5/6/2005: Lynx kittens
 

http://cellar.org/2005/lynxkittens.jpg

One of the problems with doing IotD in the particular way that I do it, is that sometimes I save the relevant link to an image and then I hold the image for a while before posting it, and then the link dies. That's what happened for this shot, a Yahoo news item which means that it expired after about three weeks. But I know they are lynx kittens, which might mean that news of finding them was good news. Environmentalists have been releasing lynx cats in Colorado in an attempt to bring them back to the region:

http://cellar.org/2005/bilde.jpg


This was one of those cats being released last month, one of six such cats that were released. Those big black tufts of hair at the ear are the lynx's trademark.

is the seemingly shrunken head also a trademark?

It's a cat. Doesn't need much in the way of brains beyond "kill. eat. fuck."

Just a general observation--should be fuck, kill then eat. Unless you're a spider. Then you can save kill for last.

I thought I recognised that Lynx.... :)

FOR RELEASE #018
February 1, 2000

YUKON AND COLORADO GOING AHEAD WITH LYNX RELOCATION

WHITEHORSE – The Department of Renewable Resources has a new agreement this year to help the State of Colorado in its efforts to re-establish a lynx population.

The state hopes as many as 25 Yukon lynx can be captured for relocation. Last year, it received only 11 of an anticipated 20 animals because of a late start in the program and unusually cold weather. Colorado is also looking for lynx from Alaska and British Columbia.

Yukon’s expenses are recoverable from Colorado.

The Yukon Trappers Association is playing a direct role in the program this year after requesting that it be the agency to select trappers for live trapping. All other aspects of the program will be managed by Renewable Resources.

The relocation program has the support of the association and the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board, as a way to provide trappers with an additional source of income.

Conditions for trappers who want to participate include completing a trapper education course, demonstrated past experience in trapping, handling and caring for large fur-bearers, and attendance at a one-day course on capturing and handling live lynx and use of special leg snares.

Trappers must guarantee that a lynx will arrive in Whitehorse within 36 hours of being captured. All lynx will be subject to inspection by a conservation officer and a local veterinarian.

The trapper will be paid for the lynx after it is approved for shipment. The Colorado Department of Natural Resources is offering $1,200 Canadian for females and $800 for males.

----
from http://www.gov.yk.ca/news/2000/Feb-00/00-018.html

Hey. I'm getting tufts of hair on my ears. Maybe I'm really a lynx? :lol:

Are you worth $800?

Yes. But I don't charge that much. :D

I guess you can go ahead and shrink my head too then, and reclassify me as a wildcat.

Anyone know what evolutionary (ahem, Intelligent Design[tm]) purpose the big black tufts accomplish?

I think I heard something about radar reception type advantage.

It's just God testing your faith; or your sense of humor.

;)

Man... so cute and so terrifying at the same time... like Gremlins...

They look cool. It's God's way of making up for the duckbilled platypus.

That shrunk head makes its paw look big. :mg:

Yeah, sooo true...

I like the contrast between the blue-blue eyes and the little pink mouths on the kittens. So cool! Most baby animals are adorable. The exception might be a Joey--kinda unfinished looking, like a worm or something.

I think its a young lynx and hasn't grown to its full size. Remember the big paws on young cats? That may explain the discrepancy in size.

You're probably right about it being a young cat but Google Lynx images and they seem to have a proportionately smaller head than most big cats. :)

It could be the winter coat throwing off the proportions as well.

For the domesticated variety of the medium-sized hunting cat:
Savannah Cats
They're still pretty expensive (around $800 for non-breeding males) but they're lots of fun to play with.

Awwww....look how cuuuute....

Lynxes are just gorgeous.

Maybe the tufts on the ears have something to do with blending into their environment. Twigs in dappled sunlight...or something....

they are just so cute!!

I have four kittens (now about 3-4 months old) and when i got my twins i was convinced they were retard kittens.. but after a while their head grew to proportion of their body.. and now they look much better!!

Maybe the serve the same purpose as whiskers, to help them know when they're trying to fit into too small a space.

That would make sense...since their head is proportionately smaller than most cats it would make sure their shoulders would fit where their head in going. :idea:

That, and they're [ mike myers voice ] dead sexy [/ mike myers voice ].

Stop that...it's a MAN, baby. :blush:

I was told by my HS physics teacher that on siamese cats the dark ear points were little solar gain patches too assist with warming the ears at the outer extremities where the circulation wasn't so good.

Mind you, this is the same teacher who once had our art teacher convinced for several days that moving objects don't reflect light. (he proved this with a polaroid photograph of a moving object at an exposure too slow to record said moving object, the back ground was fine)

Siamese cats requiring heat gain? They are Siamese, ie an Asian breed. They only want to lie in the shade all day panting. The last thing they want is to gain heat.
Why they have dark ears? Signaling to other Siamese cats?

Siamese didn't evolve that way; human beings bred them to look distinctive. You'd have to ask the folks who ran the breeding program why they look like they do.

actually the points being dark IS because those parts of the cat are colder - in fact, Siamese cats are NOT born with "points" - they change as the cat gets older

And the wild cats of the "siam" where the cats come from often exhibit this pattern - why? Who knows!

OK, But I want to be sure we are all clear on "moving objects DO, in fact, reflect light"

Are black holes moving objects? ;)