Awesome Animal Fact - Round-eyed Pallas's Cat

Continuing with the theme of RIDICULOUSLY CUTE WILD CATS.

Did you know the Pallas's cat is a small, stocky, bushy cat that lives in cold rocky areas of Central Asia? They have short legs and are slow runners. These cats have such long, thick fur that their ears are barely visible. This makes them look a little bit like domestic Persian cats. It turns out, though, that Persian cats are not derived from Pallas's cats.

Weighing 4 to 7 pounds (1.8 to 3.2 kg), the Pallas's cat (also called the manul) uses its camouflage and low body profile to hunt prey and avoid predators such as wolves, eagles, and snow leopards. Instead of chasing down their prey, these cats are ambush hunters. They often sit and wait for rodents to come out of their burrows, and often they thrust a paw into the burrow to try to snag the prey. They sometimes eat lizards and birds, but they especially like small mammals like gerbils, voles, hamsters, pikas, and small marmots.

Most cats have vertical-slit pupils, but the Pallas's cat has round pupils. Unlike domestic cats, the Pallas's cat does not meow. Instead, it growls, yelps like a small dog, and purrs.