Little-studied animals still remain in the world, the Caucasian forest cat also belongs to them. Despite the fact that they are common in several countries of Eastern and Western Europe, Central Asia, not as much information is known about them as about other wild animals. There are reasons for this: a secretive lifestyle, inaccessible habitats and the small number of individuals.
Description
Caucasian forest cat is listed in the Red Book of Russia. As a rare species, it is assigned the 3rd number. It is protected in the Caucasus, Teberdinsky and other reserves. No special measures have been developed to protect animals. This is a subspecies of a wild cat that lives in the Caucasus and Turkey.
Large, ordinary “yard” color - something like this looks like a Caucasian forest cat. Its description is presented below.
- Weight: males - 3.1-6.08 kg, females - 3.0-6.0 kg.
- The length of the muscular body: males - 50.1-67 cm, females - 52.3-61 cm.
- The tail length as a percentage of the length of the trunk is: in males - up to 60%, in females - up to 56%.
- The claws are large, sharp.
- The head is wide, round.
- Ears - rounded, up to 7 cm high.
- Mustache is long.
- Eyes are large, without eyelashes.
- Hair - dense, lush in winter.
Wild life left its mark on the coat color of the animal:
- the general color is gray with a redhead, a black stripe stretches along the ridge, there are dark stripes on the sides;
- black stripes are clearly visible on the head along the forehead to the occipital part;
- the bottom of the throat, abdomen, and inguinal areas are light, almost white, with a buffy tint, it is especially noticeable on the undertail;
- on the stomach there may be fuzzy outlined dark spots;
- the tail is “decorated” with dark rings, the number is from 3 to 8.
This pattern allows animals to disguise themselves for hunting from an ambush. In summer it is brighter, in winter it grows dull. Cat prefers to hunt at night.
Cat racing starts in February and March. Pregnancy lasts 68-70 days. There are usually 3-5 kittens in a litter. They suck mother until 4 months. Since two months, the mother has taught them how to get their own food. After six months, the males leave the mother, girls can stay with her longer. Puberty comes to a year old. The first offspring of young individuals appears by the age of three.
Food
Caucasian forest cat is a predator. She freely climbs trees, but prefers hunting on the ground. Her diet includes rodents of all kinds, lizards, fish, small birds, eggs and chicks. For hunting, the animal is able to eat up to 20 mice. Hunting areas per individual are up to 3 km 2. In habitats, they compete with a raccoon dog, a badger, a striped raccoon, a marten, a fox.
The lack of the main subject of hunting can force cats to hunt for larger game. The diet includes pheasants, muskrat, nutria, hares and cubs of ungulates. If possible, catch poultry. In addition, they eat a small amount of green cereals, fruits, insects and fresh carrion. Deep snow makes cats migrate, it interferes with the rapid movement and, accordingly, the extraction of food.
Habitat halo
Animals prefer beech-fir broad-leaved forests and crooked forests. They are met in Europe and Asia. In Russia, distributed in Chechnya, southern Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, North Ossetia, in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. There are populations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia.
Cats prefer deaf areas of the forest, choosing clefts of rocks, old burrows of other animals and even hollows. Near the rivers live in dense thickets of shrubs and reeds. Animals were noticed near human buildings; they can choose abandoned buildings.
Despite the scarce information about animals, there is some information about how the Caucasian forest cat lives. Interesting facts about them can be found in the list below:
- in habitats they do not have natural enemies;
- in the North Caucasus they are not in danger of degeneration due to mating with domestic cats, harsh living conditions will not allow the crosses to survive;
- live at an altitude of 2500-3000 meters above sea level;
- they prefer to attack from an ambush, they very rarely pursue fleeing game, but they easily catch a hare.
