Can a tiger kill a crocodile?

Can a tiger kill a crocodile? It depends. And you are not going to find out! A living, adult sized crocodile is not a part of a tiger's diet for obvious reasons. Tigers do like and need to attack and kill large prey but the tiger's primary prey are ungulates - animals with hooves such as the Sambar deer. Tigers need large prey because they need a high food intake to survive.

A tiger might attack a baby crocodile but the best books on the wildcats don't refer to this. The so called video below is a con. It is more likely to be showing a tiger trying to eat a crocodile that was injured or already dead - carrion. I don't think it is photoshop edited.



The person who put the "video" on the internet did a good job because he or she has conned 29 million people!

The big cats attack prey with common sense. They cannot afford to be seriously injured as it would prevent hunting, which would lead to starvation. They therefore focus on prey that they can successful kill with a minimum risk of injury. Crocodiles do not fall into that bracket!

Black-footed cat photos by Anne-Marie Kalus

Here are two of the best photos of the fierce and diminutive black-footed cat by a talented amateur photographer who publishes her photographs on Flickr. These images are protected by copyright please note. She has kindly agreed to let me publish the photographs here. You can see her photostream here: Photos of Anne-Marie Kalus. If you want to use them please contact her on Flickr.

 The black-footed cat has the appearance of a wild-looking domestic tabby cat with a high contrast pattern.

The facial appearance is very domestic cat looking. However, you will not see these tabby pattern markings on a domestic cat.

The classic tabby "M" mark on the forehead is missing. There are a different set of genes at work.

As the name suggests, the paw pads are black.

Black-footed Cat Pictures

Twelve black-footed cat pictures. Where you see a credit under the photo it has been published under a creative commons license. Please click on the thumbnail pictures to see a larger format version. Where there is no credit the picture is judged to be in the public domain. I have improved the image quality of the black-footed cat pictures published under creative commons.  They are free to be used under the same creative commons license. Please comply with the terms of the license. You can read the terms of the license on the Flickr hosted page that the text links point to.

by jonkriz	by MrGuilt
by jonkriz
See large image, credits and description
by KCZooFan	by MrGuilt
by quinn.anya

Natural Cat Laxative Options

Natural cat laxative options might appeal to many people who don't want to go down the vet + chemical drug route to cure cat constipation. I don't intend to usurp the roll of veterinarians but there is a place for natural cures as long as people know when to go the vet - use common sense.

Sometimes cat constipation can be caused by:

1. stress;
2. inadequate litter facilities;
3. a diet that includes insufficient bulk fiber, and
4. inadequate exercise.

These causes are similar to those that affect people. Natural laxatives might be something to try first.

A half teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil can be added to cat food twice per day. It may lubricate the impacted fecal mass and stimulate muscle contractions. Please monitor the effect to check if normal movements restart. You will need to be involved with litter tray duty to monitor whether improvements have been made. Cats that go to the toilet outside are almost impossible to monitor.

An additional supplement is to add one teaspoon of powdered psyllium seed to your cat's food twice daily. You can buy this in health food stores for people. It is safe and not addictive. You can check it out on the Internet (If you Google "psyllium seed" and you will get lots of options).

Dr. John Heinerman also recommends fresh or dried fruit such as figs, dates and prunes. I am not sure if a cat will eat these foods even when blended in to commercial food.

Another natural laxative is wheat or barley grass. It is available on the Internet (Google "wheatgrass"). Mix half a teaspoon into each feeding session.

Source: Low Cost Natural Cures for your Dog and Cat Your Vet Doesn't Want You to Know

Why do cats have 9 lives?

Holy Trinity - 3 doors - by stevecadman

Cats have numerous lives because they seem lucky in getting out of trouble that might cause injury and/or death. It is not luck. Cats are intuitively smart and very athletic. But why, "9 lives"? Why not 3 or 5 lives?

The answer is that the number 9 is associated with luck. This it seems goes back to biblical times. We know about the holy trinity: God the father, the son and the holy ghost - three entities.

People like the idea of three. Three is a better number than two. Apparently it used to be be God the father and son (2). But the holy ghost (or holy spirit) was added as it was a better concept.

To that we can add the "three qualities of the universe: Time, Space, and Matter" (1). And thus we have 3 x 3 = 9 - the trinity of trinities.

In medieval times, numbers had more significance. They still do. But in ancient times numbers had a mystical quality and were, for example, incorporated into architecture.

Note: (1) Source: What is Biblical Numerology?