Hunting technique gradually develops of its own accord in the kitten, quite independently of any experience. At about three weeks, the kitten begins examine every object around it, both living inanimate, by tentatively pawing it. In intermittent stages, it goes through all the transitions until it will suddenly grab an object with extended claws, and drag it towards itself. When playing, the cat paws with its claws retracted, often turning its head to one side, and occasionally using its teeth as well.
When her kittens are about four weeks old, a free-ranging mother cat will bring her catch back to the nest, where she will devour it herself, frequently growling. In the weeks that follow she will begin to give the kittens a share of the catch. Leyhausen maintains that the mother cat is not teaching the kittens but, by letting the prey go, she prompts their hunting instincts. The mother’s swift recapture of the prey compels the kittens to try to be swifter still. It is simply a matter of increasing the stimuli by competition until the prey is killed and devoured. When the catch is a smaller creature, for example a mouse, a mock capture is often enacted, the last ingredient of which, namely, the killing, appears restrained.
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