ĄY IS EVERY D SUNDĄY MĄRGĄY This big-eyed, long-tailed cat is on a branch high up in a tree. But don’t call the fire by HannahĄ SchardtY! ĄTURD department for a rescue! The margay is a great YouC know lions and tigers and cheetahs. climber. In fact, it spends most of its life off the And if you have a pet cat, you know Felis ground in trees in Central and South American catus—the house cat—very well, indeed! forests. It chases prey, including birds and But did you know there are more than monkeys, from branch to branch. And it’s one 30 other species of cats? Some are of only two kinds of cats that can clamber spotted; some are striped. Some headfirst down a tree. weigh more than a person; others are smaller than a house cat. You really ought to meet them all. But to get you started, here are seven—one for every day of MONDĄY the week! MĄNUL This serious-looking kitty has the densest fur of any cat. That fluffy coat—plus a round, flat face— makes the manul look large and sturdy. But it weighs only about as much as a house cat! All that fur keeps it warm during the freez- ing winters in Central Asia, where it lives. Now look closely at those yellow eyes. Notice something unusual? The pupils are circles, like a lion’s, rather than slits, like those of most small cats.

GREGORY BASCO/GTPHOTO (T); MARK BOWLER/NPL/MINDEN PICTURES (R) > 6 7 WEDNESDĄY SĄND CĄT That cute, flat face makes this small cat look like a harmless kitten. But the sand cat is a fierce hunter. Look closely at its meal— that’s a deadly viper under its paw! In the hot, dry parts of Africa and Asia where it lives, the sand cat may not find a drink of water for weeks at a time. But it gets all the moisture it needs from the food it eats. TUESDĄY FISHING CĄT If you’ve ever tried to give a pet cat a bath,

/BIOSPHOTO (9T) you know many cats hate water. Not this É THURSDĄ one! The fishing cat lives in the wetlands of Y South and Southeast Asia. It hangs out near the water’s edge, waiting to scoop a fish JĄGUĄRUNDI out of the water with its big, With its long body, short legs, webbed paws. If the fish is out and round ears, this cat looks of reach, this expert fisher will more like a giant weasel! Unlike dive right into the water! many cats, the jaguarundi (jag-wuh-RUN-dee) is mostly

RARD LACZ/BIOSPHOTO (8-9B); ALAIN DRAGESCO-JOFF É diurnal—it hunts and prowls during the day. And it’s practical- ly our neighbor: It lives in many parts of the Americas, from Mexico to Argentina.

8 D.U.M. SHELDON/FIRSTLIGHT.COM (8T); G 9 FRIDĄY CĄRĄCĄL Thousands of years ago, people in parts of

Asia and Africa trained the caracal (KAIR-uh- ; TERRY WHITTAKER/SCIENCE SOURCE (B) (B) SOURCE WHITTAKER/SCIENCE TERRY ; kal) to hunt birds. And no wonder: This grace- > ful, athletic cat can leap 10 feet into the air to catch a bird in flight. In ancient Egypt, caracals were so beloved that, when they died, some people turned them into mummies and buried

them in tombs.

HILLEBRAND BREUKER/BUITEN-BEELD/MINDEN PICTURES (T) (T) PICTURES BREUKER/BUITEN-BEELD/MINDEN HILLEBRAND >

SĄTURDĄY BLĄCK-FOOTED CĄT Even when fully grown, a black-footed cat may weigh as little as three pounds. And though most cats have skin that matches their striped or spotted fur, the black-footed cat’s skin is pink! In the wild, the rarely seen cat is found only in southern Africa. But this black- footed kitten was born at a zoo in England.

HĄPPY CĄTURDĄY—EVERY DĄY!