Lynx is a very beautiful predatory cat that lives in the taiga. These wild animals are not fully understood by humans, they are secretive and cautious, getting to them is not so easy. With this nature of forest cats, it is completely incomprehensible that they easily put up with a person’s neighborhood, live near settlements and are not even afraid to visit villages. In winter, they can freely use paths trodden by people. A wild cat is very unusual, so it will be interesting to learn about how it lives in the wild, what it eats, how a lynx protects itself from enemies, how many kittens it gives birth to per year … All these questions can be answered by reading this article.
European Lynx: Description
Like a real cat, a lynx differs from other predators in its excellent ability to climb trees. Among the branches, she feels more comfortable than on the ground. This is facilitated by the body structure of the animal. A lynx cat resembles a large dog in body size. The body is short, dense, tail with a chopped end. Paws are long with unusually developed strong muscles. The head is round in shape with pretty “whiskers” on the sides, decorated with beautiful ears of a triangular shape, on the ends of which there are tassels. The muzzle is short with wide eyes. Body length - 85-110 cm, tail - about 25 cm, weight - about 10-15 kg.
The fur is very thick, long and soft, especially beautiful on the belly. The color of the lynx coat is simply beautiful: red with a bluish-silver or reddish hue. Brown specks are scattered on the back and sides, white on the stomach with rare specks.
Lynx characteristic
The animal lives in mixed forests, especially likes to settle in heavily cluttered parts of the forest. Sometimes it can travel as necessary, climbing into the forest-steppe and tundra. A very skilled hunter is a lynx, a taiga gives her the opportunity to hunt freely. She always attacks from an ambush. First he chooses a convenient place and waits for a suitable booty. Lying and waiting, not moving, so as not to detect their presence, the lynx can spend hours. As a result, her efforts are almost always rewarded - the cat is provided with dinner or breakfast.
The predator is very careful, it is almost impossible to see her in the forest. During the day, she lies down in her den, in the evening, when it begins to get dark, she goes hunting. How does a lynx protect itself from enemies, because it is relatively small in stature and weight is not impressive, like other feline predators? Nevertheless, she does it very well, because a spotted cat climbs trees well, easily climbs rocks, swims very well, and jumps far. To all of the above, we can add that she has sharp eyesight and subtle hearing.
The diet of a predatory cat
The main prey of the lynx is hare hares, but the predator does not manage with them alone. She will enjoy a snack with a bird or a rodent. Favorite dishes - partridges, black grouse, squirrels and mice. In addition, the menu of a red cat includes not very large ungulates, such as musk deer, roe deer, spotted and reindeer. To prevent the lynx from being hungry, a twenty-kilogram individual per day requires about 3 kg of meat, and if the animal is too hungry, it will easily absorb as much as 6 kg.
Meat is meat, but a fresh fish is also required by a spotted predator, however, it can enjoy a lynx only in the spring, at that happy time, when it spawns in shallow water. Then the cat can simply fill its fish with its paw as much as it pleases.
Breeding
The breeding season in a lynx begins with the beginning of spring. Several suitors follow one female, they fight among themselves, meow loudly, and sometimes even shout frantically. When the female makes her choice, of course, preferring at the same time the strongest male who distinguished himself in battles, the lynxes create their own family. Lovers sniff each other's noses, as if kissing, lick each other’s hair and gently butt on their foreheads.
Future parents together arrange a family lair, which is carefully lined with wool, feathers and grass. A place for a house can be a cleft of a rock, an earthen cave, or inverted roots of a fallen tree.
Pregnancy lasts 62-70 days, after this period the family is replenished with 2-3 kittens. A lynx cub is born blind and deaf, weighs about 300 g.
Small kittens begin to learn hunting seven days after they were born. Parents bring home a rodent or bird, but they don’t give the kids. The prey is hidden nearby, and the lynx cub begins to search for it. Every day, mom and dad complicate his task. The result is an excellent hunter, in no way inferior to his parents.
How a lynx defends itself from enemies
The main enemy of the lynx is man. People prey on this animal because of the beautiful fur and because the predator destroys a lot of livestock. How does a lynx protect itself from enemies in the form of humans? When meeting, tries to hide in a tree, the first cat rarely attacks a person. If the hunter nevertheless fired, the wounded lynx becomes rampant! She jumps on his chest and deeply plunges fangs and claws into the body.
In winter, flocks of wolves and wolverines are serious enemies of the lynx. It is still unknown why wolves so hate lynxes. Or tasty meat, or competition of predators. If the lynx is adult and experienced, then it escapes from the wolves on the tree, but sometimes a young cat does not withstand the wolf siege under the tree and makes an attempt to escape. As a result, certain death awaits her, the wolves cut off the lynx from the trees and kill the fugitive who fell on her back. She will be protected to the last with all four paws, but she will not stand against the pack.
