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Abitudini
- Wild cats, and their domestic counterparts, are usually
active at night or at dusk and dawn, although they are also
active during the day, particularly in areas with little human
disturbance. Asiatic wild cats in particular are often active
during the day. Wild cats often travel widely at night in
search prey. One European wild cat was recorded traveling 10km
in a night. Wild cats are primarily solitary animals, their
domestic counterparts are more social and can occur in small
family groups. Domestic cats are also usually solitary, but
may form small colonies in areas where food sources are
clustered, such as garbage dumps. In unrestrained domestic cat
populations, female cats typically stay in their area of birth
while males leave their area of birth and attempt to establish
a home range elsewhere. In areas with concentrations of
free-ranging domestic cats a sort of hierarchy is formed.
Newcomers must go through a series of fights with resident
animals before their position in the hierarchy is established.
Wild cat males mark territories by spraying strong urine on
objects throughout their home ranges. Females also communicate
when they are ready to breed with scents that they emit which
are highly attractive to males. Cats have scent glands on
their foreheads, around their mouths, and near the bases of
their tails. A cat rubs these glands against objects to mark
them with its scent. Wild cats communicate with visual cues,
such as raising the hair on their backs, moving their tails,
and facial expressions. They also have a variety of sounds
that communicate different intents, including aggressive
hisses and yowls, affectionate purring, and a 'be quiet'
squeak used to silence kittens. Wild cats have a well
developed sense of smell and hearing. The ears of a cat can
rotate rapidly to identify the source of a particular sound
and are able to respond to frequencies up to 25,000 vibrations
per second. Because of this ability, cats can hear even
ultrasonic noises made by small rodents. This sometimes allows
them to locate and capture prey without seeing it. Their sight
is good but probably not better than that of humans. The range
of colors seen by cats is smaller than the human range. The
eyes of cats are located on the front of the head. Although
this allows them to have excellent depth perception, a useful
tool in hunting, cats cannot see directly under their noses.
They also have the ability to see even tiny movements, helping
them to locate prey. Their eyes are adapted for vision in dim
light for hunting just after dusk or before dawn. Another
notable mode of sensation in cats are whiskers, or vibrissae.
Whiskers are special hairs that are used as highly sensitive
touch organs. A cat uses its whiskers to determine if their
bodies can fit through small openings such as small pipes, and
other various objects. They also use them to detect the
movement of prey. |
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Alimentazione
- As with most small cat species, the diet of wild cats, or
domestic cats, is mainly made up of small rodents, such as
mice and rats. Rabbits may be preferred prey in some areas and
seem to be the dominant prey for European wild cats (F. s.
silvestris). Other prey items include birds, young ungulates,
reptiles, amphibians, eggs, and large insects and arachnids.
European wild cats (F. s. silvestris) have been recorded
scavenging carrion, but this is reported to be rare in African
and Asiatic wild cats (F. s. libyca and F. s. notatus). Food
caching has been reported in European wild cats (F. s.
silvestris). Rodents preyed on by Asiatic wild cats (F. s.
notatus) include jerboas, gerbils, voles, and mice.
Occasionally, cats eat grass in order to clear their stomach
of indigestible food, like bones, fur, and feathers. Wild cats
are able to subdue prey almost as large as themselves and tend
to avoid prey that is spiny, has shells, or has an offensive
odor. Female wild cats may teach their young how to capture
prey by bringing them injured animals on which to practice. |
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Riproduzione
- When a female wild cat goes into estrous, local males
congregate near the female and compete for access to her.
Males screech, yowl, display, and fight. Females will mate
with multiple males and multiple paternity in single litters
is possible. Breeding in wild cats occurs at different times
of the year, depending on local climate. In European wild cats
(F. s. silvestris) breeding occurs in late winter (January to
March) and births occur in the spring, usually in May.
Breeding has been recorded nearly year round in Asiatic wild
cats (F. s. notatus) and, in African wild cats (F. s. libyca)
breeding has been recorded from September through March.
Females are pregnant for 56 to 68 days and give birth to 1 to
8 young, with an average of 3.4, in a protected burrow, often
a space under rocks or in dense vegetation. Females become
sexually mature at about 10 to 11 months old, and males from 9
to 22 months old. Domestic cats may breed much more frequently,
as often as 3 times a year, as they are not typically limited
by nutrition or climate. Average litter size in domestic cats
is 4 to 6. The gestation period averages 65 days. Domestic
kittens are weaned at about 8 weeks old and become independent
at about 6 months old. Females become sexually mature as early
as 6 months old. The young are born with eyes closed and are
unable to walk. They are nursed and cared for in the den by
their mother for 4 to 12 weeks. Their eyes open at 10 days old
and they nurse for about 30 days. They remain with their
mother, learning hunting and survival skills for from 4 to 10
months, usually around 5 months. After that they are driven
from their mother's range and must become independent. Males
do not help to care for kittens. |
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Habitat
e Area di Distribuzione
- Wild cats are found throughout continental Europe,
southwestern Asia, and the savannah regions of Africa. Felis
silvestris is currently regarded as being made up of three,
distinct groups (or subspecies): F. silvestris lybica, African
wild cats, F. silvestris silvestris, European wild cats, and
F. silvestris ornata, Asiatic wild cats. African wild cats are
found in appropriate habitat throughout Africa and the Arabian
Peninsula. European wild cats are found throughout Europe and
western Russia, except for much of the British Isles (they are
found in Scotland) and Scandinavian countries. Asiatic
wildcats are found in the Middle East, southern Russia,
western China, and western India. Some authorities recognize
F. s. silvestris as a species distinct from both F. s. lybica
and F. s. ornata. Domestic cats are thought to be descended
from African wild cats and are found virtually worldwide in
association humans. African wild cats occur throughout Africa
in a wide variety of habitats. They are absent only from
tropical rainforest. In desert regions they are restricted to
mountainous areas and waterways. They occur up to >3000 m in
montane areas. Asiatic wild cats are found primarily in scrub
desert, but can be found in a wide variety of habitats. They
are absent from alpine and steppe grasslands and the northern
limit of their distribution may be determined by snow depth.
They can be found up to 3000 m in mountains and are usually
found in areas near water sources. European wild cats are
found primarily in deciduous forests. They are also known from
coniferous forests, but these may be marginal habitats. They
are restricted in their northern distribution by snow depth
and are typically found in areas of low human populations.
European wild cats cannot persist in areas where snow depth in
the winter is more than 20 cm deep for more than 100 days.
They are known from human dominated landscapes where grazing
is the dominant form of agriculture and, therefore, land use
is not intensive. They are also known from scrublands,
riparian habitats, and coastal areas. Domestic cats occur in
many habitat types because of their association with humans.
They do best in areas where winters are not severely cold. |
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