What's a Sand Cat? By: Benjamin
Table of Contents 1 What's a Sand cat? 2 Adaptations 3 Hunting 4 Breeding and Babies 5 Behavior
Chapter 1 What is a Sand Cat?! Sand cats are very interesting creatures starting with where they live. Sand cats live in the northwestern Sahara,the Arabian Peninsula and the central Asian deserts which extend across Kazakhstan to Pakistan. Sand cats are small animals,they only way about 4 to 9 pounds and are usually 26 to 39 inches long. They are in the cat family, and are mammals. In captivity they can live up to 13 years, but in the wild they can live up to 8 years. There are about 30 species of small cat, and the sand cats closest relative is the black footed cat, and it is the smallest of all cats. The black footed cat dwells in the dry sandy or sandy habitats. It may be hard to think that the African lion is related to the sand cat because it’s 50 times bigger than the sand cat, but they are in the same family. Sand cats mostly eat small rodents;also
birds, lizards and locusts. But I chose the sand cat because they looked cute and interesting. So those were some of the main facts about sand cats!
Chapter 2 Adaptations The sand cats adaptations are very interesting starting with its fur, its fur is a sandy grayish color that provides great camouflage in its desert habitat. Also it has dense wiry hairs on its paw pads to protect them from the scorching hot sand. Its short limbs also help, because they give the sand cat a low profile. But they also help when the sand cat is digging in both soil and desert sand. The sand cats large sensitive ears also help when they are stalking prey in flat open areas. It also has a large ear canal giving the sand cat an enhanced sense of hearing. those are the adaptations of the sand cat, and the sand cat uses them for many useful things.
Chapter 3 Hunting When a sand cat is hunting it stalks and keeps low to avoid being caught.Then when the sand cat is close enough it tenses its muscles and...POUNCES giving the pray little time to react. Pinning down its prey it will then give a quick bite to the neck to the kill prey and fast. Then
the sand cat grips its prey fast and carries it to go eat. When the sand cat gets a bigger kill it will sometimes be covered in sand in the sand cats dene. Evan though the sand cat is well camouflaged that does not mean it has no predators its predators are snakes, jackals, birds of prey, and sadly, humans. Sand cats are nearly threatened animals so they are not endangered or extinct. So that is a how a sand cat hunts, what a sand cat hunts,and what hunts the sand cat.
Chapter 4 Breeding and Babies Sand cats have about 2 litters per year. Their gestation is 59 to 63 days, and they 2 to 4 babies at a time. When the kittens are just born they only weigh about 1.5 or 1.4 ounces ,but they will gain weight fast so about 12 grams per day. The sand cat will normally open its eyes bye the 14th day, and start to walk by the 21st day. They will start to take solid food by the 5th week. When the baby sand cats are born they have spotted pale or reddish fur, unless they were albino which in that case they would be all white. Lucky for them the sand cat babies are born in their den ,so they are safe from the desert's harsh 122 f weather. So that was all about sand cat babies and their mothers.
Chapter 5 The sand cats behaviors are very odd due to where it lives. The sand cat is mostly nocturnal animal, but will akshully come out from its den. The sand cat is not really a social animal , but the sand cat does have a distinctive that is probably used to keep in touch with others especially in the sand cats mating season. The sand cats cry or bark is like that of a small dog that can be heard from far away by its fellow neighbors. The sand cat is a odd and interesting creature with its behavior.
Glossary Word
Definition
adaptation
a structure or behavior that helps an organism survive in its environment.
predator
an animal that lives mostly by killing and eating other animals.
gestation
the period of time a new life is in the womb until it is born, pregnancy.
captivity
the state of being captive.
stalking
to hunt or track a person or animal in a secret way.