Viverrid fishing cat: description of the breed, keeping at home, photos and videos

The history of the discovery of a species of fishing cats

Fishing cats live in India, Bali, Ceylon, and Indochina. Since they prefer to live in wild and overgrown jungles, people were unaware of their existence for a long time. It was only when people began to expand their borders, cut down forests and drain lakes, that this population of cats became known to humanity. At the same time, their number has greatly decreased and is on the verge of extinction. This is happening for several reasons. Firstly, they are often caught for sale. Secondly, people are intensively destroying their habitat, which leads to the death of wild animals.

Habitat of the Margay cat

Margays inhabit almost all warm jungle areas of America (Panama, Ecuador, Guyana, Uruguay, Peru, Argentina). Most long-tailed margays live in central America.

Most margays live in different areas of Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil

The role of the long-tailed cat in the ecosystem

Due to the rarity of the species, it is impossible to reliably establish the role of margay in the ecosystem. However, like any other predator, the long-tailed cat affects the population of small mammals. Margai will not be able to destroy large numbers, for example, of squirrels, since the predator is quite loyal to its prey. A cat can survive without encountering squirrels at all.

The main role of margay in the ecosystem is to exterminate rodents

Where does the civet fishing cat live?

The fishing civet cat is an oriental breed of cat living in Asia. Here they feel comfortable and safe. And the presence of numerous bodies of water, a warm climate and impenetrable forests makes the tropics an ideal habitat for them. These predators prefer to live separately not only from people, but also from other animals.

Hunting

The main occupation of fishing seals is hunting. They sit on the shore for a long time to get their prey. Sometimes fishing cats resort to little tricks while hunting. They touch the water with their paw, creating an imitation of the movement of insects; passing fish are interested in the bait, and become victims of quick-witted predators. Animals also prefer to dive for prey, especially small waterfowl. In addition to fish, the fishing cat hunts: crabs, insects, mice, snails, frogs.

Appearance

The civet cat received its Latin specific name Prionailurus viverrinus due to its external resemblance to the predatory mammals civets. A distinctive feature of the animals are black spots and stripes placed in a row along the body. This color allows for excellent camouflage in the bushes.

Thanks to its unique color, the predator is fluent in the art of camouflage.

Table: description of the fishing cat

Fishing cats have 2 unique anatomical features that set them apart from many other breeds:

1. The absence of a bridge of the nose in the presence of a wide and large nose, which allows the animal to stay under water for a long time and hold its breath.
2. The presence of membranes between the toes of the front paws prevents them from retracting their claws, but helps them dive, swim and fish with ease.

Character traits and lifestyle

The fishing cat is a predator. This is always worth remembering. Despite this, the pet is quite vulnerable, jealous and touchy.

Attention : a water cat should never be punished physically for pranks.

As for their lifestyle, fishing cats are quite active and playful. In their natural environment, they rest in secluded places during the day and hunt at night. They, like all felines, have excellent night vision.

When kept at home, the kitten easily gets used to the usual lifestyle of its owners. The cat is active during the day and sleeps at night.

Captivity

Charismatic appearance and funny habits attract more and more attention to the civet cat. Many exotic lovers began to express a desire to keep the animal as a pet after the website of the famous fishing cat named John Davis, who lived with his owners for three years in the most ordinary apartment in the city of Krasnoyarsk, was widely promoted on the Internet.

This is the most famous fishing cat from Krasnoyarsk - John Davis

This beautiful story ended, alas, predictably - the cute kitten grew up and turned into a strong, wayward male, who did not fail to claim his rights to leadership in the house. The loving owners could not, no matter how hard they tried, cope with him and were forced to return their pet to the wild.

Taming

A wild animal will never be able to become a “plasticine” pet, and the Krasnoyarsk story is a clear confirmation of this. But if it so happens that you want to take a risk and repeat the attempt to tame an Asian cat, do not get a male, there is practically no chance of reaching an amicable agreement with him. Females of this species are much more docile.

Taming begins at an early age, no later than three months, until the kitten is able to naturally perceive a person as a member of its family. Contact must be established gradually, and in no case should you frighten the animal or put pressure on it. At the first stage, you should ensure that the cub learns to take pieces of food from your hands without any problems.

Taming and feeding a wild kitten will be simplified by your domestic cat

It is very important to feed your growing baby properly, otherwise he will get sick and may even die. In this case, ready-made dry food is a completely unsuitable option; you only need natural nutrition, or even better, live food. Only specialists can correctly prepare a diet for a wild kitten from nature, and already at this stage the risks of losing the animal are very high.

Aviary keeping is not suitable - if you want to get a truly tame pet, you will have to pay maximum attention to it and spend a lot of time communicating together. The fishing cat is very jealous and remembers insults well - this should also be taken into account. He may well find a common language with other cats and even with the dogs with whom he grew up in the house, but on occasion he will not deny himself the pleasure of hunting someone whom he considers weaker than himself.

The character of the “tame cat” is very complex

These animals are extremely intelligent and quick-witted, they very quickly perceive the rules of behavior in captivity and the hierarchy of their new pack. Usually, a fishing cat chooses only one owner, whom he considers the main one, and agrees to obey him. This stubborn cunning man can pointedly ignore the demands of the rest of the family members. But he can show serious jealousy, protecting the attention of his beloved owner from other household members - but such moments are sometimes fraught with serious danger.

