Meet the cheetah for the poor. Or a steppe lynx, or a Barbary lynx, or a caracal, you can call him whatever you want, but it's pointless to deny that he's handsome. Its name comes from the Turkic kara klak or black ear. And indeed, the cat's ears are black and very large. Outwardly, the caracal strongly resembles an ordinary lynx, so for a long time it belonged to the lynx and was only subsequently separated into a separate genus. But in fact, he is much closer to the cougar. The caracal is also close to another rare cat, the African serval. By the way, animals successfully interbreed with him and give offspring in captivity. There are even caracal hybrids with a domestic cat, and they are called caraclets. This is a slender and graceful, and rather small cat, whose body length usually does not exceed thirty inches, and the weight is fifty pounds. The animal's fur is short and thick, usually sandy or reddish in color, which helps a lot with camouflage. The cat's head, no matter how strange it may sound, is typically feline: large yellow eyes, black nose and huge upright ears with beautiful black woolen tassels at the ends. Such brushes, by the way, can be up to five centimeters long. But such beauty does not prevent the caracal from being a real universal soldier, and he is capable of a lot. It feels like he took only the best opportunities from each cat. Excellent eyesight, which allows you to successfully track down prey and hunt both day and night. At night, by the way, caracallas hunt more often than the sharpest. A rumor from which no prey will escape. Of course, with such locators. Each ear of the beast is controlled by 27 muscles that move it in any direction and independently of each other. And inside the shell there are the finest hairs that help to catch the slightest rustle at a distance of up to six hundred and fifty feet. The hind legs are much larger and more powerful than the front ones, so he has a rather funny gait. But, despite some unusual, they are very cool. The tough fur on them helps to chase prey over rough terrain, and the claws can be retracted and released at the right time. This allows the predator to sneak up silently and successfully catch prey with the help of paws. They also know how to climb trees, which they often use to hide prey from other predators. And if necessary, such paws can raise the Caracalla to a new level. After all, this is a great high jumper, and he can easily jump thirteen feet in height. But this is very high, you will say, and you will be right. Therefore, for a soft landing, his paws become shock absorbers. He is so cool that he can even change the direction of movement right in flight. With such a jump, the caracal can snatch several pieces from a flying flock of birds at once. Well, this is so if there are no animals left at all below. In general, he prefers to hunt on the ground. Sandstones, hares, gophers, squirrels and even young antelopes are the cat's main food. However, he can try his luck with a larger prey. Moreover, sometimes he can steal poultry and in African countries this cat is considered a pest. By the way, caracals live not only in Africa, but also in the Middle East, as well as in Asia Minor and Central Asia. Hunting with predatory cats has historically been developed there, and the caracal was very actively used for this purpose. In India, he was even called a cheetah for the poor, since almost any family could catch and detain him at home. Now not everyone can afford such a pleasure, because the average cost of caracalla is about ten thousand dollars, and the beast needs special conditions, so it's not worth doing this. Let's see what caracal is capable of in action! This cat is clearly up to something, and of course, because somewhere in front of him there are gophers running. See how well he disguises himself on the ground. Only a trembling tail can betray a hunter. The Caracal is getting closer and closer, and here is the attack. A couple of seconds, and the prey is already in the teeth. Now you can safely leave. And here is another example of an excellent disguise of this desert soldier. It's not so easy to spot it in the dry grass. And why does he prefer to hunt at night? These are hyenas who will not miss the moment to take away someone else's prey. Despite the smaller size, the mother is fiercely defensive.
