Fishing Cat: He Broke Conventional Ideas about Cats and Became an "Amphibian" Hunting in Water (11 photos)

Sometimes I think that cats don't swim because they're afraid of dissolving in water. It's common knowledge that cats are also liquid. But the fishing cat is not just tolerant of swimming. You can't drag it away from its favorite river by the ears!





What are you standing on the shore for? Let's swim!

The fishing cat is a semi-mythical animal. Firstly, because it has a love for liquids that is unique to the whiskered and striped ones. Among the cats, only large representatives of the family, living in the tropics, like tigers and jaguars, enjoy splashing and bathing. Small cats, without exception, do not like to get their paws wet.



According to this cat, the ideal place to live looks something like this...

Secondly, finding a mustachioed fisherman is almost as difficult as finding a unicorn. The cat's range extends from Pakistan to India. But the population density of the species is very low. And all because our hero is a specialized predator. Only swamps, oxbow lakes and sluggish rivers are suitable for him. Sometimes he can be found in swampy forests and mangrove thickets, but the animal does not really like it there. So it turns out that most of the habitat is simply unsuitable for a wild cat.





Even the appearance of the fishing cat is a bit reminiscent of an amphibian.

And it is also difficult to find a fisherman because he is a cat. With all the inherent jokes of cats. The animal emerges from its shelter only after sunset. Hiding in the shadows of twilight and lush vegetation, silently stepping on a soft carpet of moss and fallen leaves, the hunter the size of a lynx becomes invisible. But the cat itself sees and hears everything that happens in the jungle. If it senses danger, it will jump into the water without a second thought!



Photo from an unreleased Nirvana album.

Even a cat can become an excellent swimmer if evolution equips it properly! So the furry fisherman got membranes on his paws to effectively scoop up water and easily walk on soft muddy soils. The tail became short: it is more difficult to climb trees with it, but steering underwater is a pleasure. And the two-layer fur is so dense that it works like a wetsuit. The air between the hairs repels water, and the cat's skin does not get wet, even if it dives head first!



Swimming underwater looks much less epic than on the surface.

As a result, the fishing cat fully justifies its name. The animal skillfully catches fish and amphibians, finds and opens mollusc shells. Inhabitants of rivers and lakes make up 3/4 of the predator's entire diet. The rest comes from near-water mammals and birds.



How dad sees himself when he brings home another crucian carp from fishing.



What are you looking at, mother, get the pot, we'll cook up some fish soup!

However, neither cat habits nor fishing skills save animals from slow extinction. Fishermen themselves are of no interest to people: it is difficult to tame them, and targeted hunting for such secretive animals is profitable only for poachers who trade in exotic pets.



It is difficult to provide such a fastidious pet with home conditions. But for some, it is possible.

But people do not need hunting grounds. Drained swamps plowed into fields become unsuitable for fishermen. Yes, for some time a cat can live on forage from carrion, rodents and birds. But remember that normally 3/4 of its diet consists of aquatic animals. Without them, it is simply not able to feed itself.



What are you doing in my swamp?!

Reproduction is also difficult for fishermen. They reproduce and grow 2 times slower than domestic cats. Pregnancy does not last long - about 60 days. But to teach kittens all the tricks of the trade, a mother cat will need from 10 months to a year! Only 2-3 kittens from the litter survive until this moment. And they will have their own children no earlier than six months after parting with their mother.



A cat and her almost grown-up kittens.

We know that the fishing cat population is constantly decreasing, but we are not even able to protect them. And all because of their damned secrecy! Even now, 190 years after the discovery of the species, people only have a rough idea of ​​its range and numbers, and do not know many of the features of their life. Scientists have only one thing left: to continue to study the ecology of these animals in the hope that they will understand them before they die out.



Fishing cat kittens make you fall in love at first sight.