hoping to get some good research results and to feed that back to all cat owners."
The City needs 40 volunteers. Owners must fill out an online survey, which includes a cat personality test. Selected participants, chosen according to factors including breed, sex, age and sterilisation status, will be sent a GPS tracker.
Once tracking is complete, owners will receive a report on their cat's personality and a map indicating where their cat has travelled to.
The City will receive a full report that aims to help build the science around how urban cats behave.
Tracking starts on February 1. To register your cat visit this website.
If you don't have a cat or don't want to volunteer your cat, but are still curious or wanting to take part, you can visit the website to take a survey that will help researchers understand more about cats, their behaviours and relationships with their owners.
You can also read research on cat personalities, and register to be notified when their DIY cat personality test tool is completed.
