Cats!
- Phoenix520
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Yes to MsDaisy’s photo. I wish I’d had a camera the day all three kitties and Floyd the Pug were lying on the floor in front of the fridge. They found the mouse nest in which Mama Mouse had her babies under the fridge.
Lani
Lani
Cats!
I'm not askeered of snakes, but having one fall on top of me unexpectedly would make me scream and run, too!
There's a lot of things that need to change. One specifically? Police brutality.
--Colin Kaepernick
--Colin Kaepernick
- Tiredretiredlawyer
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THAT is a big-a** cat!!!!! And, yes, my cats have done that, all except Siri. Our sweet cocker spaniel Mickey was the one who got on books, papers, and tablets.
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
- Phoenix520
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That’s a caracal, native to Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and parts of India. I’ve heard they make good pets.
Cats!
Tulip enjoys trying to sit on my keyboard. When I was working from I bought her a new tree that was just the right height that she could sit right beside me while I was working and that helped keep her from wanting to get right on the table to sit on my keyboard.
There's a lot of things that need to change. One specifically? Police brutality.
--Colin Kaepernick
--Colin Kaepernick
Cats!
Mocha does cats things with the my laptop. He cheerfully jumps up next to the laptop, looking innocent. Then a paw moves onto the keyboard. I push it off. Then two paws slowly make their way onto the keyboard. I put him on the floor. When I returned from a break, he was sprawled across the keyboard.
And I learned to close down my laptop when I leave or take it with me.
And I learned to close down my laptop when I leave or take it with me.
You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy.
- northland10
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Laptops often have warmth which is a reason why they like to sit on laptop keyboards. If it is a detached keyboard, then it is just a case of a cat reminding the human, what's yours is theirs.
101010
- Tiredretiredlawyer
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https://www.treehugger.com/moroccos-san ... ts-7375350?
Morocco’s Tiny Sand Cats Reveal Behavior Never Before Seen in Wild Cats
Researchers tracking the charismatic carnivores say their findings are ‘truly eye-opening’ and may warrant an upgrade in conservation status.
Sand cats rocketed to fame in 2017 when photos of the wee wild cats from a study conducted by Grégory Breton, managing director of Panthera France, took the Internet by storm. Weighing up to just 7.5 pounds, members of this admittedly adorable species look not too different from a small housecat. Except that these are wild cats uniquely adapted to some of the planet’s harshest conditions. Native to Africa's Sahara Desert and the Arabian Peninsula, Felis margarita is the only feline to live exclusively in deserts.
Now the Panthera team is back with a new study, marking the most extensive research on the ecology of this species in the wild. The study, which appears in the Journal of Arid Environments, provides the largest dataset on the home range of sand cats ever recorded.
“What we found is truly eye-opening, and we hope that our research will assist in guiding this species’ conservation,” writes Breton on Panthera.
After tracking 22 sand cats with VHF radio collars and intermittently following and observing them in southern Morocco between December 2015 and December 2019, they discovered that sand cat ranges are much more extensive than previously thought.
“Incredibly, they rival ranges of much larger cats like leopards and tigers, with one sand cat covering an area of up to 1,758 square kilometers (about 1,093 square miles) over 6.5 months,” explains Panthera. The researchers now believe that sand cats probably maintain the largest range of cats of their Felis genus, including black-footed cats and African wildcats.
Because the desert conditions were so extreme and the equipment somewhat limited—and the cats so elusive—the researchers had no shortage of challenges. But while the desert may seem harsh and desolate, Breton describes it as rich with life:
“Our journey began in a scorching desert, with temperatures that can soar up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer months. Local herders flock by with goats or camels, often accompanied by guard dogs. Though the flat, arid land may sometimes look bleak and barren, it is alive with incredible wildlife including poisonous snakes, golden eagles, African golden wolves and African wildcats.”
Of the 22 cats they tracked over the years, they were able to collect strong data for 10 of them. “We even managed to track one cat for over a year: a male that ventured far and wide. It is this behavior which we found so eye-opening; we discovered that sand cat home ranges are likely considerably larger than previously estimated,” says Breton.
The study’s findings suggest that these charismatic carnivores may not rely on defined home ranges, but rather, maintain a somewhat nomadic lifestyle, moving from one location to another based on influences like rainfall fluctuations. “If true, this type of movement in response to rainfall is previously unrecorded among wild cat species,” says Panthera.
Another interesting point from the study possibly hints at social dynamics. The authors note that all the sand cats they observed in the area, along with the ones they tagged, were in good external condition, showing no wounds, very few scars, and no broken teeth. From the study: “We hypothesize that the sand cats are tolerant of each other and likely non-territorial. Our understanding of their ecology remains however limited and their social organization and mating pattern almost unknown.”
While the presence of sand cats has been documented in 24 countries, from North Africa across the Middle East to southwest and central Asia, they have not been reported in four of the countries since 2000. With the findings from the new research, the authors note that the discovery of such large ranges for this cat has important conservation implications.
In the study, the authors explain that between 2008 and 2016, the sand cat was classified as Near Threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. However, it was upgraded to Least Concerned due to revised IUCN Red List Assessment instructions and based on previously small home-range size estimates. “But if the species home ranges are significantly larger as our study tends to demonstrate, population numbers could be lower than estimated,” write the authors.
As Breton summarizes, “If the home ranges are indeed larger and they are only occupying certain parts of the desert as our study suggests, they could reasonably be upgraded to Near Threatened—causing us to redouble our conservation efforts.”
“There is still so much to learn about sand cats. With the future comes more opportunity to understand their home range sizes and the new territory we still leave unexplored,” adds Breton. “For now, I will keep sharing videos and pictures of this charismatic cat. For the sake of their conservation, they need it.”
