Today, read three books from good animal series. Got data on Jaguars, Bobcats, and Giant Pandas
Jaguars
These big cats are primarily South-America rain forest residents, though there used to be some even in Texas (saw picture of Mexican Jag'). And these stocky guys also live in deserts and ranches, though the rain-forest version is well know. They're great hunters with their retractable claws, great eyesight, and great hearing. They're the top of their food chain, even hunting peccaries sometimes by jumping from above in a tree into a herd. Yeah, Jags are great climbers too. They hunt during darker periods too, like dawn and dusk.
The Jaguar's spots help hide the Jag. These are similar to the leopards, though Jags have spots inside their spot-rings, and leopards do not. To tell a black leopard from a black Jag, however, remember that Jags live in South America, while leopards are in the Asia/Africa area.
Bobcats
Bobcats live in North America. They're some of the smallest "big" cats in creation, somewhere around the size of a medium-sized doggy. They're named so because of their short, "bobbed" tails. They kick the kids off of their territory, since they're usually ready to survive when Mommy is pregnant again. They mainly eat small prey, and can only eat a couple pounds of meat at a time. If they get a big kill somehow, they store the kill somewhere safe, and continue to come back, eating as much as possible.
Giant Pandas
Speaking of eating, pandas are major eaters. These creatures live in China, and there's a fight going over whether to put these creatures in the bear or raccoon classification. Currently, most people agree on bears.
But these guys spend most of their time eating bamboo. And I mean most... they only sometimes do other stuff, and wake up in the middle of the night for a midnight snack!
They're pretty small. And chubby... but the chubbiness in the face is caused by strong muscles that break and eat bamboo, not fat! And humans can have a hard time finding these chubby dudes... some scientists have to trap them in order to study them!
They have cute babies... one or two in a litter. However, when twins are born, Momma abandons the weakest one to die! Life is cruel sometimes!
Common
Believe it or not, all these creatures share some common facts.
Every one of these creatures live pretty solitary lives. They only get together for mating. All of them have territories they stick in and protect. They all mark them, though in different ways. Jags pee, pandas use tail and special gland to pain, and bobcats use glands in their paws to help scent. One of these creatures also uses nasty piles to mark their territory... the Bobcat. And by "nasty", I mean it has droppings on top! Yuck!!! However, all of them use scratching trees and stuff to mark their territories.
No one shares territories, except for maybe a female's territory overlapping the males. Female Bobcats won't share each others' territories, though. Children eventually leave Momma's territories to find their own.
Bobcat and Jaguar litters are usually 1-4 kittens.
Obviously, both Bobcats and Jags are both cats.
All of these species are in danger... from humans. They've been hunted for their furs. And their land has been destroyed or bulldozed for human use. Jags are feared by humans since they've had to become cattle-hunters. And hunting of the cats' prey has put them in danger too.
Jaguars and Giant Pandas have been announced endangered by humans, and there are efforts in protecting them and their habitats. Bobcats... not so much. In most states, there's not laws protecting this cat.
Of course, these animals sometimes end up in zoos, which can lengthen their lifetime.
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