Felidae

“ Among the felidae, of the second class, as regards size—that is, those next in size to the lion and tiger—there are five spotted species, quite distinct from one another, although they are usually spoken of under the common appellation of panthers or leopards. Four of these belong to the Old World—the true leopard, panther, the cheetah, or hunting leopard, and the ounce. ”

“ His appetites, and consequently his manners and instincts, differ but little from those of the other Felidæ, and, in particular, of the lion. While he has a keen love of living flesh and warm blood, he does not scorn to return, under the pressure of hunger, to a dead prey already partially devoured. ”

“ Most carnivorous of the carnivora, formed to devour, with every offensive weapon specialized to its utmost, the Felidæ, whether large or small, are, relatively to their size, the fiercest, strongest, and most terrible of beasts. ”

“ The teeth generally closely resemble those of the Felidae, the first premolar of both jaws being very minute and early deciduous; the upper sectorial has a small inner lobe, quite at the anterior part; the molar is small and placed transversely; and the lower sectorial has a large trenchant bilobed blade, and a minute heel, but no inner tubercle. The skull is generally like that of Felis, but proportionally longer and narrower, with the orbit widely open behind. ”

“ There are many different cat-like animals, such as the common cat, lion, tiger and so forth, more obviously related to one another than they are to dog-like or hyaena-like carnivores. The assemblage of cats constitute the genus Felis, the wild cat being one species, Felis catus, the lion another, Felis leo, the tiger yet another, Felis tigris, and so forth. The various genera were grouped into families, the family taking its designation from the leading genus, as, for instance, the family Felidae for the cats. ”

“ Professor Poulton, of Oxford, who has made many experiments on just-born birds, says that young chicks learn to fear the hawk and to interpret the oral warnings of the mother. Cats teach their young to play with their prey in that cruel manner so characteristic of all the Felidae, as I have myself observed more than once. ”

“ OF the family of cats, the Felidæ of naturalists, there are now in existence upon the earth about fifty distinct species, nearly all of which are so closely allied to each other that they have received the common designation of Felis. Our domestic cat, whose wild origin is lost in history, is a good representative of the family and one of its smallest members. The Asiatic tiger, the largest and most powerful of all, rarely reaches a length of eleven feet, while the African lion falls not far behind in size and prowess. ”

“ Cope gives at least ten species. There are five genera of felines, or cats. One of these is quite small, being only half as large as the domestic species; another one, called Stibarus, for a cat, seems to have been a rather stout animal. Of these felidæ there are three genera which possessed remarkable saw-edged teeth, painfully suggestive of the carcharodont sharks. ”

“ It is seldom that the throngs that pass before cages in which wild beasts are confined, contain a spectator who knows how perfect a creature a cat is. As a class these forms are adjusted to their place in nature better than other creatures, and also much better than the258 human race. Their distinctive characteristics are all strongly marked, and have persisted from a period so incalculably remote, that the Felidæ may in this respect be said to stand by themselves. ”

“ Domestication is so great and radical a change from the feral state, that the entire constitution of an animal is affected,—mind and body, temper, intelligence, form, color, fertility and physical capacity, are all modified. But it is not thorough enough to do away with the traits engendered in the Felidæ, and therefore it happens that after thousands of years, the house cat varies from the wild one so little in important and distinctive characteristics. Cattle and sheep were domesticated before the dispersion of the Aryan tribes ”

“ Their smell is not equally perfect, and the roughness of their tongue shews, that their taste cannot be very delicate. This roughness is caused by the horny papillæ, or small projections, with points directed backwards, which cover the tongue, and enable it to lick the flesh from the bones of their food. They have long bristles on each side of the mouth, which form the most sensitive organs of touch; each bristle being inserted in a bed of glands under the skin, communicating with a nerve. The claws of the Felidæ are extremely strong, sharp, and crooked ”

“ To these need only be added the Wolf, Hyæna, and Bear, to exhaust the list of “beasts of prey” in the ordinary acceptation of the term, that is, of beasts which are dangerous to man, for we “lords of creation” are not sufficiently generous to include under the term beasts of equal cruelty which prey on the lower animals.
By most naturalists all these animals are grouped together under the single genus Felis, which is thus said to include a great number of species, as Felis leo (the Lion) , Felis tigris (the Tiger) , Felis catus (the wild Cat) , &c. ”

“ A ferret enters a burrow, discovers that there is a rat a little distance from him, is angered, grows excited at the prospect of a fight, and lashes his tail. But we have never observed a ferret to lash his tail when approaching a rabbit—comparatively a harmless prey. A cat gives the same storm-signal when annoyed, as when her fur is rubbed the wrong way, or when she is about to spring on a mouse or a rat, each capable of retaliation. ”

“ It is with their formidable claws, and still more formidable teeth, that they tear their prey to pieces.
None of the Feline tribe will eat vegetables, unless domesticated, even then but rarely; and in their wild state, unless pressed by hunger, they will only eat what they themselves have killed. They have an abhorrence of anything which is decomposed. The fur, with the exception of the Lion's mane, and that of the cat, is short, close, and soft ”

“ That a lion generally lurks and lies in wait to seize his prey is certain, but this is the general characteristic of the feline tribe, of which he may be considered as the head; and it is for this mode of hunting that nature has fitted him.
“The wolf, the hound, and others, are furnished with an acute scent, and are enabled to tire down their prey by a long chase. The feline tribe are capable of very extraordinary efforts of activity and speed for a very short time; if they fail to seize their prey at the first spring, or after a few tremendous bounds, they generally abandon the pursuit. ”

