Wildcat diet in the Cantabrian Mountains (Spain)

[Description of methods used for collection/generation of data] European wildcat scats were collected both systematically in fixed transects and opportunistically, between Dec 2018 and Feb 2020 in western Cantabrian Mountains and between Nov 2014 and April 2020 in Montaña Palentina Natural Park. For each sample we recorded the date and GPS location. Very old-looking scats were never collected. Scats were collected by experienced European wildcat researchers and assigned to European wildcats based on their morphology and smell. Although the certainty of assigning scats to carnivore species has been questioned (Monterroso et al., 2013), experimented researchers can accurately identify European wildcat scats. To assess the researchers’ success in scat identification, a subsample of 135 scats was genetically analysed (Ruiz-Villar et al. 2022). From 123 scats that we could genetically identify, 107 (87%) were from the Felis genus, 15 from Vulpes vulpes and one from Canis sp. The proportion of misidentified fox scats was the same in both study areas. Thus we were confident that Felis scats belong to wildcats considering that (1) wildcats and domestic cats segregate in the Cantabrian Mountains (Rodríguez et al., 2020), and we consequently avoided scat collection in areas used by domestic cats; and (2) no hybrids have been detected in the area so far (Tiesmeyer et al., 2020). To determine the prey species consumed by wildcats we used macroscopic identification of bones, teeth, scales, feathers and other identifiable prey remains extracted from washed scats. We determined the minimum number of individuals for each prey item in each scat based on the repetition of identifiable remains. We used the identification guide by Román (2019) to identify Spanish rodents from bone and teeth remains, and compared reptile and bird remains with specimens preserved in Doñana Biological Station. The study was undertaken with the correspondent permissions of the regional government of Castilla y León (EP/P/128/2019; AUTO/19/34, AUTO/2020/593) and Asturias (AUTO/2019/3267 for Asturias).

[EN] This dataset provides the raw results of wildcat, Felis silvestris, diet, by analyses of scats collected in the Cantabriam Mountains (mainly in Montaña Palentina Natural Park, Palencia, and in Western Cantabrian Mountains between the provinces of Asturias and León; Spain) between years 2014 and 2020. The dataset provides information of 683 scats and 3120 prey items, most them rodent species.

[ES] Este conjunto de datos proporciona los resultados brutos de la dieta de gatos monteses, Felis silvestris, a través del análisis de excrementos recolectados en la Cordillera Cantábrica (principalmente en el Parque Natural Montaña Palentina, Palencia, y en el oeste de la Cordillera Cantábrica en las provincias de Asturias y León; España) entre los años 2014 y 2020. El conjunto de datos proporciona información de 683 excrementos y 3120 presas, la mayoría especies de roedores.

This study was partially supported by M.Torres Diseños Industriales SAU and Jaguar Land Rover España.

WildcatDiet_Cantabrian_Mountains.xlsx

Peer reviewed