One look at the black footed cat and you will find yourself saying, “I need her in my life”.
But beware as cute and beautiful these little kitties may seem to be, they are just as deadly.
Not to mention very precise in their kill.
Still there?
You are a brave one, aren’t you?
Not surprised, all cat lovers are :).
With size never exceeding 10 inches, this tiny petite black footed cat (literally) or Felis Nigrpes looks very similar to your average neighborhood tabby.
But beneath that cute fur of hers, resides a vicious beast with a license to kill.
And its name is Cat, the black footed cat.
I am sorry, I just saw a James Bond movie, lingering after-effects remain.
What is the most fascinating thing about these beautiful kitties is they may weigh less than Lion’s paw but nature has endowed them sufficient gifts to make them as deadly as the other wild cats.
Yes, they may not hunt at a scale similar to a tiger but skill is skill am I right?
In this post, I am going to discuss 10 incredible facts like these about the black footed cats that will leave you in awe.
1. Black Footed Cats Are Believed To Be The World’s Deadliest Cat
I know its very tough to believe that. I mean, look at them.
At first glance, I said I want 40 of those.
I probably won’t.
I don’t.
Ok, I can’t.
So yes these precious beauties may look like an adorable moggie, it’s a killing machine.
Check this, black-footed cats have the highest kill rate among wild cats of 60%.
To put things into perspective big wildcats like lions and leopards have a kill rate of only 20%.
Believe it or not, this metric just gave me a life insight on success.
While we are on the subject of wild cats, I am actually starting a content series on wild cats and this is the second edition to it.
I will have posts, video, infographics and other educational mediums on this series.
You definitely don’t wanna miss it.
Don’t worry if video is your thing, go ahead enjoy.
Just don’t forget to subscribe, I can’t afford to miss an awesome person like you from our kickass cat community.
2. Black Footed Cats Are Africa’s Smallest Known Wild Cat Species
The overall body length of the black footed cats is between 50-72 cm.
They stand at a height of mere 20 cm from the ground and weighs never greater than 3 kilograms.
The typical weight range of male black footed cats is between 1.7 to 2.4 kg and that of females is 1-1.6 kg.
At the time of birth, the kittens weigh a mere 60-90 gm.
To put the size of these kitties into perspective weigh roughly 200 times less than your typical lion.
Having said that black footed cats, research suggests, on an average night hunt captures more prey than what a leopard will capture in six months.
If you look a little closer at things that are happening here, nature has a very intelligent kind of balance.
The quantity of food a leopard needs is more than what a black footed cat needs but it captures less prey.
A black-footed cat, on the other hand, needs very little food but captures more prey.
It seems like nature knows how much of what to consume and designs it so.
It’s only humans who are out of place and consume whatever they can without looking into how much they really need.
I am not even kidding, just creating these posts fills me with so many insights on life.
I love this job :).
3. Black-Footed Cats Are Goal Oriented Beasts
Just yesterday I was watching a guy on YouTube, who was trying to motivate his followers, I mean he thinks he was.
He was laying out left and right, how you must be goal-oriented to be successful.
Now get this, black-footed cats every night will travel close to 35 freakin kilometres to capture a hunt.
And not just that they are opportunistic hunters which means they will kill whatever they can on their way to meet their “goals”. Male cats I hear can even kill rabbits and small bustards if they find an opening.
After this, I let’s take a stop and see how humans operate.
This goal-oriented business and being hungry to achieve, should these be the only way to exist and act for humans too?
I mean yes nature has endowed animals to operate that way, true.
But animals are also simple creatures aren’t they.
Their existence is complete when their survival is taken care of. Our problems start when we have food on our table and roof on our heads.
With the intellectual capacity that we have been endowed with sure then there has to be a much more evolved way to act isn’t there?
How about compassion?.
Not worrying about achieving, no dreams, no carrots in front of you, just acting with love because you can’t contain your joy.
Very similar to how a flower blooms and its fragrance encompasses everything.
Plus, what happens when one achieves the said goal?
All throughout history, people with incredible intensity after achieving what they want have always asked what next.
Always.
Food for thought isn’t it.
I am telling you animals teach you more about life then your life coaches believe me.
4. Black Footed Cats Are Notoriously Territorial.
I remember in one of our previous guides on how to stop your cats from scratching we discussed how cats have evolved themselves to live in our domesticated environments while still retaining some of their wild tendencies.
Wild cats like the black footed cats or Pallas cats, for example, have not had the compulsion to drop any of those tendencies and therefore are as wild as they can get.
The black footed cats lead a life of solitude with both males and females marking their territory by urinating, pooping, clawing and rubbing on trees.
5. Black Footed Cats Underlying Skin Is Pink.
This is one stark characteristic that differentiates black footed cats from other wild cats.
