Housecats are very prolific breeders. My (very minimal) understanding of population biology tells me that the reason an animal would be that prolific is that most of the babies can’t be expected to make it to adulthood in the natural environment. Cats have other behaviors (burying waste, hiding when injured) that this site says are behaviors designed to avoid predators.
My question is, what animal or animals prey on housecats (or their wild ancestors) in their natural environment? If I Google “cat” and “predator”, I get lots of links about cats as predators, but nothing I could find on what preys on cats.
I can’t be certain that this is true of small wild cats, but it’s not uncommon for feral housecats to be killed by their own species. Unlike pet cats, who tend to conduct mock battles with few injuries, feral cats’ fights are often to the death.
In addition, the survival rate for kittens is low. When a queen has a litter every heat, and is often not very well nourished herself, each litter of kittens is less likely to survive. In the South, it is not unusual for an entire litter of kittens to be bled literally to death by fleas.
Pet cats that are not feral, but are allowed to run free outside by their owners are also a mainstay of birds of prey. I saw a Great Horned Owl in a neighbor’s tree once right in the middle of town. Raptors also come into town for the easy pickin’s.
Opposums can capture unguarded garbage, and may wrestle a discarded bagel to the ground, but not a cat. Not even a baby kitten.
Opposums have brains the size of your average M&M. And are just marginally smarter.
I’d worry about hawks. Jeeps. And dry cat food. (Which is basically corn – NOT a natural or favorable food for felines. No matter what the commercials say. Ground up mice and birds is the ideal food. Not grains.)
Adding, I’ve seen one (an opossum) myself. Just down the street, a lady nearly hit a deer on her way to work two winters ago. (Which is the street ambulances run on btw.) Wildlife has incorporated itself into the neighborhoods here. There are also raccons around, which I’ve also seen in town, but far enough away from where I live that I think my yard isn’t likely part of their turf.
