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Cats in the Wild and in the Home
by vremde kattan
http://www.strangecats.com
Cats were not originally meant to be pets. They were
brought into the home primarily to protect the store of
grains from mice and other rodents. The African Wildcat was
probably the first one to be domesticated, and brought into
the house. The wildcat was larger than the cats found
today. The first people, to keep cats, as pets were the
Egyptians.
The Egyptians discovered that a kitten raised by humans grew
into an adult cat with no natural fear of humans - that's
how easy it was to domesticate the cat! The domestic cat
changed over the years of living with human's and among
other things, a household cat has a brain thirty percent
smaller than it's wild relatives because it doesn't need to
be anything like so alert.
All cats, wild and domesticated, share a common ancestor.
Fifty million years ago the Miacis lived in trees hunting
other animals. This creature, extinct for tens of millions
of years, is probably the forefather of cats, but is also
thought to be the common ancestor of modern dogs, bears,
foxes and other similar predators. Some ten million years
further on, the Dinicitis stalked the earth, and he looked
even more like the wild and domestic cats we recognize
today.
Wild cats could be divided into three categories-small,
medium and large. The pet cats of today have all been
domesticated from small wild cats like the African
Wildcats. The medium category of cats includes the Bobcat
and the Asian Golden cat.
The large cats are the most remarkable. People mistakenly
believe the lion to be the largest. The largest cat is the
tiger. The tiger often weighs more than 700 pounds and is a
man-eater. It is found in the swamps and the tropical
climate of Asia. This wonderful species is, however, an
endangered one.
The cheetah is another big cat and the fastest land animal
on Earth. It is in reality a sprinter and cannot be beaten
over short distances and can sprint as fast as sixty miles
an hour.
In the species of cats, the Lion is the most unusual. It is
a very social animal and form prides of extended families
unlike other cats. This group hunts and lives together. It
is so unlike the domestic cat that looks after its offspring
for a very short period after birth that it is truly
wonderful.
One characteristic, which is common to all cats, is that
they love to sleep. They seem to prefer sitting and
digesting food rather than hunting for it. They sleep for
over sixteen hours a day.
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