Social Items

/ / Being resourceful animals, cats that have strayed or been abandoned by their owners

often manage to survive on their own once they have reverted to the wild. Most have highly developed hunting instincts that allow them to subsist on small prey such as birds and rodents, and many supplement their diets by scavenging or accepting food handouts from sympathetic cat lovers.  Such cats usually learn to become wary  of humans, but because they still have a background of domesticity it is sometimes possible to rehabilitate them. Truly feral cats, which are born wild  and never handled, are difficult if not impossible to domesticate as adults. Feral kittens, if rescued at a very early age, can sometimes be socialized with time and patience; but even at a few weeks old 
they have a natural distrust of humans and may already be beyond the stage where this  can be overcome.
STICKING TOGETHER The majority of domestic cats lead solitary lives and resent or fear competition for food, territory, and shelter. However, two or more cats that share a home can become friends, especially if they are littermates. Others,  at best, cease hostilities and settle down together with indifference. Among feral cats there is a much greater degree of sociability. Because food supplies can be scarce and unreliable, any feral cats within one area tend to be drawn to a common food source, such as a garbage dump, a feeding station organized by cat welfare organizations,  or an empty building overrun by rats and
mice. Out of necessity, these cats tolerate each other and will share resources with minimal aggression. Where a few feral cats have found shelter, a colony can build up, which over the years can amount to dozens of animals of several interrelated generations. Any unneutered females attract toms—entire males—and frequent matings produce two or more litters of kittens a year for each female. Established colonies are very much matriarchal societies, with a core population of females that often form close bonds. Female cats have been observed sharing birth dens and cooperatively nursing and raising litters of kittens, taking turns guarding the family when one of the mothers goes out hunting. Feral females have even been known to present a combined front 
A feral cat crouches against the backdrop of the ancient Ionian city of Ephesus, in what is now western Turkey.  As a source of titbits, tourist hot spots such as this tend  to attract feral cat colonies.
Respite from hunger These cats lining the waterfront of a Greek harbor may thrive in the summer months, when there are fish scraps  to be had from fishing boats, and tourists provide handouts or leave edible garbage. Their lives will be m

Being resourceful animals, cats that have strayed or been abandoned by their owners


often manage to survive on their own once they have reverted to the wild. Most have highly developed hunting instincts that allow them to subsist on small prey such as birds and rodents, and many supplement their diets by scavenging or accepting food handouts from sympathetic cat lovers.  Such cats usually learn to become wary  of humans, but because they still have a background of domesticity it is sometimes possible to rehabilitate them. Truly feral cats, which are born wild  and never handled, are difficult if not impossible to domesticate as adults. Feral kittens, if rescued at a very early age, can sometimes be socialized with time and patience; but even at a few weeks old 
they have a natural distrust of humans and may already be beyond the stage where this  can be overcome.
STICKING TOGETHER The majority of domestic cats lead solitary lives and resent or fear competition for food, territory, and shelter. However, two or more cats that share a home can become friends, especially if they are littermates. Others,  at best, cease hostilities and settle down together with indifference. Among feral cats there is a much greater degree of sociability. Because food supplies can be scarce and unreliable, any feral cats within one area tend to be drawn to a common food source, such as a garbage dump, a feeding station organized by cat welfare organizations,  or an empty building overrun by rats and
mice. Out of necessity, these cats tolerate each other and will share resources with minimal aggression. Where a few feral cats have found shelter, a colony can build up, which over the years can amount to dozens of animals of several interrelated generations. Any unneutered females attract toms—entire males—and frequent matings produce two or more litters of kittens a year for each female. Established colonies are very much matriarchal societies, with a core population of females that often form close bonds. Female cats have been observed sharing birth dens and cooperatively nursing and raising litters of kittens, taking turns guarding the family when one of the mothers goes out hunting. Feral females have even been known to present a combined front 
A feral cat crouches against the backdrop of the ancient Ionian city of Ephesus, in what is now western Turkey.  As a source of titbits, tourist hot spots such as this tend  to attract feral cat colonies.
Respite from hunger These cats lining the waterfront of a Greek harbor may thrive in the summer months, when there are fish scraps  to be had from fishing boats, and tourists provide handouts or leave edible garbage. Their lives will be m
cats

No comments

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)