Note to the future owner

Despite the fact that obtaining permission to breed these animals is a lot of difficulties, professional breeders opening nurseries for fishing cats are multiplying at an enviable rate. This cat can only be purchased at a cattery. In this case, you need to choose a kitten less than 2 months old in order to socialize it as much as possible. When making a decision, first of all, you need to take into account your capabilities regarding keeping a predatory pet. You shouldn’t get an animal for selfish reasons to show off to your friends.

It is important to take into account that keeping a fishing cat and a domestic cat are completely different things.

In order for the baby to get used to the new owner as quickly as possible, he needs to be held in his arms more often and even hand-fed. The kitten should be constantly surrounded by people; it should see humans as a source of nutrition and comfort. Some owners set up a special corner on their property, like a zoo. A cat that is accustomed to living in a cage, separate from people, is unlikely to turn into a pet and will become a friend to a person.

Fishing kittens love to play, simulating hunting, and love to be petted, just like all other cats. Playing with an adult cat of such an impressive size is already dangerous, since she may simply not calculate her strength. Under no circumstances should a cat be punished if it accidentally bites or scratches its owner while playing. She may harbor a grudge or even stop respecting her owner. An animal that constantly communicates with a person begins to understand him by the intonation of his voice, so you can simply talk to a cat. Fishing cats are endowed with extraordinary feline intelligence, so they take their punishment very seriously. Some cats, depending on their individual characteristics, can react aggressively even to screaming.

Important!

Viverrid fishing cats, like all other cats, live according to the pack principle. They transfer the same model of hierarchy to the family in which they live and perceive themselves as part of it. The animal determines a leader, whom they obey in everything, and can consider itself a step above the other members of the pack. In general, animals treat children condescendingly in the same way as they would treat the cubs of relatives in the wild. Especially if these are the children of the leader. There have been cases when cats entertained crying babies with their purring and even protected children who were offended by adults.

Viverrid cats become sexually mature at the age of about 2 and a half years. An adult cat may begin to mark its territory, demonstrating that it is the owner. Therefore, it is better to sterilize males if they do not have breeding value or the owner of the cat does not plan to engage in breeding. It is advisable to castrate fishing cats before the age of eight months.

There was a case in Russia when one owner of a cat of this breed shared a story about what caused his pet to move to the zoo. Having reached puberty, the civet fishing cat began to be very enthusiastic about the “females” (women of the family in which he lived), protecting them from his rival (the owner of the family and his own breadwinner). The owners had no other choice but to part with their beloved cat by transferring it to the zoo. The owner emphasized that separation from his pet has become very stressful for all family members, without exception.

For this reason, it is worth thinking a thousand times about the decision to buy a wild animal and keep it in the house. There is a wide variety of large breeds of cats that are no worse than a fishing cat, but their maintenance is not associated with risks and large financial costs.

Mysterious beast from the mangrove forest

Asian fish cat, fishing cat, wiverina, speckled cat - all these are different names for one very interesting and unusual animal, secretly living in the humid mangroves of the Asian tropics and subtropics. The civet fishing cat belongs to a small, even endangered species of the cat family and in every possible way avoids close contact with humans.

The fishing cat is a unique representative of the cat world

Therefore, it is still almost unstudied - at least in its natural habitat, and we can only guess about its natural habits and characteristics from the behavior of those individuals kept in captivity. But how accurate such assumptions are remains a big question. The mysterious animal belongs to a small, isolated genus of oriental cats and in some respects differs significantly from its brethren in its extensive family.

Scientists distinguish two subspecies of fishing cats, differing primarily in their size. Smaller, more elegant and graceful individuals settle in Bali and Java. Representatives of the large subspecies are much more widespread - these animals live in the South and Southeast of Asia, in India, up to Sumatra and Malacca.

This cat prefers to walk by himself

Relationships with a person

Drainage and human development of wetlands where the fish cat prefers to settle is gradually displacing the animal from its original habitats. Illegal hunting for the civet cat continues - local residents shoot it for its beautiful skin, and often exterminate it in retaliation for the theft of small domestic animals.

In Eastern medicine, various parts of the body, bones and skin of a speckled cat have been considered medicinal since time immemorial and are still used to prepare medicine potions - and this is another article in the barbaric extermination of rare animals.

Local residents, despite prohibitions, catch wild cats in the wild

Despite the fact that the endangered species was listed in the International Red Book back in 2008, the natives do not stand on ceremony with this animal. It is caught in the wild and smuggled to other countries, where in recent years there has been a growing fashion for keeping exotic wild cats in private zoos. There is information about nurseries involved in breeding and selling fishing cats, but only a few of them operate within the framework of the law.

This is interesting: Cartilaginous fish

Reproduction

There is little information available about the breeding of angler's civet cats. Fishing cats breed once a year, during January and February. They were also spotted breeding in June. The gestational period is 63 days, after which 1 to 4 kittens are born. Cubs weigh between 100 and 173 grams at birth and gain approximately 11 grams per day. On the 16th day their eyes open. Meat is introduced into the kittens' diet on the 53rd day, and weaning from mother's milk occurs at 4-6 months. At 9 months, young individuals reach the size of an adult cat, and gain independence at 10 months. They probably become sexually mature shortly after this.

It has been observed that males in captivity help females care for their offspring and take part in raising kittens. It is unclear whether civet cats replicate this behavior in the wild.