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the jungles of South and Central America
are home to a tricky little mimic these
adorable Predators rule the Treetops
with an overly fuzzy paw this is the
most arboreal cat in the world the
tricker of the trees The Tamarind Bane
the
margay the margay or painted cat is the
middle child of the leopard genus
fitting in between the smaller oncilla
and the larger ocelot if ocelots are
mini Jaguars then margay are mini
ocelots ocelots can weigh up to 15 kg
while a margay will weigh at most 4
kg despite being roughly a third of the
size a margay can be hard to tell apart
from an ocelot but the big clue is their
eyes margay have giant puss and boot
eyes that stand out much more more than
an ocelots while the ocelot size and
adaptability have allowed it to conquer
a myriad of terrain the margay is a
specialist and their area of choice the
Treetops margays are one of the if not
the most arboreal cats in the
world allowing them to conquer such a
physically challenging habitat are a
series of evolutionary adaptations first
and foremost their feet
jungle trees are full of twists and
turns and only the most dextrous of
species are able to navigate them with
any sort of skill it's this demanding
habitat in which New World monkeys with
their prehensile tails and opposable
thumbs
Thrive similarly mares have evolved
their own tools to get around they have
ankles that can turn up to
180° this in combination with their
sharp claws allows them to descend trees
Tre head first greatly increasing their
agility in the tree
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canopy they also have very long tails
which allow them to balance in the
Treetops a key tool in hunting their
prey of choice tamarinds and other New
World
monkeys in order to Traverse the jungle
canopy with any speed you have to be
able to make decisions very quickly and
adapt to new situations at the drop of a
hat
branches may not lead where you expect
and prey species may be more familiar
with their territory than you are if
you're not smart they'll outmaneuver
you margay are very intelligent and
while they are experts in navigating the
trees and can jump up to 3.5 M
horizontally they know that sometimes
it's smarter to let the prey come to
you these cats are true brickers instead
of chasing down prey they've been known
to mimic them
instead one cat was seen mimicking the
vocalizations of a baby Tamarind
although
poorly and when the adult showed up to
see what was going on it
pounced while the jungle canopy provides
a lot of different prey options like
bats birds and monkeys they will venture
more into the territory of their larger
cousins the ocelot when the opportunity
is
right this margay has spotted something
moving on the
ground a
rat she starts to make her way down the
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tree having not seen the margay
descending from the canopy this rat's
day is about to get a lot
worse the margay silently advances
its massive Paws help mask the sound of
its
approach she
pounces but this rat isn't going down
without a
fight the rat jumps kicks and bites
trying to ward off its
attacker it looks like the rats might
make it out
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alive but at long last the margay gets a
hold of the rats neck and crushes its
windpipe a good day for the margay is
good night for the
rat margay are nocturnal and usually
spend their days asleep in the trees but
this opportunity was too good to pass
up with their Giant Eyes built for night
vision and their giant Paws built for
climbing it's easy to say that these are
the cutest predators in South and
Central America but something that makes
them even cuter they're fur like their
cousins their coats are covered in dark
rosettes and streaks meant to mimic
dappled sunlight on the jungle floor but
they have an added feature they have
extra fuzzy fur but no one really knows
why in fact in Brazil they are
colloquially known as Gat Pudo which
means extra furry cat unfortunately this
coat is one of the reasons why they are
listed as a near-threatened
species
their coats can be a hot item on the
black market and thus make margay a
popular Target for
poachers they also suffer much more so
than their less arboreal relatives from
deforestation massive areas in their
range can no longer sustain them or
their prey due to fragmentation
deforestation and urbanization and their
populations are only healthy in the
Amazon
basin as we continue to segment their
populations by dividing them with roads
farms and cities their numbers will
continue to
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