Trivia question for Jul-08-2011

Olivia loves the way these cats look.  She did her research on this animal so she could include it in her trivia.  Low-slung, long-bodied cat that is adept at catching a wide variety of prey on the ground, in the trees and in the water.

In terms of physical appearance, these cats are perhaps the least cat-like of all the cats. It has a total length of 21 to 29 in, not including the 12 to 20 in tail, and weighs 7.7 to 20 lbs.

It has short legs, an elongated body and a long tail, giving it an appearance somewhat like other mammals in its range. The ears are short and rounded. The coat is unspotted and uniform in color, with, at most, a few faint markings on the face and underside. The coat can be either blackish to brownish grey (grey phase) or foxy red to chestnut (red phase); individuals of both phases can be born in the same litter.

So here are Olivia’s questions:  Tell us what this mammal is called and tell us why some of these cats have been kept as pets by villagers?  Also, tell us what are some of the descriptive common names that have been given to these guys because of their similarity to other local mammals?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to our friend Carmel for getting all the questions from our trivia answered correctly.  The cool cat we featured is the Jaguarundi. The Jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) is a medium-sized wild cat that ranges from southern Texas in the United States south to South America.

In the past, jaguarundi’s were kept as pets – not for their tame nature but for their ability to rid households of pests.  The jaguarundi’s unusual coloration and body shape have led to some descriptive common names: is is also known as the ‘otter cat’ and its German name literally means ‘weasel cat.’  Here is more on these cats: Jaguarundi

Thanks for playing along 😉