How do foxes and feral cats fare after forest fire? And what does the loss of protective understorey mean for the native mammals that foxes and cats prey upon? Dr Bronwyn Hradsky from The University of Melbourne working with colleagues Craig Mildwaters, Julian Di Stefano, Euan Ritchie and Fiona Christie (in collaboration with Victorian Government land managers) set up an experiment and found out. Here Bronwyn explains what they discovered.