I decided to do something a little bit different. As y'all saw in the title, we will be learning about wild cats!
There are so many different species of wild cats!
When you think "wild cat," the first thing that comes to your mind are lions, tigers, and leopards, right? But did you know that the two smallest cat species are wild cats? These cats are even smaller than the average domestic housecat. These two are the rusty-spotted cat and the black-footed cat. A male rusty-spotted weighs about 3.5 pounds. Females are a bit smaller at around 2.2 pounds. The black-footed cat is a bit bigger than the rusty-spotted, weighing around 2-5 pounds.
The black-footed cat holds the title of the "world's deadliest cat," because these guys have a kill rate of 60%! That's more than a lion!
Big cats and wild cats are two different things. Wild cats are cats that aren't domesticated--aka, wild. Big cats are cats that roar and are large in size, such as lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, and a few others. You may list cheetahs in this category, but, did you know that cheetahs aren't considered big cats? Why? Because they can't roar, but instead they meow and purr, just like a housecat. They also don't have retractable claws.
Cougars also aren't considered "big cats," because they don't roar, but purr. I hope to write a post about cougars in the near future because they are one of my favorite wild cats.
A lot of the wild cats are medium-sized, like the serval, bobcat, African Golden cat, lynx, and many others.
Some medium sized wild cats are bred with domestic cats to create expensive hybrids, which include the Bengal, Savannah, Ashera, pixie-bob, Chausie, and a few others. Though being descendant of wild cats, these hybrids are considered domestic.
Bengals are one, if not the most common hybrid. This breed is bred between the Asian leopard cat and domestic shorthaired breeds, like the Egyptian Mau.
The Savannah cat is bred between an African serval and domestic cat breeds. Even though they aren't fully domestic, the breed is the largest "domestic" cat breed, weighing about 12-25 pounds. Some can be about 30 pounds.
The Ashera is the most expensive "domestic" cat breed, priced at around $125,000. They are mixed between three cats: the African serval, the Asian leopard cat, and domestic cats. Would you pay that much for a cat? Didn't think so.
Thanks for reading!
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