Caracals
Habitat
Caracals are barely known wild cats that live in Western Asia and parts of Africa. In Africa, like most animals that live there, they live in the savannas with other animals like zebras, elephants, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, lions, and crocodiles. They also share watering holes, and live in dens dug into the ground.
Diet
Caracals eat a number of things, but most are medium sized or small. Usually they feast on rodents and hares, and occasionally go for prey that is larger than them like gazelles, young ostriches, or antelopes. They attack with teeth and claws, and before they pounce they hide extremely well, which is why they're rarely seen in the wild. Their large gift them with exceptional hearing, and they are very sly and sneaky.
Description
Caracals are pretty big cats (ha ha, get it? It's in the big cat family and it's a pretty "big" cat!), and they live by themselves. They are long and slim, and their coats are varied between sandy-colored, wine reed, and gray. They have large ears that are pointed with black fur on the tops and outlining the ears. Their eyes are slits, like most cats, and their tails are about a third of their body length (not including the tail). Their chins ans bellies are white colored, and caracals have no markings except for a faint dark spot over each eye. Cubs are reddish colored with dark spots.
Types
Caraclals don't exactly come in different types. They come in different sub species. However, these sub species are unamed; they are only subspecies because they live in different areas. Also, they all have the same scientific name.
Fun Facts
- Instead of their eyes contracting to slits, caracals' eyes contract into circles
- A caracals hind legs are longer than their front legs.
- Even though I wouldn't believe that they're very tasty, caracals are hunted for their exotic fur and meat.
- Caracals are known for their common act of leaping in a very agile manner into the air and catching low-flying birds.
- Because they were trained as bird hunters in India and Iran, caracals became great at catching low-flying birds. The phrase "to put the cat among the pigions" came from caracals, who lept to catch the birds.