Today we have a bunch of videos from the backlog (largely contributed by readers), as well as a new wild cat for your delectation, the kodkod.
i09 introduces us to the kodkod (Leopardus guigna), which they call “the cutest cat you never knew existed”.
Everything about this cat is small and high up. It is the smallest cat in Americas, and it has the smallest range of any cat in the Americas. The kodkod exclusively lives in the southern part of the coastal Andes, between 1,900 to 2,500 meters above sea level.
But just walking around on the ground at that altitude isn’t enough for the kodkod. The four-to-five pound wildcat is one of the most accomplished climbers in the world. Not only can it climb trees with trunks too big for any other cat to get a solid grip, it spends its entire youth in the treetops. The females nest in trees, and the kittens spend their infancy clambering around their treetop nests.
Kodkods are denizens of the temperate rain forests along the coast of western South American (range shown below), and are somewhat endangered because of logging of their native habitat.
Individuals weigh roughly 4-5 pounds (2-2.5 kilos), making them smaller than the average housecat. And yes, they’re cute, as you can see in this video.
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And now for some videos. In the first, two cats see a ceiling fan for the first time:
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Cat thug life: a Persian is evil and unrepentant:
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Cats stealing stuff:
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And finally, Mao the Cat eats a banana. Matthew was puzzled by this one given that cats can’t taste sweetness (they have no receptors for that taste in their mouth), and might encounter digestive troubles were they to nom bananas. My response was that Cats Act in Mysterious Ways:
h/t: Robin, Norm, Laurie
Where is the kodkod video?
It’s up for me… perhaps was a corrected problem?
The kodkod vid is up for me as well, but the sand cat of the post title is missing (although it’s one of the Tube’s suggested videos at the end (which leads to the Geoffroy’s cat (which leads to the jungle cat (which leads to the serval (omg this is the bestest YouTube hole evar!!1!)))))
Felid behavior to be especially wary of: signs of a banana dependency.
Oh… and Happy International Cat Day.
I have read that though cats don’t express the ability to taste sweets they have the DNA for it. What if Mao is an outlier and does express it and can taste sweets? Wouldn’t be an advantage in the wilds.
The cats seeing the ceiling fan have unblinking owl like expressions while that thug cat, maintaining eye contact while pushing the glass, just freaks me out!
That kodkod is gorgeous – I want one!
When I was young, I had a cat that loved chocolate chip cookies. It could open the cookie jar and steal a cookie. It was never observed to take gingersnaps or peanut butter cookies. I think mom looked at that as an insult to her baking skills.
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