Caturday felid trifecta: Lynx standoff in the middle of the road; pet portraits; domestic cats raise manuls

September 9, 2017 • 7:45 am

Here’s a video that was all over the Internet about two weeks ago. This description comes from Laughing Squid:

These are Canadian lynx (Lynx canadensis). The noises start at 20 seconds in when the driver finally had the presence of mind to open her door. I would have done so immediately: cat confrontations like this are invariably accompanied by loud squalling:

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From Artsy.net we have a nice article about artists who do pet portraits. Here are a few examples:

Max Siebel, Henry, 2015. Courtesy of the artist.
Paul Miller, Rugby and Miles, 2017. Courtesy of the artist.
Emma Stern, Mooshie Portrait, 2016. Courtesy of the artist.

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Finally, Bored Panda has a story and photographs of four kittens found by a Russian farmer in his barn. But they weren’t domestic cats, they were Pallas’s cats (or “manuls”: Otocolobus manul). This happens to be my favorite species of wild cat, as they’re lovely and ultra-fluffy with striking stripes around the eyes.

Fortunately the abandoned kittens (I’m not sure they really were abandoned) were raised by two domestic cats at a local rescue center, and then released into the wild. I do worry about how they learned to be wild manuls without a proper mother. But here are some photos of the kittens both small and grown:

h/t: Michael B., Grania

11 thoughts on “Caturday felid trifecta: Lynx standoff in the middle of the road; pet portraits; domestic cats raise manuls”

  2. Can certainly payoff to have a camera at the ready at all times. To see two Lynx in the road in a condition such as this that allows you to stop, get out and video. Had it just been one cat, probably would have been long gone.

  3. Personally, I would have rolled the window down, but stayed in the car. Winner lynx might be thinking it’s a tournament.

        1. Tooth marks on the bone would be different.
          Sorry, I’ve been listening to too many “trace fossil” people of late.

  4. That ‘Mooshie Portrait’ by Emma Stern immediately reminds one of Fritz Leiber’s “The Wanderer” where the narrator is seduced/subjected by/to a female cat-like alien (Tigrisha, IIRC). At the time I found that passage, which is quite non-explicit, highly erotic, indeed probable more to do with my young phantasy than the passage itself.

      1. “Furry” territory, for sure.
        Which reminds me – I haven’t caught up on the “Freefall” webcomic for a while. (Which isn’t particularly Furry, involving a kleptomaniac squid.)

  5. That is one regal cat in the first portrait! Perhaps he is Sir Puss in Boots, he of legendary fame, of skilled sword and quick wit?

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