poorly known and rarely seen felid
October 19, 2018 1:23 PM   Subscribe

Chinese Mountain Cats. Video footage of a mother and two kittens of a cat species with "a very small known range on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (Qinghai and northwest Sichuan), [...] the only cat endemic to China".
posted by readinghippo (33 comments total) 51 users marked this as a favorite
 
The International Society for Endangered Cats (ISEC) page Chinese Mountain Cat notes "Long considered a subspecies of the Wildcat Felis silvestris, current taxonomy for this cat is uncertain. It is currently classed as a separate species but the status is under review".
posted by readinghippo at 1:28 PM on October 19, 2018 [1 favorite]


That video is fantastic!
posted by slipthought at 1:39 PM on October 19, 2018 [5 favorites]


I was so worried that a hawk was going to take a kitten away.
posted by King Sky Prawn at 1:41 PM on October 19, 2018


It was therefore with some excitement that I heard about the discovery of an active den while in the Valley of the Cats

This is like a sentence early on in a Robert E. Howard story...
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:04 PM on October 19, 2018 [17 favorites]


SCREAm they are so pouncey and i love them
posted by poffin boffin at 2:05 PM on October 19, 2018 [17 favorites]


Also, what a good momcat!
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:08 PM on October 19, 2018 [12 favorites]


Meanwhile, next door, tibetan sand fox remains nonplussed.
posted by The Bellman at 2:15 PM on October 19, 2018 [5 favorites]


Wild or not, kittens gotta kitten.

Kitten 1: I POUNCE ON YOU!

Kitten 2: NO, IT IS I WHO POUNCES ON YOU!

Kitten 1: I'm GONNA POUNCE ON MOM!

Mom cat: (gives look)

Kitten 1: ON SECOND THOUGHT, I POUNCES ON THIS OTHER THING!
posted by slkinsey at 2:36 PM on October 19, 2018 [31 favorites]


TINEE TABBEES!!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:36 PM on October 19, 2018 [2 favorites]


keep on pouncin', reclusive kittens. keep on pouncin'.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 3:07 PM on October 19, 2018 [7 favorites]


Brb. Gotta go to China.
posted by greermahoney at 3:28 PM on October 19, 2018 [4 favorites]


those are some serious Floofensteins!! squeeeeeeee
posted by supermedusa at 3:28 PM on October 19, 2018 [1 favorite]


I met them via wildlife cam,
They jumped around and played for me - you saw the pictures
That's when I fell for -
The Valley of the Cats.
posted by CynicalKnight at 3:58 PM on October 19, 2018 [8 favorites]


Those are kitties!
posted by Artw at 4:13 PM on October 19, 2018 [4 favorites]


Those are cats alright, easily identifiable by their toothy-scratchy flirting with pain, injury, or death style of play.
posted by Stanczyk at 4:26 PM on October 19, 2018 [2 favorites]


Also by the sproingy boings!
posted by supermedusa at 5:25 PM on October 19, 2018 [4 favorites]


So similar to the tabby Maine Coone kitties..... delightful!
posted by mightshould at 5:26 PM on October 19, 2018


I wants to kiss their tummies.

I know, I know, but I wants to.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:20 PM on October 19, 2018 [7 favorites]


BRB, hoarding Chinese Mountain Cats.
posted by helloknitty at 6:32 PM on October 19, 2018 [6 favorites]


So much squeee - all the ambushing and pouncing!
posted by leslies at 6:42 PM on October 19, 2018 [2 favorites]


Those are very cute murderfloofs. And they look so serious. Even when playing the kittens look like they're concentrating so hard.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 7:18 PM on October 19, 2018 [5 favorites]


Mama Kat has some deadpan whisker angle going. She's got tons of patience, except for the occasional reminder to "gedda out of my way, brat!"

Even when playing the kittens look like they're concentrating so hard.
Thems lil'Kattens are seriously learning how to pounce and spoliate their future dinners.
posted by BlueHorse at 7:26 PM on October 19, 2018 [1 favorite]


I LOVE THEM they walk and lick and boing as a Family
posted by solarion at 8:06 PM on October 19, 2018 [1 favorite]


Kittens' combination of super-concentration, lack of coordination, and unpredictable sleep cycles is what makes them resemble wee little winos in fur coats.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:10 PM on October 19, 2018 [7 favorites]


Very Pallas Cat-y! Such fur. So fluff.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:50 PM on October 19, 2018 [1 favorite]


I got back from the valley of the cats 2 days ago. I saw mountain cats and Pallas’s cats I n Sichuan last year and this year went to Qinghai to look for snow leopards. Was not disappointed. Just about the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to.
posted by devon at 12:17 AM on October 20, 2018 [14 favorites]


My favorite moment of the video was when Mama Cat did a roll while playing with one of her kittens and inadvertently headbutted the other one into the den. The look of bewilderment on her face as she tried to figure out where her little one went is priceless.
posted by Meghamora at 12:41 AM on October 20, 2018 [5 favorites]


I love them diving at each other, death from above!
posted by arcticseal at 1:06 AM on October 20, 2018


Very Pallas Cat-y! Such fur. So fluff.

Nonsense. Complete lack of resting-pallas-cat-face.
posted by sebastienbailard at 1:51 AM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


kittens is kittens, universally.
posted by Morpeth at 3:48 AM on October 20, 2018


These kitties could come live in my yard any time. I would even chase the groundhog out of his hole for them. I am so happy there is a Valley of the Cats.
posted by mermayd at 4:51 AM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


They can teleport!
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 6:03 AM on October 20, 2018


MetaFilter: they walk and lick and boing as a Family.
posted by homunculus at 11:10 AM on October 23, 2018


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