silent thunder Posted January 17, 2021 For as long as I can recall... cats in my life. I was born able to speak their language it seems. I just always get them. Unmatched masters of mindfulness/presence and emptiness/release in my experience. When I see cats with my external eyes. This is often my internal experience... 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
old3bob Posted January 18, 2021 I can eat the big ones but miss out on the mice since my teeth really get in the way.... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) 57 minutes ago, old3bob said: I can eat the big ones but miss out on the mice since my teeth really get in the way.... I used to have a cat who always ate wet food by picking it up with his paw and putting it in his mouth, rather than sticking his face in it. I never understood it but now you got me thinking that it may have been genetic memory of how the sabertooth snacked on mice. I had another cat who didn't eat dry food except if you threw a crunchy across the room for her to chase, which she did at top speed. It was entertainment for her rather than food, but it was her absolute favorite game. Mice are the most widely eaten species on Earth. Everything hunts for them, snakes, birds, felines, canines, pigs, bats, even some insects and quite a few spiders. And yet, so far, they managed to survive for 65 million years. If I was one of those scientists who perform "studies" on them toward conclusions they proceed to apply to humans, I'd stop cutting them up, poisoning them, splicing them with glowing jellyfish and human ears and what not, and instead let them all go and then dedicate all that multibillion dollar effort to studying their survival strategies in the real world. Edited January 18, 2021 by Taomeow 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
old3bob Posted January 18, 2021 could be the genetic memory? Anyway it seems those size of teeth are a little overkill but evolution had a reason for it back then... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
old3bob Posted January 19, 2021 (edited) Alice and the Cheshire cat Edited January 19, 2021 by old3bob 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted January 31, 2021 Amur Forest Cat. A rare endangered species. Picture taken in January 2021 near Vladivostok, Russia. 2 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted February 4, 2021 A family tree Olare Motorogi Conservancy, Africa 4 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted February 8, 2021 (edited) Excellent gongfu! Edited February 8, 2021 by Taomeow 5 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shevek Posted February 9, 2021 It is estimated only 35 pure-bred Scottish wildcats may be left in the wild. https://www.wildcathaven.com/scottish-wildcat 1 1 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted February 9, 2021 5 hours ago, Shevek said: It is estimated only 35 pure-bred Scottish wildcats may be left in the wild. https://www.wildcathaven.com/scottish-wildcat I've read that the reason they are almost gone is that they interbreed with domestic cats and produce fertile offspring, so living close to human dwellings (where domestic cats are ubiquitous) dilutes their genetic pool more and more. Of course the main factor is the shrinking habitat... like for all other wild creatures displaced by the expansionist pest humanity has been transmogrified into by "civilization." Some program to restore their population would be great though... It worked (at least to an extent, at least for now) for the Siberian (Amur) tiger -- a hundred years ago there were only 60 left, in the 1940s the population dropped to half that, but today there's about 580. This is not a high number nor a low one -- what's left of the territory they once inhabited (7% of it, the rest having been rendered uninhabitable for tigers) can only accommodate about as many... 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shevek Posted February 9, 2021 1 hour ago, Taomeow said: I've read that the reason they are almost gone is that they interbreed with domestic cats and produce fertile offspring, so living close to human dwellings (where domestic cats are ubiquitous) dilutes their genetic pool more and more. Of course the main factor is the shrinking habitat... like for all other wild creatures displaced by the expansionist pest humanity has been transmogrified into by "civilization." Some program to restore their population would be great though... It worked (at least to an extent, at least for now) for the Siberian (Amur) tiger -- a hundred years ago there were only 60 left, in the 1940s the population dropped to half that, but today there's about 580. This is not a high number nor a low one -- what's left of the territory they once inhabited (7% of it, the rest having been rendered uninhabitable for tigers) can only accommodate about as many... Quote The wildcat is considered an icon of the Scottish wilderness and has been used in clan heraldry since the 13th century. The Picts venerated the wildcats, having probably named Caithness (Land of the Cats) after them. According to the myth, the ancestors of the Catti tribe were attacked by wildcats upon landing in Scotland. Their ferocity impressed the Catti so much that the wildcat became their symbol. A thousand years later the progenitors of Clan Sutherland, equally impressed, adopted the wildcat on their family crest. The Chief of the Clan Sutherland bears the title Morair Chat (Great Man of the Cats). The Clan Chattan Association (also known as the Clan of Cats) is made up of 12 different clans, the majority of which display the wildcat on their badges. I hope the 'Scottish tigers' survive, like the Siberian ones. There are many conservation initiatives in Scotland now, and even proposals to reintroduce the lynx. The wildcats really are wild and untameable, famous for their ferocity and independence. When I was young I read the book "Ring of Bright Water" by Gavin Maxwell, an autobiographical account of when he lived in a remote part of Scotland and kept otters as pets. He rescued a wildcat kitten, and it bit his thumb, biting right through the thumbnail. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted February 14, 2021 Maryland bobcat 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted February 20, 2021 (edited) A black panther in India To me this kitty looks like a working model of our yin-yang universe Edited February 20, 2021 by Taomeow 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted February 22, 2021 Caracal/Desert Lynx 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted February 26, 2021 A Wildcat in Switzerland 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted February 26, 2021 These ones 'jumped out at me ' Jaguarondi and this clouded leopard ... what a coat ! and a Canadian lynx , out for a walk with her snow boots on 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted February 27, 2021 19 hours ago, Nungali said: Wow... who added the terrible photoblob of the man to that lynx pic? lol! nice shadow matching. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted February 27, 2021 12 minutes ago, silent thunder said: Wow... who added the terrible photoblob of the man to that lynx pic? lol! nice shadow matching. Yeah, at first glance I couldn't fathom what kind of mandanimal* a lynx the size of a lioness might be. *mandanimal -- a term people use to describe animals attributed to the so-called "Mandela effect," which are not indigenous either to the current timeline or to the timeline of the persons switched to this one from different ones. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted February 27, 2021 (edited) What's up with you two ? You never seen a small man and a large cat together before ? Edited February 27, 2021 by Nungali 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted March 10, 2021 (edited) A bad hair day. Serval mom evacuates her kittens from an inundated den in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Edited March 11, 2021 by Taomeow 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
old3bob Posted March 11, 2021 not so natural cats... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted March 11, 2021 Thats not THE Malcolm McDowel is it ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
old3bob Posted March 12, 2021 the one and only, he too was once young... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
