All about black footed cats
Black-footed Cats are typical nocturnal cats. During daytime you can hardly see them, or hidden away, but later in the afternoon, in the evening, night and early morning they display natural behaviour. Our ambassadors Blacky and Footy, saved from gin-traps, behave naturally and seem to have settled in perfectly.
November 14th 2013 – Today we had to let our brave little black footed cat Footy go…he suffered from FELV, which his immune system sadly couldn’t fight. Luckily Beauty was tested negative today, and we hope also Blacky didn’t get affected. He will …firstly be tested before being introduced to our Diva. Footy was succesfully rescued from a gintrap and even though one leg had to be amputated he thrived well in our project, until this disastrous moment. he could have the virus already from the wild…..Footy’s death wouldn’t be in vain, we want to learn and so the black footed cat society needs to learn all about the virus and his sad passing. We will never forget him…..all hope is focused on Beauty now, who is carrying his kittens. She will be pampered until the big moment, but still much too early to cheer. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers are needed!
R.I.P. sweet Footy – we will never forget you. We hope “the wonder” will keep on growing inside Beauty and that you will live on through your healthy legacy.
Footy chasing insects
Gorgeous Blacky taking a break
“Hey how are you?”
The wild cats come to live in the dark hours…..in the average zoo they lock up the cats around this hour when they finally like to act naturally……like in the wild.
Learning so much just by observing….but you must be patient and have true love for the cats.
Footy hunting for snacks
They are not bothered by the spotlight…..but you must sit very calm and no sudden movements. Only then you can observe the black footed in this great way.
Favourite spot for both boys, in the pipe, though they usually sit there during daytime.
Natural look, looking for good camouflage and hide-away in the bushes.
Getting a bit sleepy after all action
Alert again…..
Most surprising was the fact that the two boys really look for each other’s company and display no aggression towards each other at all.
While observing the different species of wild cats you always discover not everything is like written in “the books”. You can only learn by observing yourself.
Love this picture: Blacky (left) and Footy (right). Two wonderful ambassadors of their critically endangered wild species. Soon female Beauty will be introduced to one of them…..also a victim of gin-traps.
Blacky strolling through the night..
Looking out for some prey…or females
They are so much more at ease in the dark
Using every spot of their enclosure
Running actively and chasing insects
Black footed Cats are so gorgeous, the smallest cats of South Africa and alongside the rusty spotted cat (Asia) the smallest of the world.
Our spotlights are bringing lots of nice insects for the boys to catch.
Very alert….
Funny shot of the two boys on each side of the fence, this side Footy and the other side Blacky.
Footy scent marking…..spraying
Scent marking: Scraping the nails
The amputated leg doesn’t keep Footy from displaying natural behaviour….
our 3 legged Footy on the treestump…
Scent marking again by a chin-rub
So nice to see Footy acting naturaly and not bothered by his handicap.
What do I smell here?
Let’s spray again….this is my territory
And scrape again with the nails