As pesky as they can be, you can thank your neighborhoods’ free roaming cats for keeping your least favorite rodents and creatures out of your homes.

Kitty cams were used on 60 pet cats in Athens-Clarke County to track their nightly activity, and the results showed the wild roaming lives of these felines.

Researchers at University of Georgia in partnership with National Geographic measured the predatory habits of the cats to find that in Athens, 44% hunt wildlife, with 85% of the captures happening during the warmer periods.

The conclusion was drawn that the cats mostly hunted Carolina anoles (small lizards) in addition to Woodland Voles (small mammals).

Most of the free-roaming cats, though, ironically ended up as victims of their own demises, with almost all the cats experience a traumatic end caused by crossing roads, encountering strange cats, eating/drinking unknown substances, falling into storm drains, or going into unescapable crawlspaces.