While other wild cats have a dark tan or a black skin under their fur black footed cats are naturally endowed with a pink skin.
As far as their fur is concerned their overall body is buff-colored with black oblong spots.
This colouring is particularly useful because the black footed cats use them to hunt for prey or defend themselves by blending in with vegetation, grass, boulders and burrows.
6. These Cats Have Extra Ordinary EyeSight.
Hey to have a deadly rate of 60%, you gotta have incredible instruments.
These little beasts have a vision that is six times more powerful than that of humans.
Their big beautiful eyes also have excellent night vision.
Couple that up with impeccable hearing and you have killing machines that will give your favourite spy a run for his money.
Given their size they also are inherently very vocal.
Their calls are relatively much louder than other wild cats with similar size. This most likely allows them to communicate over long distances. When close to each other they usually tend to purr and gurgle and in a defensive situation will resort to hissing and growling.
7. Their Feet Are Not Completely Black
Inferring from the name people tend to think that their feet must be completely black.
But that’s not true, despite the name only their pads and underparts of their feet are black.
But they are clear enough for you to recognize that you are looking at a black footed cat if you happen to catch a glimpse of one.
The rest of their coat as pointed out earlier have coloration that ranges from reddish brown(for black footed cats found in southern Africa) to a light pale color for cats found in the northern parts.
They have a dark-tipped tail, stark clear dark bands on the throat with clean white patches on the chin and the throat.
This combined physical appearance is what helps differentiates between them and the African wildcats.
8. They Have Very Short Breeding Periods
In line with their love for solitude black footed cats don’t even like the company of their own kind and get together only for a brief period for mating purposes.
Their mating period very similar to the Pallas cats is very brief. Their estrus period is as short as two days during which the females are receptive to procreation only for a few hours.
Females are ready to procreate when they are 8 months old usually give birth to two kittens.
There are cases when some female black footed cats gave birth to a litter of 4 kittens but it is very rare.
At the time of birth, black footed kittens are blind, weigh around 2 to 3 ounces and are totally dependent on their mothers for nourishment.
Having said that the black footed kittens develop very rapidly when compared with domesticated kittens.
This should not come as a surprise because, in the wild, cats or any wild animal, in general, tend to evolve very quickly given the situation they exist in.
I need to put something in here.
Many people including researchers tend to see this rapid evolution as a response to the “dangerous” wild environment.
The wild environment isn’t dangerous or safe for that matter.
It’s just the way it is.
What I mean is even though in wild environment animals or cats for that matter may not live as long as domesticated cats, they live a full life with all their tendencies finding full-fledged expression.
They are healthy, vibrant, raw and more often than not unaffected by infections that usually happen to animals in domesticated environments.
9. Black-Footed Cats Are Predominantly Nocturnal Beings
The balance of nature has such precision that every life form gets born precisely where it should.
Black footed cats in our example prefer arid scrubs, short grasslands and open terrain with rocky outcrops where they can live and defend themselves well.
They are found predominantly in central and southern parts of Africa and hunt mostly after sunset.
They use just like the Pallas cats burrows dug by other animals, hollow termite, etc. to live, nourish kittens and rest during the daytime.
10. They Are Classified By IUCN As Vulnerable
The black footed cats are classified by the International Union for Conservation Of Nature as “vulnerable” as per the International Society For Endangered Cats.
I know what you might be thinking.
Why is everything beautiful endangered nowadays.
Well, for the most part, the reason is humans don’t know how to handle their own freedom.
When human beings don’t know who they are, what they are and what is their place in this existence.
They tend to act in superfluous, selfish and imprecise ways.
Unnecessary killing of animals for skin, deforestation encroachment of forests and treating Earth like a dustbin are just consequences of that immature understanding.
And if this continues let’s just not be surprised when beautiful beings like the black footed cats and the pallas cats slowly subside into extinction.
Oh no !!. What will happen then?
Nothing. Please rest in the fact that nature knows how to recapture its balance.
It’s just that if we do not become responsible and compassionate towards everything and everyone in this cosmos.
Nature will recapture its balance and will do it in very brutal ways.
Choice has always been and will always be in our hands.
I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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I love you all and I will see you in the next one.
Intriguing post. I’ve been pondering about this matter, so a debt of appreciation is in order for posting.
Cool post. Thanks!
Best regards,
Boswell Duke
You are welcome Boswell 🙂
I love all cats, and would love to have 2 of each. One of my favorites is the cougar. I love the faces on Pallas cats, so expressive. Thank you so much for your videos. They are a help to me in understanding these cats. I would love to have a black footed and a Pallas cat, but understand that I could never own one. I also love all ferrets. Any videos on them? Robbin Mujica