A Michael Broad Blog
Scientists have looked into whether wild cats are smarter than domestic cat. Their study is entitled: “Are domesticated animals dumber than their wild relatives? A comprehensive review on the domestication effects on animal cognitive performance.” I discuss the study below and start off with a general discussion on the difficulties in making a comparison. …
The question seems innocuous and the answer obvious but the explanation is not quite as simple as people might expect. The comparison will be to the pet cat’s wild cat ancestor. Here is my answer for what it is worth. Please add yours in a comment. The difference between a pet cat and a …
It is an astonishing thought. About ten thousand years ago at least five different individual female cats of the Near Eastern wildcat (aka North African wildcat) population living in the savannah had the courage to overcome their fear of humans to live in an agricultural settlement in the river-rich lands that form an arc …
Artist Peter Hall was on a game drive in the central regions of Kruger National Park in South Africa, reports the EarthTouch News website. A “game drive” is one in which the participants sit in 4×4 vehicles looking out at the animals in the park. On this occasion Peter Hall noticed a small black …
The wildcats of South Africa and Namibia are sometimes referred to as “caffre cats”. They are a species of small wild cat looking like a tabby domestic cat. The Mirriam-Webster dictionary tells us that the phrase “caffre cat” is a variant of “kaffir cat”. And “kafir” means a person who does not believe in …
The answer is, Yes and No. By default they are not friendly because they are held back by fear and suspicion as they are inherently solitary and territorial. However, it seems that this small wildcat species decided that survival was easier if they became friendly with people. I am convinced that the modern African …
Yes, it is perfectly okay for domestic cats to eat flies, spiders and bugs of all kinds but see the caveat below. Wasps and bees are a problem because they can get stung. But it is completely natural for domestic cats to consider flies and spiders as prey. The insatiable curiosity and drive to …
The African wildcat is suffering the same barrier to survival as the Scottish wildcat. This small wild cat species has a tendency to mate with wandering domestic and feral cats. The offspring are hybrids, neither pure domestic cat nor pure wildcat. Do this often enough and you no longer have purebred African or Scottish …
