Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.
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| Montage: MikeB |
The video says that they are the smallest cat species. This is incorrect. That accolade goes to the rusty-spotted cat. But the black-footed cat has been declared the deadliest of all cat species in terms of animals killed in 24 hours, commitment, success rate etc.
Black-footed cats are described as being "outstandingly active and successful hunters, making roughly 1 hunting attempt every 30 minutes, with a 60% success rate. One male was seen to catch 12 rodents in 3 1/2 hours."
It said that in a typical night's hunting one cat would kill a mammal or a bird every 15 minutes on average. They kill between 10 and 14 small birds and rodents a night. This is a large amount of food for a cat to eat on a daily basis. It represents about 20% of the cat's body weight. Large cats such as tigers also typically eat about 20% of their bodyweight in one night when feeding on a large kill but they then go for several days between kills without eating. Not so the black-footed cat. They do it every night. Ref: Wild Cats of the World.
Yes, they are exceptional hunters. They are the best hunters of all the wild cats. As you can see, they are diminutive and they look not dissimilar to domestic cats.
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