Habitat, nutrition and characteristics of wild cats

It's good to have a loyal and reliable friend. An ordinary cat can become such a friend. A cat has lived next to a person for more than 1000 years. But to this day she remains a largely mysterious and enigmatic creature. And they even worshiped her, as, for example, in Ancient Egypt, they idolized her and gave her all sorts of honors. Killing a cat was punishable by a large fine, and for intentional murder the death penalty. If a cat died a natural death, it was mourned and showered with Gifts - in the form of dried mice. The Egyptians believed that the animal continued to live in the other world.

In fact, the cat is not a goddess, but an ordinary animal, but with extraordinary qualities. A cat is an agile, strong, hardy animal. No wonder they say that she has nine lives. Cats have best developed vision and hearing. They hear even the quietest sounds and can use sound to find prey without even seeing it. At the same time, her hearing is unique; the cat may not pay attention, for example, to loud music that is heard above her ear.

The cat is very clean and washes itself often. She licks not so much dirt as... her own scent. All cats, both domestic and wild, are hunters. They hunt from ambush. If the prey senses danger by smell, you will remain hungry.

The cat has very sharp eyesight. In the darkness you can see a greenish gleam in the eyes. The cat's eyes are large and they look in the same direction. The cat walks calmly in the dark. Vibrises help her in this - long, hard hairs that we call mustaches.

The cat walks silently, retracting its claws and stepping with soft pads, climbs deftly.

My favorites are the cat Lyusya and her son Vaska the cat. I like to watch them: how they play, what weird positions they sleep in, what they eat, sometimes I try to train them, and it was they who made me learn more about the cat family.

Our planet Earth is great and beautiful. And everywhere - in forests and tundras, in the depths of the oceans and on the slopes of high mountains, on the desert sand scorched by the hot sun and on the cold-bound icy land of Antarctica - there is life everywhere. Furry and feathered animals (animals and birds), predators and herbivores, huge and tiny live side by side.

The most important thing that determines the distribution of animals is climate, or rather the ambient temperature most suitable for them. Among climatic factors, air humidity and precipitation are in second place after temperature. After climate, the most important factor for animals is the composition of their food. The distribution of predators depends on when certain plants mature and certain animals (for example, herbivores, ungulates) appear. Therefore, the most favorable habitats for wild cats are South-West Asia, North-East Africa, South-West USA, because it is warm there and there is a lot of varied food.

Lion (Panthera leo)

Leo is known to be the king of beasts. Bravery, strength, courage and proud calm are reflected in his entire figure. Lions are excellent hunters. Now lions have survived only in national parks and reserves; in Africa there are approximately 150 thousand of them, and in India there are only about 200 individuals.

Lions live in prides - a large family: an adult male (usually one, but sometimes two or three), a female, cubs, young lions - in other prides there are up to 18 and even up to 30 lions. The pride is led by an old lion - the head of the family.

The pride has its own property - dozens of square meters. km. A pride of four lions usually kills one large antelope or zebra once a week.

After a successful hunt, the lions go “home” - somewhere to the edge of the thickets, so that, lying in the shade, indulge in laziness.

Tiger (Panthera Tigris)

Magnificent fur - yellow, with transverse stripes, a round head framed by lush sideburns, a long sensitive tail - truly beautiful. But the flexible, graceful and predatory tiger is one of the most dangerous animals for humans.

The jungles of India, Indochina, and Iran are the tiger’s home. Tigers live in pairs, having dens and pastures for hunting. He retreats only in front of a huge elephant, a ferocious rhinoceros or a mad buffalo, and even then not always.

In our country, the tiger lives on the banks of the Ussuri River, as well as in Asian countries.

The tiger is the largest of all cats. He is a great hunter. Its usual prey is wild boar, deer and antelope. When predators are hungry, they feed on rodents, frogs and even berries. A tiger eats 7–9 kg of meat per day (3.5 tons per year) – 2 times more than a lion.

Under the onslaught of man, the tiger quickly disappears everywhere. In 1930, 100 thousand individuals lived on Earth, of which 40 thousand were in India. Now there are about 6-7 thousand tigers left in the world.

This species is listed in the International Red Book.

The jaguar (Panthera onca) has a habitat extending from the southwestern United States to Argentina. Not everyone can tell a Jaguar from a Leopard: they are very similar, only the jaguar’s spots are larger, and some of their “rosettes” have a black spot in the center. The jaguar is a skilled fisherman; he watches for fish near the water for hours. Here he hunts capybaras and tapirs.

Cheetahs

Flexible, agile cheetahs thrive in the hot climate of South-West and North-East Africa. These are born hunters. Their prey is the herbivorous inhabitants of these countries. The cheetah hunts wisely. Silently and patiently he crawls towards his prey, so that he can then rush at the chosen victim with a lightning-fast jump.

The cheetah has a distinctive spotted coat, a cat-like face, strong legs with blunt claws, and a long tail. This animal is considered the brother of both cats and dogs. Cunning and sneaky like a cat, but at the same time good-natured and intelligent like a dog.

Man has long domesticated cheetahs to use them for hunting. The Mongol khans kept them in hundreds.

Panther

Panther is one of the names of the leopard. This is the same species, and the fact that the panther is black is a phenomenon of melanism (change in color to black). Sometimes such a “blackie” appears in ordinary spotted leopards. If the leopard is not hungry, then it will not harm the kid, but it has a weakness: it does not like dogs and strangles them as soon as the opportunity arises. Sometimes leopards become man-eaters. Old gunshot wounds and... porcupines are often to blame for this. Leopards, when hungry, attack porcupines, resulting in festering painful wounds with quills stuck in them; such an animal is a poor hunter of fast game. And then frogs, locusts, mice, an unarmed person is the only available prey. The panther has sharp eyesight and excellent hearing.

Lynx

Lynx is one of the largest animals of its family. She has long strong legs, so she runs, jumps and climbs trees very well. The name “lynx” is associated with the qualities of the animal, which “prowls” through the forests. The lynx differs from other cats by its short tail and tufts on its ears. The lynx is agile both in trees and on the ground. Bold: even attacks elk and deer. The lynx hunts by sneaking towards its prey, as well as from ambush. If her first attack is unsuccessful, she stubbornly pursues the victim for a day or two.