The Andean mountain cat is quite well known nowadays thanks to the Internet but scientifically speaking there’s more to know about this small wild cat species that looks a little like a domestic tabby cat. They live, as the name implies, in the high plains of the Andean Mountains where it is bitterly cold and where winter can be particularly hostile with freezing winds. Minus 20°C is not untypical and it might be twice as cold as that on the high passes.
And so, this cute looking wild cat species will find caves in which to rest and sleep. All small cat species find protected areas where they can sleep unlike the lion, which as you know lives in a pride (a group of other lions) and where they are protected by the lion pride members. The lion sleeps under open sky on the African Savanna. The Andean mountain cat sleeps in a cave with a sandy floor as it is a solitary creature as are the other small wild cat species.
And scientists suggest that, “Often these caves have many tens or hundreds of Andean cat faeces. The Andean cat apparently uses its den as a latrine. Why would the Andean cat do this?” These are the words of James Sanderson and Patrick Watson in their book Small Wild Cats.
The authors add that the vicuña, living in the Andes is known to use ‘communal latrines’. This camelid species creates mounds of faeces which scientists call latrines to which individual members of the herd add to daily.
And at night the vicuñas sleep on the faeces mound. They do so to keep warm because the decaying faeces emit heat.
From this observation, the experts have concluded that it is plausible to suggest that the Andean cat sleeps in a cave next to a pile of their faeces in order to keep warm. The decaying poop is a slowly smoldering fire next to them.
In addition to their decaying faeces, it has been suggested that the thick tail of the Andean cat can sometimes acts as a scarf to add to their methods of keeping warm and protected at night.
There is some debate on whether some wild cat species use their thick and well covered tails to keep their faces warm. I mention this because often kittens play with their tails and like to bite them which applies to the snow leopard.
You will find that all small and medium-sized wild cat species find a safe and well protected place in which to sleep. For example, the sand cat and the black-footed cat usually sleep and rest during a hot day in a cool underground burrow excavated by another species of animal.
RELATED: Sand Cat Burrow
The Chinese mountain cat is a subspecies of the very widespread wildcat. They inhabit the Tibetan Plateau where there are no trees but where there are badgers and marmots; both excellent excavators. They live in deep boroughs that when abandoned are used by the Chinese mountain cats as dens for protection when resting and sleeping.