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
- Tiredretiredlawyer
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Stormy
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
- northland10
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- Tiredretiredlawyer
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"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
- Phoenix520
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Cats!
I really have to watch myself. After getting the latest kitty, Ash, a fine young Maine Coon boy, I have the kitty wants again. It’s kitten season. The Universal Cat Distribution System has me on its list, I can feel it.
I’ve been keeping Ash in the house since we got him in Octoberish. We live in a wildlife area - bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, foxes. Hawks and owls. All the predators except cougars, although they’re nearby. Now that the weather is good again I’m in the yard gardening in the morning and/or afternoon. My kitty girls go in and out as they please, I know they won’t roam the neighborhood. But male cats explore and roam, so he wasn’t allowed.
This week there has been lots of activity. Sprout’s friends have been in and out, shooting a music video. One of his friends is staying with us while his car is fixed, as his job is only a few blocks from us but he lives 30 mins away. Needless to say, Ash has been outside this week. During the day he behaves as long as I’m outside, zooming around the fenced yard and only occasionally leaping the wall.
Last night was my fault. I was careless when closing the sliding door and he came outta nowhere and squeezed through before I could grab him. Sprout went out a little later with his buddy to smoke. About 10 minutes later I could hear Ash meowing near the window. Then Sprout yelled.
A raccoon was in the shadows near the door, munching on the peanuts I keep for the jay birds, mockers, squirrels, and woodpeckers. Ash didn’t see him until he was almost on top of it. Sprout was standing right next to them and he didn’t see it either until it started chasing Ash. I didn’t know raccoons did that!
They went straight up the hillside behind us. Sprout and I were standing in the doorway, door open, when they came barreling back toward the house. Ash made a dive for the open door. Sprout shut the door quickly. The raccoon went into the window, fell over stunned for a second then scrambled back to its feet, growling, and took off.
Ash. He’s the smartest cat I’ve had. He learns so fast. I just hope he learns that going out at night is dangerous.
I’ve been keeping Ash in the house since we got him in Octoberish. We live in a wildlife area - bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, foxes. Hawks and owls. All the predators except cougars, although they’re nearby. Now that the weather is good again I’m in the yard gardening in the morning and/or afternoon. My kitty girls go in and out as they please, I know they won’t roam the neighborhood. But male cats explore and roam, so he wasn’t allowed.
This week there has been lots of activity. Sprout’s friends have been in and out, shooting a music video. One of his friends is staying with us while his car is fixed, as his job is only a few blocks from us but he lives 30 mins away. Needless to say, Ash has been outside this week. During the day he behaves as long as I’m outside, zooming around the fenced yard and only occasionally leaping the wall.
Last night was my fault. I was careless when closing the sliding door and he came outta nowhere and squeezed through before I could grab him. Sprout went out a little later with his buddy to smoke. About 10 minutes later I could hear Ash meowing near the window. Then Sprout yelled.
A raccoon was in the shadows near the door, munching on the peanuts I keep for the jay birds, mockers, squirrels, and woodpeckers. Ash didn’t see him until he was almost on top of it. Sprout was standing right next to them and he didn’t see it either until it started chasing Ash. I didn’t know raccoons did that!
They went straight up the hillside behind us. Sprout and I were standing in the doorway, door open, when they came barreling back toward the house. Ash made a dive for the open door. Sprout shut the door quickly. The raccoon went into the window, fell over stunned for a second then scrambled back to its feet, growling, and took off.
Ash. He’s the smartest cat I’ve had. He learns so fast. I just hope he learns that going out at night is dangerous.
- RTH10260
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Is Your Cat Left-Handed?
A new study reveals a surprising twist on paw preference in our feline friends.
Sebastian Ocklenburg, Ph.D.
Posted February 25, 2019
If you, like me, have cats at home, you might have noticed something curious about the behavior of your feline companions. Whether playing with a wool ball or chasing a cat toy you move in front of them, cats often have a preferred paw with which they interact with their environment, and this preference is fairly consistent across time. Analogous to left- and right-handedness in human, this phenomenon has been called pawedness.
Paw preference in cats has not only fascinated curious pet owners, it actually has been the focus of more than 30 scientific studies to date. Surprisingly, the findings of these studies have been somewhat inconsistent. Some studies report that cats are right-pawed, others report that they are left-pawed, and yet others find that the sex of the animals might be a critical factor. This puzzling pattern is not uncommon in behavioral animal research, as individual studies tend to test only a few specimen rather than relying on large cohorts. To solve this problem, we recently conducted a so-called meta-analysis of paw preference in cats, i.e., a statistical integration of different empirical studies (Ocklenburg et al., 2019).
Overall, 32 different studies that together tested 1484 cats were included in the analysis. The result? Cats show paw preference, but it is somewhat different from human handedness. Overall, 75% of animals showed a preference for one paw, while 25% did not. This number is larger than in humans, where only about 1% of individuals show no preference for one hand.
In a second analysis, we wanted to know whether cats, like humans, on average show a preference for the right side. This was not the case, as there was no significant effect. Overall, 39% of cats were right-pawed, 36% were left-pawed, and 25% had no preference. Thus, cats have almost the same chance of being left- or right-pawed, unlike humans who have a 90% chance of being right-handed and a 10% chance of being left-handed.
However, when we compared male and female cats in a subset of studies, a striking effect emerged: Female cats were much more likely to show right-paw preference than male cats. In fact, 52.0% of female cats showed a right-sided preference, 27.1% showed a left-sided preference, and 20.9% showed no preference. In contrast, 52.3% of male cats showed a left-sided preference, 30.8% showed a right-sided preference, and 16.9% showed no preference.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/bl ... eft-handed
- Phoenix520
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Are the female cats who show left paw preference considered tomboys?