CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. The cat's predatory instinct. Part 1.

    Prof. Paul Leyhausen, the German scientist, is the leading researcher into the behavior of cats in hunting and devouring prey and what follows is known from his work.

    All cats engage in stalking and hunting. They will either prowl through their hunting territory, or they will lie in wait at mouse-holes or haunts known to them, and at other places regularly visited by other forms of prey. Once the cat has spotted a likely prey, it will slink along, very close to the ground, waiting until it is within a few meters of its prey before adopting an ambush position. The whole length of the body is then extended flat on the ground, with the tip of the tail twitching lightly, the head craned forwards, the whiskers splayed outwards and the ears pricked forwards. As if in slow motion, the cat prepares to spring. The rear paws are slowly pushed backwards, while the cat continues to fix the prey with its eyes. Finally, as if shot from a bow, in two or three mighty bounds, the cat leaps at its prey. As a rule it does not approach so close to its prey that it can reach it in one single leap. If it misses its victim, it will not chase it far, and sometimes not at all. Even when it is ambushing from above, the cat will not spring straight down on to its pray, but will first land securely on the ground very close by, in order to have its claws available for immediate attack. The advantages of this behavior are steadiness, an immediate means of defense, and better control of its jump. A cat catches crawling insects, by attacking with both paws simultaneously. Flying insects may be knocked down with a paw or caught in the mouth. Birds hopping along on the ground will be watched and sighted for some time. Meanwhile the hopping bird is constantly shifting its position so that the cat follows it and lies in wait again – but before it is ready to pounce, the bird is usually up and away. The cat’s behavior when lying in wait is clearly aimed specifically at catching small rodents. The prolonged waiting period, during which the exact distance is assessed, is aimed at preventing the mouse or rat from escaping back down its hole.