Cats — creatures are extremely smart and cunning, and this applies to big cats in full. The lynx, for example, will deliberately lead the hunter away from its home, and in a hopeless situation, it will attack the enemy from an ambush. These smart creatures try to stay away from people, but face a lynx one-on-one in the deep forest — dangerous adventure.
Interesting facts about the lynx
- Most lynxes are comparable in size to large dogs (interesting facts about dogs).
- Adult male lynxes can weigh up to 30 kg, while females rarely weigh more than 18 kg.
- In terms of the quality of their fur, lynxes are superior to all cats – their reddish coat is very thick and silky.
- Fluffy paws allow lynxes to move freely in deep and loose snow. In winter, they are covered with long hair, which makes their paws look like skis in terms of weight distribution, so they outperform any other cats in the snow.
- When walking, the lynx steps with its hind legs exactly where it touched the ground with its forelegs, to leave fewer traces.
- Lynxes perfectly tolerate cold, so they inhabit the northern regions of the globe, inaccessible to any other cats. In the Scandinavian countries, lynxes are found even in the Arctic.
- They masterfully climb trees and rocks, in addition, they are excellent swimmers.
- In search of food, a lynx can travel up to 30 km per day.
- The basis of the diet of these predators is hares, but they can also hunt foxes, young fallow deer and wild boars, and sometimes domestic dogs (interesting facts about hares).
- The opinion that lynxes jump on their prey from trees is erroneous – in fact, these cats hunt from ambush or sneak up on the victim at a distance sufficient for a swift jump.
- During the hunt, the lynx can jump up to 4 meters long. If the lynx misses, it pursues its prey for a maximum of 80 meters, after which it gets tired and again looks for a suitable place for an ambush.
- Lynxes have an inexplicable dislike for foxes and martens – they kill these animals, even when they are full and do not need food. Lynxes also systematically drive foxes out of the area they are currently hunting.
- An adult lynx kills a hare for 2-4 days, roe deer – for 3-4 days, deer – for a week and a half.
- The lynx is almost not afraid of people, therefore, in famine years, it calmly enters villages and even cities. Only a wounded animal, driven into a corner, can rush at a person. Zoologists say that there is not a single documented case of a lynx attacking people.
- Lynxes have the same right to be called “orderlies of the forest” as wolves – their prey is most often sick or weak animals.
- Lynxes are one of the most easily tamed predators. There are many cases when even adults who fell into a trap got used to people. Some of them were imbued with such love for their owners that they even allowed themselves to be picked up and at the same time purred deafeningly.
- Friendship between two lynxes is expressed in licking each other’s fur.
- Lynxes appear born blind and deaf, and their weight rarely exceeds 300 g. The eyes of lynxes begin to see only on the 12th day after birth.
- Lynxes often live to the age of 15-20 years.
- Lynx meat tastes like tender veal, but it is not customary to eat it, like the meat of other carnivores.
- Lynx fur has always been popular and cost a lot of money – in the middle of the 20th century, for several decades, prices for the best skins soared from $73 to $1,300 each.