Nothing is more relaxing than watching cats and it's always good to learn a thing or two about the little creatures that have been living with us for centuries.
One of my favorites is City of the Wildcats, a 20-minutes BBC-documentary, narrated by David Attenborough, about the feral cats living in the Trajan's Forum ruins in the city of Rome.
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| (Courtesy of Animal Planet) The 2-years old female Livia and her 6-years old mother Mina, the 6-years old Cesar 'the King' and the 2-years old Brutus |
The docu-makers followed Livia, Mina, Cesar and Brutus for about 3 months. The documentary shows how they hunt and fight. It also shows the process of the female cats coming into season, how Livia gives birth to 3 kittens and Mina to 4 kitten, and how the kittens are raised. It's very intriguing to see how the kittens develop their hunting instinct through playing and' fighting' together.
One of the most fascinating things for me is how Mina loses touch with her kittens. Within only a few days she completely loses her maternal instincts. Livia, Mina's mother, takes care of Mina's kittens, but feeding all 7 kittens isn't an easy job for one cat (with only 6 nipples). Though Mina is still around, she completely ignores the kittens. And while the kittens grow up, Mina already gets into season again.
The full documentary is available on YouTube.
Part I: City of the Wildcats
Part 2: City of the Wildcats