Counting Cats Trivia Quiz

Answer: Egypt

I can't tell you why domestic cats might have inspired a Medieval hunting term (hopefully they weren't hunting them), but the ancient Egyptians did hunt with cats. Perhaps they even went hunting with a glare of cats, as well as a pack of dogs. There are murals of Egyptians hunting with cats that are even retrieving fish and waterfowl.

The cats that the ancient Egyptians hunted with were domesticated from African wildcats. They were revered for their ability to kill pests that would otherwise eat the harvest.

Answer: Asiatic lions

Lions are one of the few big cats that are not solitary. African lions live in prides that have both males and females in the pride. Some prides have up to 40 or more lions. It is the females of an African pride that hunt, but the males defend the territory that a pride holds. Asiatic lions have a different behavior.

The prides are divided by sex, with the females having a pride and the males having a pride. They come together to mate, but otherwise remain separate. One hopes that the males hunt for themselves! As for the term pride being associated with lions - It is thought that the reason a group of lions is called a pride is their association with flags, banners and other devices of heraldry.

This led to an association with pride. Lions have also been pictured with the deadly sin of pride, perhaps leading to an association with it.

Answer: A tree

Leopards are big cats that hunt by stealth. They also have fantastic strength for their size and can leap into a tree carrying prey that is bigger than them. This is necessary because other predators (especially lions) will take the leopard's prey (and kill the leopard) if given a chance.

In fact, one out of five leopard kills will be stolen - primarily by lions and hyenas. Leopards appear to like trees and often are to be found in them other than just with prey. As leopards are actively stalked by lions, this gives them some protection.

Answer: Ounce

Although the snow leopard or ounce may be weighed in ounces, the name is not derived from the same root as the weight "ounce". The term for weight is derived from Old French uncia (twelth part of a pound or foot) and has the same root as inch. The term for the snow leopard comes from Old French as well, but is thought to be a misspelling of "once" or "lonce" from which is also derived the word for lynx.

A recent unprecedented meeting of three snow leopards gathered in the Gobi Desert has led to speculation of what a good collective noun might be for this normally solitary cat.

A couple of the proposed collective nouns are "avalanche" or "drift". These beautiful and elusive big cats live in Asia and are in danger due to hunting and habitat loss.

Much of the hunting is "retaliation" hunting due to snow leopard predation on flocks. In 2019 conservation groups are working to help them by educating indigenous people in that area about snow leopards, insuring their flocks against loss from predation and financing projects that will help their communities.

Answer: Tigers hunt by lying in wait for prey and ambushing them

Tigers use sight rather than scent to hunt and have very good eyesight - even better than humans. Their daytime sight is equal to human sight, but their nighttime sight is about six times better due to modifications that enable them to see well in the dark. Tigers tend to lie in wait for prey, ambushing them, rather than using their sense of smell (although this is well developed). Tigers do not live well with humans and therefore are declining all over their range, which covers much of Asia. The most numerous tiger is the Bengal Tiger and there are approximately 2,500 Bengal tigers in the wild.

The tiger most at risk is the Sumatran tiger. There are only 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. Due to poaching and habitat loss, many of the reserves that are set aside for tigers, contain no tigers at all. Tigers are one of the few big cats that will actively hunt humans (not just because the tigers are old and sick), and therefore need to be managed in a way that keeps them separate from human habitation.

As you can see, both the term "streak" and "ambush" are well suited to describing tigers.

Answer: Males only

This is an interesting term. It comes from the 15th century, but has kept its meaning into modern times and fits well with what we know about the natural history of cheetahs. While siblings, as well as females with cubs will hunt together, only groups of male cheetahs that defend a territory and hunt together are called coalitions of cheetahs.

They are called coalitions because the group that they form corresponds to what humans define as a coalition - that is, they are a group that works together to maintain a territory.

While often the coalitions are formed of male siblings, unrelated males may also form coalitions. Forming a coalition allows the group to defend a larger territory than a single cheetah could defend, as well as taking larger prey and being able to hunt more often.

Answer: Snowshoe hare

Recently (in the 1990s), a new collective noun was proposed for lynx: a chain. This seems to have been adopted and now people are making jokes about chains of lynx. This is a bit sad, as many lynx are threatened and endangered. Other than the obvious "link" between chain and lynx, there is another reason why chain might be a good name for a group of lynx and that is because some classic studies about predator/prey relationships have focused on the Canada lynx and its primary prey, the snowshoe hare.

These studies have helped to explain how food chains (more properly called "food webs") work and the place of predators, such as the lynx in those food chains. Canada lynx do eat mice (and voles) and birds, but their main prey is the snowshoe hare.

The Eurasian lynx not only will eat smaller prey, but hunts deer, so that option is not as far-fetched as it might seem. Other than the bobcat ("Lynx rufus"), a small North American lynx, most lynx are threatened or endangered.

Answer: The jaguar

Jaguars are the only representative of the big cats to occur naturally in the Americas. They have been given several collective names: A prowl, shadow or leap. I suspect the last was given because of their rosettes (many people have trouble telling jaguars and leopards apart).

While we normally think of jaguars as living in the jungle, many of them don't. There is a sizeable (and at risk) population of jaguars that lives in Northern Mexico in the Sonoran Desert. These jaguars also used to populate parts of New Mexico and Arizona and sometimes still cross the Mexican border. With the border becoming more difficult to cross, young jaguars are one of the types of wildlife that may be cut off from potential habitat in the US.

Although a mountain lion may grow to be quite large, it is not considered a "big cat".

Answer: Africa, Europe and Asia

True wildcats ("Felix sylvestris" and "Felix lybica") are small wildcats that are found in Europe ("F. sylvestris"), Africa ("F. lybica") and Asia ("F. lybica"). Wildcats live in groups (colonies) and are native to these areas, meaning that they are not considered invasive, destructive species.

Their status is generally that of "least concern", as they are widespread and their population seems to be stable. However, there are some populations that are considered at risk (for instance the Scottish wildcat).

The domestic cat is descended from the African wildcat. "African" wildcat is a bit of a misnomer, as that species is found not only in Africa, but also in the Near East and in Asia. Many Asian domestic breeds are descended from local populations of the African wildcat.

The other domestic breeds are descended from the African wildcat. Destruction is an inappropriate collective noun that really applies more to feral cats.

Answer: The offspring of a domestic animal, born away from human influence

Feral cats are not the same as wildcats and may even pose a threat to the local populations of wildcats in Europe, Africa and Asia. Feral cats are the descendants of domestic cats that have been released, escaped or abandoned away from humans. They don't necessarily live in the wild, as some feral cat colonies live near humans (as do flocks of pigeons). Strays are animals that either have been abandoned by humans, run away from humans or have been allowed to run loose by their humans. Strays are not feral, no matter how long they live without humans.

It is their offspring, raised away from humans that are feral. Feral colonies of cats can be quite destructive to native wildlife and habitats. Stray dogs are more harmful than feral dogs to livestock, wildlife and humans, with relatively few feral dogs even existing in most areas (as of 2019).

Many "stray" dogs are simply "let out" for the morning or day by their owners without supervision and join into packs that are often quite destructive to both domestic animals and wildlife. For that reason, if you love your pet and would prefer not to see them hunted, please remember to spay and/or neuter your cat or dog. Do not let them roam loose outside. Also do not abandon unwanted animals. Even stray cats and dogs may wreak havoc on native wildlife and habitat (to say nothing of your neighbor's garden).