Wild Facts

Photograph by Beverly Joubert

I can’t really explain it but I have been absolutely fascinated with large cats lately.  The more I research and study them the more I respect and appreciate the natural beauty, power and grace of these animals.  Today, we are going to look at some interesting feeding strategies of the Leopard. For the record, I figured I would put the cute baby leopard at the beginning of the fact since nobody would be able to resist reading the post after seeing the playful kitten. Enough of my sneaky ploys to get readers! Let’s learn about the leopard!

The leopard’s habitat is in Africa, India, China, and Central Asia, but the leopard population is dwindling outside the African continent. The leopard may be closely related to lions, tigers, and jaguars, but their unique feeding habits puts them at the top of my “Favorite Large Cat List.”  The leopard is capable of dominating all aspects of their environment.  These cats are incredibly comfortable in the trees and will actually hunt from above their prey.  The spots on the leopard allow this cat to blend in with the leaves until it decides to pounce. Once they ambush their prey the leopard has been known to drag their dinner back up into the trees and have a nice quiet meal all to themselves without those pesky hyenas trying to steal their kill.  It absolutely amazes me that the leopard is capable of hauling large prey such as antelope into the tree tops.  Just think about how strong and agile you would have to be.  Heck, my muscles are aching just thinking about this heavy lifting.  If the leopard gets tired of hunting from the trees then it is fully capable of stalking their prey on the ground and pouncing like other large cats.  If they are not in the mood for either of these hunting methods then they will take to the water where they will feast on fish and crabs.  The leopard is a strong swimmer and provides one more example to the inaccuracies of the myth that cats don’t like water.  You can see why I am amazed with the diverse hunting strategies of the leopard.  They can dominate the land, air and water.  Where can you possibly go to escape these large cats? I think I would just go and hide under my bed!

Since I was so sneaky and put the cute, cuddly, wuddly, baby picture at the beginning of the post, I will include the adult below.  Enjoy!

Today we are going to continue with the apparent theme of the week which is “Cats and Dogs”.  We are going to head to Southeast Asia where we will discover that cats really do like water.  I don’t know where this myth that cats don’t like water comes from but I can tell you that the Flat-Headed Cat loves the wonderful, wet stuff.

So what the heck is a flat-headed cat. Well, it is a rare, little cat that is about 60 cm (2′) long and only weighs 2.2 kg (4.8 lbs).  The diet of the flat-headed cat includes fish, frogs, crustaceans and rodents.  You will notice that the majority of their diet lives around water.  This is why you will always find our furry, flat-headed friends around lakes and streams. The appearance of this cat would make you question whether it truly is a cat since it has short legs, a long head with tiny ears and a short tail. They have often been compared to muskrats and otters instead of other cats.  The differences continue to pile up for the flat-headed cat since their toes tend to be webbed and they are one of the few cat species with non-retractile claws.  Well, I guess that isn’t entirely true since their claws do retract, however, the sheath covering is so short that two-thirds of the nail remain exposed.

Unfortunately, the population of the flat-headed cat is decreasing with under ten-thousand cats remaining in the wild. As you can imagine water pollution and habitat destruction is causing a major concern for these cute little kitties.  Just imagine what would happen to us if we didn’t have a place to live and all of our food was poisoned.  Currently, the status for this particular cat is listed as Vulnerable.

I hate ending Wild Facts with the negative feelings of extinction.  I know, I tend to do this from time to time but I do want everyone to be aware that certain animals are in jeopardy.  To make up for the sad ending, I am going to include a cute picture at the end of the post.  ENJOY!

I had so much fun yesterday writing about an animal that looks like a cat, which is named after a cat but is not a cat that I thought it would great to actually write about a cat! No, the Caracal isn’t your friendly, fluffy, neighbourhood cat but it is pretty interesting nonetheless.  Why don’t you hop on the Wild Facts Train and find out more about this medium-sized cat from Africa and the Middle-East.

Please ensure that your seats and tray tables are locked in the upright position because here we go.  Wait! I don’t think you have to worry about your seats and trays on a train, do you??  Oh well, moving on! The caracal has often been compared to the Eurasian Lynx and at one time was thought to be a close member to the lynxes. This is not the case as the caracal is more closely related to the serval (keep your eyes peeled for a Wild Fact on the Serval in the coming days).

Have you ever wondered where people come up with these weird names for animals? Who thought of the name “Caracal”?  Apparently, the term “Caracal” is turkish for black ear! Pretty original, eh?  If you are observant you may say to yourself that their ears are not that black so why are they named after it.  Then I will tell you that the young caracal cats ears are black on the outside but this colour disappears as they become adults.  Imagine what those awkward teenage years are like for the young caracal’s.  One black ear and one normal coloured ear!  The other cats laughing and pushing at poor Carl the Caracal just because he matured faster than the others.  Awww, that poor cat! Oh, before I forget I wanted to mention that the ears of the caracal are actually controlled by 20 different muscles. If I remember my human anatomy correctly, the human ear only has 2 muscles.  These ear muscles are significant for the caracal since it relies heavily on hearing to capture its prey.

For the record, they will prey on rodents, gazelles, antelopes and birds.  In my opinion the caracal is like most house cats that I am familiar with.  They are fussy and spoiled.  In fact, the caracal is such a fussy eater that it will actually use its claws to peel off the fur of the larger prey species.  The fur bothers them but apparently feathers are fine for them to eat.  I guess I am just a dog person since I have never understood cats.

This is the last stop for the Wild Facts Train.  I will be sure to pick you up the same time tomorrow.  Maybe we should just start car pooling?

Maybe I should label today’s fact “Domestic Fact #977″ since I have a tough time considering the common house cat to be wild.  Although, they tend to be independent and slightly rebellious so that is how I am justifying them as a Wild Fact!

I have often thought of cats as being a conniving and manipulative pet.  Now, I have scientific evidence to prove just how manipulative cats can be.  A new study has shown that cats have evolved a special purr called “solicitation purring”.  They have developed this special purr in order to get what they want from humans! This purr has a similar pitch and frequency to a baby crying.  We all know that we can’t ignore a baby crying, especially when you are trying to sleep on a late night flight.  I am sure many cat owners have witnessed this type of manipulative purring.  You know that awesome time in the morning when you just wake up and it is cold outside so you just want to lie all snuggled up in your warm, comfy bed? Yeah, that is a great time yet the minute you start to stir, in comes Midnight purring like a crazy cat.  Because of the high pitch and frequency which makes the purr sound urgent, you feel inclined to get out of your warm sanctuary and plop some food into her bowl. If this has ever happened to you then your faithful, furry, feline friend just pulled a fast one over you. When cats communicate with other cats they tend to use a lower pitched purr.  They only save this high-pitched, annoying, baby like sound for their owners!  And you wonder why they say a dog is man’s best friend?

Have you ever witnessed the high-pitched frequency of a whining cat? Did you know they evolved this pitch to get what they want from humans?