Posted on 11/02/2018 12:09:38 PM PDT by ETL
The deadliest cat on Earth isn't a shaggy-maned lion, a sleek leopard or a stealthy tiger. It's a wee cat that you've probably never heard of: Africa's smallest feline, the black-footed cat.
Native to the grasslands of southern Africa, the black-footed cat has an endearingly round face and a light brown, black-spotted body that is small even compared to domestic cats. The wild feline measures only 14 to 20 inches long, stands about 8 inches tall and weighs about 2 to 6 lbs, according to the International Society for Endangered Cats (black-footed cats are listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature).
Admittedly, those measurements don't sound very impressive when compared to the sizable big cats that are among the world's most fearsome predators. But despite its small size, the black-footed cat hunts and brings down more prey in a single night than a leopard does in six months, according to the PBS Nature miniseries "Super Cats." [Meet the Rare and Fabulous Felines of 'Super Cats' (Photos)]
..."
Black-footed cats use three very different techniques to nab their prey. One method is known as "fast hunting," in which the cats bound quickly and "almost randomly" through the tall grass, flushing out small prey such as birds or rodents, Hunter said. Another of their methods takes them on a slower course through their habitat, with the cats weaving quietly and carefully to sneak up on potential prey.
Finally, they use a sit-and-wait approach near rodents' burrows, a technique called still hunting, Hunter said.
"They wait for up to 2 hours, [staying] absolutely immobile, just silently waiting at the burrow for a rodent to appear. And then they nab it," Hunter told Live Science.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Hahahahaha...”I’m invicible!”
“You’re a loony!”
You can easily create your own 10-sec gifs for free here:
For longer ones, you have to register at the site.
Otherwise, the site is free to use. You just copy and paste the html gif code to a site like FR.
...I think they have a paid version of the program as well for creating even longer gifs.
My cats are always shelter rescues-I give them good food and care and a loving home-indoors-that enables them to live to be 17-20 years old. I did something different last week, by literally stealing a little gray tabby some summer people had abandoned when they went back to the city until the Holidays-I just picked her up, put her in the 4x4, took her to my vet and had her checked for a microchip-she didn’t have one, so I got her one-with my name and contact info-so she is my cat now-one of 3. Summer people out here abandon pet cats and even small dogs to survive on their own every fall, expecting the animal to greet them when they arrive back for the Holidays.
The vet here gives a discount to people who pick up and adopt these pets-I got one for my new kittie’s vaccinations and chip. These abandoned pets don’t deserved to be shot by cat haters for killing birds-which is natural, same as killing rodents...
This is my oldest female Feist, Abby. She will be two in January. I also have a male and female from the litter after her, Amy and Jack.
Any rodent that runs from her is dead, dead, dead!
Here are all three.
My little boy chewed his green collar up.
Are those dogs Chihuahua-sized and also called Squirrel dogs? One of my neighbors has two little dogs that look like yours, only one is fawn and white, and they call them squirrel dogs...
Some of them are pretty small but my two girls are around 18 pounds. My little boy is 16 pounds. Some go as low as 10 pounds but the breed standards don’t allow them over 30 pounds. The majority are 15-20 pounds. They are a lot like a Rat Terrier and a Jack Russell. Mine are more Jack Russell size with longer legs but Feists don’t have the JRT attitude. :-) They have an extremely sweet nature but are fantastic watch dogs.
Oh, and yes, they are squirrel dogs that tree.
Thanks for the info-that is probably what the neighbor’s dogs are-looks just like yours-and they are really cute and sweet, too-but kind of jumpy and hyper like a lot of terriers are.
My old Tom Cat would just lay under a tree with squirrels in it. He pretended to be dead. He might lay there for a couple of hours. The squirrel would finally come down to "check it out." Dead squirrel!
LOL, yes, mine go 100% wide open all the time but unlike some terriers they calm down easily. All three love to dig like terriers and Abby can climb a tree. I had to cut the ivy off of one tree in their yard to keep her out of it.
OH! OH! Poor dears! OH!
Formidable kitty boy, quite a looker too.
Nice percentages, I guess, for small game.
How many wildebeests or giraffes do they bring down?
“Feral cats are the result of careless HUMANS.”
The same can be said of most pests.
But they still have to be controlled.
One of my favorite movies of all time!
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