The felines, or cats, are perhaps the most highly developed killing machines to have evolved on this planet. Lithe and agile, immensely powerful, equipped with a variety of slashing weaponry, and posessing keen senses, these predators have spread across the globe, inhabiting nearly every habitat of every landmass except for the barren wastes of Antarctica.
The cats are good sprinters, capable of explosive bursts of speed. They lack the endurance to keep up a chase for long, however. Their powerful muscles and long limbs enable them to make prodigeous leaps. This jumping ability, plus their natural agility, ballance, and sharp claws enables them to climb well, and many species will pursue their prey into branches. All cats can swim, but most species prefer to avoid getting wet (although there are exceptions).
The sensory suite of cats is considerably different from our own. While their eyesight is good, their sense of color and detail is muted. In place of this comes a sensitivity to motion and incredible dark vision. Cat hearing is extremely actute, their radar-dish ears are capable not only of detecting but also of pinpointing faint sounds well enough for an attack. The cat's sense of touch is quite well developed, and is based largely on the long vibrissae (whiskers) that adorn its lips, chin, and eyebrows. With these whiskers, a cat can get a good idea of its general surroundings even in complete darkness, and can feel its prey well enough to deliver accurate and fatal bites to vital spots. In contrast to many other mammalian carnivores, the cat's sense of smell, while well developed, is used more for inter-cat communication than locating food. It serves them as their primary means of identification of objects already located by other senses, however.
A cat's first line of attack and defense lies in its paws. Each finger and toe is equipped with a long, sharp claw to form a set of raking weapons and meat hooks for impaling and holding prey. The use of its claws allows the cat to keep its sensitive and vital head away from dangerous foes, gnashing rodent incisors, and flying ungulate hooves.
A hunting cat sneaks as close to its intended prey as it can, then pounces with a short sprint or a single leap to grab its quarry with its paws. When it has subdued its prey with its claws, it brings its teeth to bear. The canine teeth are highly enlarged to form long, conical fangs. The final bite is typically to a targeted vital spot, either the throat, the neck vertebrae, or the base of the skull. Driving the fangs through the cervical vertebrae or the brainstem produces instant death or paralysis; bites to the throat constrict the windpipe and the cat will hold tight until its prey suffocates. Once its quarry is dispatched, the cat employes specialized blade-like molars near the back of its jaws to slice off the meat for consumption. Anything that escapes with a cat bite is likely to develop an infection. Like all animals, cats have a lot of bacteria in their saliva. The deep puncture wounds caused by cat fangs also provide a perfect place for bacteria to incubate, making sepsis all the more likely.
A threatened cat first tries to flee, running for the nearest shelter or up a tree where (hopefuly) its attacker cannot follow. If flight fails or is impossible, the cat will attempt bluff and intimidation. Raising all of its hair and arching its back to increase its apparent size, the cat hisses and spits, bareing its weapons and slashing with its claws. If possible, the cat will keep its antagonist at arm's reach with its claws, but if grappled the cat will bite.
The digestive system of the cat is highly specialized to handle meat and meat alone. It needs to hunt and kill to survive. Its primary tactic is to sneak as close as possible to its prey, then burst out and take its quarry with a short dash before the cat can tire. When fresh meat is not available, cats will scavenge from carcases that are not too far gone, and the larger cats will make a habit of intimidating other carnivores away from their kills.
Cats are generally fairly solitary. They are not unsocial, since each cat knows of all its neighbors and they can form strong bonds with each other, but generally they keep in touch by scent markings and except for mothers with kittens will prowl alone. Cats are mostly active at dusk, dawn, and nighttime. They are, however, rather lazy animals and avoid activity when it is not necessary, lounging about in a comfortable spot until hunger or territory defense calls them away from their naps.
The bobcat is a mid-size wild cat native to North America with a spotted coat and a distinctive short tail. It is adaptable and is frequently found near humans. Its primary prey is rabbits and hares, but it is not choosy and has been known to kill and eat everything from insects to deer. It is known for its fiesty disposition, although they are much too small to attck humans for food. Bobcat pelts are valuable, and in some areas it is heavily persecuted; for its fur, for sport, or to stop depredation of smaller livestock. Despite this, the elusive and wily bobcat can thrive even when under intense pressure.
The cougar is a large, tawny cat of the Americas. It goes by many names, including mountain lion, puma, panther, painter, and catamount. Originally present across the entire Americas from Patagonia to Canada, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, its range has been reduced in historical times to the more remote and mountainous areas. This large cat seems to be recovering, however, and is expanding its range into areas occupied by humans. It preys primarily on large hooved mammals - deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, and elk. It occasionally kills livestock or pets and on rare occasions will attack humans. Attacks on humans and their domestic animals are becoming more frequent as humans move into cougar habitat and as the big cats expand their range and increase in numbers. The expanding deer population around human cities is a likely factor that draws humans and cougars into contact. The cougar is particularly adept at hiding, seemingly able to blend in with nearly any natural terrain and often capable of hiding in plain sight. It is also a champion leaper, known to jump 6 meters straight up or 15 meters horizontally. It has a wide variety of vocalizations - although it purrs and mews like domestic cats, it will also whistle, chirp like a songbird when interested, and the mating call of the female cougar sounds frighteningly like a woman screaming.
In the mid-east, a species of wildcat came to be associated with humans, attracted to the rodents that fed on the humans' grain stores. This arrangement was mutually benifical to both cat and man, and has become stronger and persisted to this day. Domestic cats are found anywhere there are humans. Although they still perform their original role as rodent control on ranches and farms, they are also found as non-working companion animals in urban settings. House cats raised by humans from kittens become quite trusting, although individual personalities can range from aloof to loving and affectionate. They are quite tolerant of others of their species, and form large colonies in some towns and cities where there is plenty of food (such as rats or garbage). Due to the population of cats kept at high levels by human support, these instinctual predators have been blamed in the reduction of songbird numbers. Feral cats pose a conservation problem in areas where they are not native, such as Australia, where many native species are endangered or have been driven to extinction either through direct predation or competition for food.