Jambo, Mr. Nature here–with an animal I’d never heard of till yesterday.
Sand kittens–aka “sand cats” when they’re grown up–live in the Sahara Desert. This video is said to be the first video taken of sand cats in the wild.
You’d think the Sahara would be no place for a cat of any kind, but these little characters do all right. Awfully cute, aren’t they?
Absolutely adorable.
Sand Cats are one of the smallest, if not the smallest felines. They are a lot like domestic cats, and have been kept as pets, although they tend to be very shy and not easily tamed. Their largish ears help to dissipate heat, along with a distribution of hairs on their paws which help to insulate the pads on their paws from the burning sands.
There is a YouTube channel called BobcatTB in which the owner features her collection of various felines, from cougars, to Bobcats, the beautiful Singapura cat, and some very friendly lynx. She has a small number of Sand Cats, and I believe that she has successfully crossbred them with domestic cats, perhaps her diminutive Singapura cats. The Sand Cats tend to avoid human contact, although she is able to pet most of them, at least.
Sand Cats are very beautiful, with yellowish markings that somewhat resemble tabby patterns. They are small, but beautifully proportioned. If you saw one without knowing what it was, it would look like a small domestic cat with unusual coloring. If I’m not mistaken, they also are fast enough to successfully hunt venomous snakes.
You know your stuff!
I am endlessly fascinated by felines.
Very cute critters, and serious, but who wouldn’t be living where they do.