“ It is necessary to state, primarily, that there is no such thing as a wild ferret; it is domesticated in the same degree as a cat or a dog. The wild animal from which the ferret is bred is the weasel, just as the dog is originally of wolf extraction, and the cat of the same class as the tiger or lion. The ferret is also interbred with the different species of the musteline tribe, such as the mink, marten, polecat, and fitch. ”

“ These species, as very little observation shows us, naturally fall into certain larger groups or genera, having important characteristics in common; for instance, the Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Jaguar, Lynx, and all the small Cats, are so much like one another, and so different from all other animals, as to be put in the one genus Felis, which is distinguished by having retractile claws, and by being quite devoid of true grinding teeth. Again, the Dog and Wolf have so many points in common, that they are placed in the single genus Canis, the Dog being called Canis familiaris, the Wolf Canis lupus. ”

“ Can any of your correspondents or readers give any authentic information as to the fact having been witnessed by any one, of the old story of the fox relieving itself of fleas by taking a feather in its mouth, and gradually, though slowly enough, retrograding itself into the water, first by legs and tail, then body, shoulders, and head to the nose, and thus compelling the fleas, to escape from the drowning element, to pass over the nose on to the bridge of the feather, which is then committed to the stream. ”

“ From Linnæus to Dr. Gray, all zoologists agree in this matter. Hence we see that animals do not vary under domestication only; but wild creatures also have their varieties or races, differing in the various localities in which they are found.
All these varieties together form a very well-marked species of the genus Felis, and are known as Felis leo, in zoological language. Some authors, however, as we have already noticed, prefer to consider the various kinds of Cat as so many distinct genera, and speak of the Lion as a single genus and species (Leo nobilis) . ”

“ The latter, as we have already seen, culminate in one direction—that is, they attain the perfection of structure for a predatory life and flesh diet. The members of the Dog family, again, are flesh-eaters, as a rule, but not exclusively. They are well adapted for hunting and catching living prey, but by no means so perfectly as the Cats; they are, indeed—from a carnivorous point of view—the inferiors of the Feline group in teeth, in claws, and in muscular strength and agility. ”

“ But together with this change we have another that seems at first sight to be in an exactly opposite direction. We meet with numerous animals which now only inhabit Africa, or South Europe, or the warmer parts of Asia. Such are, large felines—some closely related to the lion (Felis spelæa) , others of altogether extinct type (Machairodus) and forming the extreme development of the feline race;—hyænas; horses of two or more species; and a hippopotamus. If we go a little further back, to the remains furnished by the gravels and brick-earths, we still find the same association of forms. ”

“ As the ferret, on getting into a hole after a rabbit, would probably fasten on and make a prey of the animal, it is usual, we believe, to attach it with a string, one end of which the warrener holds in his hand, or to cover its mouth with a muzzle of some sort before turning it loose. This, as a temporary measure, the ferret does not seem to mind. He goes with great zest after the rabbits, which being frightened out of their dens, are bagged in nets, or fall under the pellets of the sportsman. We should say, let our Australian friends import ferrets—if they can. ”

“ Why so cruel and sanguinary a beast as a cat, of the ferocious genus of Feles, the murium leo, as Linnaeus calls it, should be affected with any tenderness towards an animal which is its natural prey, is not so easy to determine. ”

“ This species is intermediate between the cats and the lynxes, but its tail is much longer than that of the lynx and its ears are not pencillated. It is said to possess one tearing tooth fewer than the typical cats; but still it belongs to the genus Felis. In its general habits it differs from all its congeners, being found in bleak and exposed places, generally among rocks, where it seeks its food by chase rather than by stratagem. That food consists chiefly of hares and other rodent animals ”

“ As in structure so in habits, the cat may be considered the most specialized of all Carnivora, although they exhibit many features connecting them with extinct types. All the members of the group feed almost exclusively on warm-blooded animals which they have themselves killed, but one Indian species, Felis viverrina, is said to prey on fish, and even fresh-water molluscs. ”

“ Erland Nordenskjöld has recently compared his specimens from the Patagonian cavern with the skull of Grypotherium darwini at Copenhagen, and finds no specific difference. [55] No particulars however, have yet been published.
2. Associated Mammalian Remains. Felis, sp.
A feline carnivore larger than the existing Jaguar (Felis onca) , but about the same size as an average Tiger (F. tigris) , is represented in the collection by the distal half of a right humerus (No. 44) , a left fourth metatarsal (No. 46) , and the distal end of another metatarsal (No. 47) . ”

“ The bills are covered at the base with downy or velvety feathers, which extend over the nostrils: their wings are long and round; the tail consists of ten feathers, two of them, in some species, very long; legs and feet very long, large, and strong; outer toe longer than inner, and joined to the middle one toward the base; hind-toe very long; claws long and curved. But they are chiefly remarkable for the wonderful development of various parts of their plumage, and for the metallic splendor of its rich hues. ”

“ Thus she hath been observed to act in the case of a rattlesnake, which never meditates a human prey without giving warning of his approach. This observation will, I am convinced, hold most true, if applied to the most venomous individuals of human insects. A tyrant, a trickster, and a bully, generally wear the marks of their several dispositions in their countenances; so do the vixen, the shrew, the scold, and all other females of the like kind. But, perhaps, nature hath never afforded a stronger example of all this than in the case of Mrs. Francis. ”

“ In a short time I became expert not only in catching young rabbits, rats, moles, and mice, but in picking up the feathered prey that frequented fen and hillside.
Of course I met with many disappointments; [Pg 45] pheasants, partridges and wild-duck often escaped my clutches when I already considered them mine. My failures were due chiefly to inexperience, but in a measure also to the intrusion of other foragers, who turned up at critical moments and ended for me the work of hours. On one occasion a hunted hare passed between me and a covey of partridges I was drawing up to ”