This week's wildlife profile is Prince. He's the tuxedo cat who allows us to live in his house. He's a terribly ferocious creature, as you can see by this photo.
And while I'm fully cognizant that a domestic cat doesn't qualify as wildlife, I would argue this fellow, a rescue, isn't completely domesticated (I have a scratch or two to prove it).
I've had a cat most of my adult life and I'm very familiar with the arguments for and against outdoor cats. Outdoor cats catch more diseases, get into more fights, have more accidents. The problem is, of all my cats, I've only had one I could keep inside (he didn't like the feel of grass). The others darted out every chance they got.
Prince is no different. Even now that the weather has turned bitter cold, he's outside for a few hours each day. I can tell by the number of squirrels and birds in the yard whether he's inside or out. Yesterday, when Prince was inside, curled on Aunty M's bed, I counted seven squirrels in the backyard. This morning, as he prowled the flower beds, the yard was silent except for some rustling in the treetops.
I like to watch his early morning hunt while I drink my coffee. The back of our house has a number of long windows. I can sit in the kitchen and see most of the patio and side yard. Prince likes to hide in the shrubs, tail twitching, for unsuspecting prey. It's my own private National Geographic special. A special with a bonus: despite our rural locale, I've yet to see a mouse.
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Sources and Further Reading
"Here, Kitty, Kitty: 10 Facts for Cat Lovers," LiveScience
http://www.livescience.com/13884-kitty-kitty-10-facts-cat-lovers.html
"How to Care for a Cat," Animal Planet
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/how-to-care-for-a-cat.htm
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