Make-up Observation 2 -sm

Sand Cat

The sand cat or "felis margarita” (I knew there was a greater meaning to my connection with the sand cat – tequila! Cat party time!! Just kidding, just kidding, but not really kidding at all) can be found in the small mammal exhibit at the LPZ in a small dark cornered space. Weighing in at an average 7 lbs it is very close in size to a domestic house cat. Like a domestic house cat, and even like humans, the sand cat has many hairs on the inside of their ear holes that protect their hearing from the sand or debris of their native desert surroundings. You will find the sand cat in nature in Africa and Asia. They can withstand EXTREME hot and cold temperatures making the sand cats FIRECE. So fierce that we don’t really know much about how they live in the wild because we can’t withstand the conditions they live in for long enough to find out. If you are smaller than a sand cat I would advise not messing with a sand cat because they will probably eat you. Carnivorous like the domestic house cat – except for the whole eating snakes part. When they aren’t hutting down things to stay nourished you can find them chilling in the sand where they dig holes to keep cool in the cool sand out of the sun.

Sand cats have something that I know I would like when the sand at the beach gets really hot – furry paw protectors! That’s right, the fur on their paws is longer and wirier than their other fur in order to protect their little paws from some seriously hot Sahara Dessert sand. Another fun fact, their mating call is supposed to sound like a barking dog.

Sand cats aren’t at much risk of extinction because of their isolated extreme habitats. Some are killed because they are seen as threats to livestock, while others are collected for pet trade. For the most part, they are left alone because they aren't easy to get to. I looked on google and yahoo answers "sand cats for sale" to see if I could "purchase" one, but it appears people are having trouble getting their hands on a sand cat and if they do they are very expensive. 1,300.00 was one price I saw for a young sand cat. 

http://www.earthsendangered.com/profile-64.html

http://www.lpzoo.org/animals/factsheet/sand-cat

http://bigcatrescue.org/2011/sand-cat-facts