How Does a Sand Cat Protect Itself From Its Enemies?

Appearance and Enemies

• The sand cat's appearance is a large factor in its protection from predators. These wild cats have light, sand-colored fur that matches their desert habitats; sand cats blend in to their desert surroundings easily and remain concealed from predators. In addition to their sand-colored coats, sand cats have large, triangular ears, large, forward-set eyes and broad heads. The fur of these small cats can be punctuated with dark brown or black bands on their legs and faces, and their faces are often accented with white muzzles. The sand cat's natural enemies in the wild include jackals, poisonous snakes and large owls.

Behavior

• Another way that sand cats protect themselves from enemies is through their daily habits and behavior. Instead of hunting during the daylight hours, sand cats use their acute hearing to hunt and feed on prey such as snakes, lizards, insects, gerbils, sand voles and jerboas nocturnally. While they hunt and travel, sand cats hold their bodies close to the ground to further blend in and minimize unwanted detection. Sand cats also bury their excrement, which often makes their presence hard to detect.

Hunting Techniques

• In addition to hunting nocturnally, sand cats have specific hunting techniques that allow them to prey on snakes, such as sand vipers, and emerge unscathed. When faced with a snake, these felines first give them several sharp hits to the head. Once the animal is stunned, the sand cat will kill the snake by biting it on the neck. Sand cats also protect their bounty from predators, by hiding it in the sand and returning at a later time to feed on it again.

Additional Information

• Sand cats often exhibit behavior that is reminiscent of domestic cats, such as grooming, digging and vocalizations such as hissing, spitting, purring and mewling. These animals dig not only to create burrows in which to sleep during the hot hours of the day, but also to extract prey from underground. Sand cats can travel more than 5 kilometers in one night and the territories of males, which have been found to be roughly 16 square kilometers, overlap with one another. Another interesting fact is that sand cats intake all of their moisture from prey and do not drink water.