Species: Domestic Cat (Felis catus)
Family: Cats (FELIDAE)
Category: Mammals
Location: Widespread
A. Mammals
More extensive information on mammals can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Cats (FELIDAE)
Cats are four-legged, fur-clad carnivores with retractable claws. They have evolved as muscular-bodied predators. Cats are predominantly solitary creatures that specialise in ambush. Wild cats can be found on every continent except Australasia and Antarctica. Members of this family include lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, ocelots, caracals, cervals, pumas, jaguars, cougars and lynxes. In Britain, the European wildcat (Felix sylvestris), our only native cat species, roams the Scottish Highlands.
Cats are nocturnal hunters with binocular vision and this enables them to judge distance and location with considerable accuracy. They are creatures that detect movement with precision, using their sensitive hearing.
C. Domestic Cat (Felis catus)
In 2020, there were an estimated 10.9 million pet cats in Britain, where they've evolved to the point of having tamed 26% of the adult human population, and trained them up to be their servants. These unwitting servants think of their cats as 'pets', which serves to demonstrate the deceptive nature of this companionship.
They (the cats) appear in a variety of forms, from the humble Moggie to around 60 different breeds exhibiting varied characteristics.
In the Cemetery, cats are spotted surprisingly infrequently. The individual photographed here (undoubtedly called either 'Sooty' or 'Blackie') has, to our knowledge, appeared only the once. We neither encourage nor discourage their presence. They come and go as they please. (Just try and stop them!)
The domestic cat is a Marmite creature, more loved or hated than tolerated. And with good reason because domestic (and feral) cats are indeed responsible for considerable wild bird and mammal mortality. Owners (or servants) would do well to keep their cats indoors at night and perhaps during the nesting season (from late April to the end of June). Equally, they could ensure that small bells are attached to their cats' collars to alert creatures to their presence when they venture out.
In the Cemetery, we ensure that bird feeders are placed high up in branches so that cats can't lurk nearby and predate birds as they come to feed.
[Although the domestic cat is not commonly thought of as being wild - not in the sense that all the other species on this website are - they come and go as they please. To our knowledge, no dogs do this in the Cemetery; the gates and walls are too difficult for them to scale unaided. Our infra-red wildlife cameras have never captured an image of them. Indeed, when dogs do enter the Cemetery, it is because they are brought in on a lead by their owners. This basic difference explains why cats will be the only domesticated animal to grace the pages of this species database. Don't take it personally, Fido!]
Images
Domestic Cat
Cats are nocturnal hunters with binocular vision and this enables them to judge distance and location with accuracy.
The individual photographed here (undoubtedly called either 'Sooty' or 'Blackie') has, to our knowledge, appeared only the once. We neither encourage nor discourage their presence. They come and go as they please.
