Cat territory

I am sure that you have found more than once, while walking through the country, some cats. It was probably crouching under a bush at the border of the path or was looking with its head high and ears pointed in some field. Without knowing it, one has been following the routes that the cat uses during its walks around its territory. This territory can be as big as the cat feels like it, on it there is a dense network of paths, that the cat uses for hunting, like comfortable hiding places or places of encounter. Other cats also use these paths, but if possible at other moments. An encounter face to face is not advisable when a cat while taking a walk, sees another cat, it never looses it from its sight, but tries to keep a safe distance and avoid crossing paths. If in spite of they cross each other, they sit in front of each other at a safe and courteous distance and waiting until one of the two decides to leave the scene. They might even go opposite ways.

Cat fights: When these animals fight, what is on stake is the hierarchy or a female. On my Italian summer residence, where many cats share the same territory, I could frequently observe this same scene:

A white dirty cat, with an injury on one ear and a face that looked as if he had put it in ashes, discovers that its rival, a slim and elegant Casanova, of a carthusian blue, was taking a walk at the plaza. In the act it tenses its legs and with its back bristled and the tail in the form of a hook approaches its adversary that does the same. In a matter of seconds they leap at each other. Their ears are pointed and thrown backwards, and pupils contracted. Aschnase makes an ascendant and descendent sound, to which Casanova soon joins. Situated face to face; they turn their heads to one side and to the other without letting see their opponent. They stay in this posture for several minutes, howling and meowing, grunting and roaring, without submitting an apex. Only the tips of their tails move each time more restlessly. Suddenly, Aschnase attacks trying to bite Casanova on the nape of the neck. Casanova in a shift throws itself on his back, and stops the blow with its teeth and claws. They clutch and roll on the ground in the middle of shrieks. They separate with the same swiftness and place themselves again face to face. This is repeated for several times. Aschnase makes a pair of threatening gestures and abandons the battlefield as a winner. A little after Casanova does the same.

Cats gatherings: This animals never stop giving surprises. One of them has to do with individualism which they talk so much about. They are not precisely shy and isolated, but on the contrary, one usually sees them in animated groups. This fact, contrary to all experiences with cats, is as unusual as the feline gatherings. By night the cats go, they move every time to new secret gathering spots. There they sit male and female cats together in harmony, sometimes rubbing their heads or licking at each other. No sign of hostility, unless one gets to near. Faces are "so serene and calm that you could almost say kind", writes the expert on feline behavior Paul Layhausen. Nothing else happens. After some hours that sometimes is a whole night, the catering ends.