The African Wildcat (Felis Silvestris) is a small cat. It is widely distributed and therefore is listed as “Least Concern”. They are very silent animals and the African Wildcat is highly parasitised by Helminths. Their fur is similar to a striped tabby cat. They are a small species but are larger than the housecat. They are divided into 3 species: the Forest Wildcat, the Steppe Wildcat and the Bay Wildcat.
| Mount Type | African Wildcat Fullmount – DD244, African Wildcat Fullmount – II012, African Wildcat Fullmount Combination with Surfowl – HH016 |
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The African Wildcat is an icon of the Scottish wilderness and the house cat was domesticated from the Wildcat about 9000 years ago.
The fur of the African Wildcat is light sandy grey, and sometimes with a pale yellow or reddish hue, but almost whitish on the belly and on the throat. The ears have small tufts, are reddish to grey, with long light yellow hairs around the external part of the ear. The stripes around the face are dark ochre to black: two run horizontally on the cheek from the outer corner of the eye to the jaw, a smaller one from the inner corner of the eye to the furless skin surface surrounding the external openings of the nostrils and four to six across the throat. Two dark rings encircle the forelegs and the hind legs are striped. A dark stripe runs along the back and the flanks are lighter. Pale vertical stripes on the sides often dissolve into spots. Its tail has two to three rings towards the end with a black tip. Its feet are dark brown to black below.
African Wildcat are active mainly by night and search for prey. Their hearing is so fine that they can locate prey precisely. They approach prey by patiently crawling forward and using vegetation to hide. They rarely drink water. They hunt for rodents, such as mice, rats, as well as birds, insects and hares. They can eat large quantities of bone without becoming ill, unlike the house cat. They have only a few predators because they prefer to live in dense forests and thick woodlands, so they are well-hidden. They enjoy bird and reptile eggs from time to time and are responsible for destroying many nests.
When confronted, the African Wildcat raises its hair to make itself seem larger in order to intimidate its opponent. In the daytime it usually hides in the bushes, although it is sometimes active on dark, cloudy days. The territory of a male overlaps with that of up to three females.
The female’s gestation period lasts between 56 and 60 days. Litters of up to five kittens have been observed. Her birthing den is a sheltered place like dense grass, a burrow or hollow tree. The kittens open their eyes after about 10–14 days and are mobile at the age of one month. At around three months of age, they start learning hunting techniques from their mother. They leave the family and become independent at the age of around six months.
Most African Wildcat are preyed upon as kittens by larger predators, such as Fox, other cats, and large Birds of prey, such as Owl and Hawk. The lifespan of African Wildcat in the wild has been recorded up to eleven years and up to nineteen years in captivity.
The African Wildcat inhabits a broad variety of landscapes ranging from desert to savannah, shrub land to grassland.
The African Wildcat occurs throughout Africa, as well as in the Middle East including parts of the Arabian Peninsula and most of Iran. Its range extends northeast into Central Asia, where it occurs along the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, and through Kazakhstan to as far east as Xinjiang. It is also present in parts of India.
Planning carefully is the key to a good African Wildcat taxidermy job. When tanning and oiling the hides, the best chemicals and methods in the world are used to make sure they will last for generations. At Lifeform Taxidermy, we carefully choose our forms to make sure they fit well, and we’ll even custom make the forms according to any instruction, you may have in mind, at no extra cost. Full-mount trophies come with standard natural habitat bases that are made just for them. We use only the best materials and our 40 years of experience in the field to give your trophies new meaning. The finished trophies look life-like. When repair is needed, every effort is made to repair cuts and scrapes while keeping bullet damage to a minimum. Skin preparation and storage tips for a flawless African Wildcat trophy.
Take care of your trophy before you bring it to the taxidermist – field preparation is the most important start. As soon as you take the hit on your trophy, it starts to rot, and the heat of Africa speeds up the decaying process. The hunter must not drag the body of the animal from the site where it was shot to the waiting hunting truck. The trophy should be protected from the hot metal bed of the hunting truck with a thick layer of cut grass or leaves.
So that nothing goes wrong, the skinning needs to start right away. Remove all of the meat, fat, dirt, and blood from the skin. Clean the skin well. After that, allow the skin to drip dry for a short time, it should then be salted. It is recommended to soak the skin in a salt solution for at least five hours and ideally overnight. Use about 20 kg of salt per 100 litres of water. After taking the skin out of the solution, salt it while it is still flat and flesh side up on a clean surface. To get the full effect of the salt, it needs to be absorbed into the skin all over, into all the crevice’s, especially around the facial features. Put the skin in the shade with a layer of salt on it. After 24 hours, dry the cape. Fold with the hair and ears in when it’s dry. To stop insect damage, pesticides must be sprayed on the skin and in the storage area.
They can be hunted by walking, spotting, or stalking, but taking one as the opportunity arises is much more common. The main target area is the heart and lungs. The African Wildcat has its heart placed slightly farther back in its body than most animals, so the rifle’s aiming point will be slightly different.
How you choose the African Wildcat taxidermy mount depends on things like your budget, wall space, and personal taste. When it comes to the creation of a full mount, we find that considerable discussion with the customer yields the best results. This is due to the fact that each form is given a distinct shape and arrangement.
Life-Form Taxidermy will make an exact copy of the skin as soon as they get all of your mounting instructions. All of the skins are tanned and oiled with high-quality products and methods to make sure they are preserved for years. Each skin is put on a manikin to make sure that it fits well. After the eyes and ears are expertly placed, the skin is sewn by a professional. Before making any last changes, the taxidermist waits until the animal is dry. They put the trophies in crates, and the shipping company hired by the client brings them to the client.
Every year, dust the mounts with a soft brush or compressed air to fluff up the hair. Trophies should be protected from common pests by spraying a light mist of normal aerosol surface pesticide around them. Think about preserving your trophy with Mount Medix Africa. This is a product that Life-Form Taxidermy offers.
Keep trophies in a cool, dry place. Daylight makes the mounts fade over time, so artificial light is better. If there’s too much humidity, open the windows or turn on a fan. Due to salt and tan residue, hair can make moisture beads when the humidity is high. Using a tissue that soaks up water will also soak up the salts.
The pricing of any trophy is subject to the costing stipulated per taxidermy order, quantity of trophies and preferred mounting options, along with additional requirements.
Should you wish to receive a quotation prior to the hunt, the taxidermist can generate such for you. Please contact [email protected]
Taxidermy is an art form that involves a complicated step-by-step process to make sure that each trophy looks just right and is of a high enough quality that it will last your whole life.
The time it takes a taxidermist to mount an animal might range from days to weeks, and possibly several months, depending on the quantity of trophies per taxidermy order, the display preferences, and volumes of client trophies to be produced, simultaneously, per production schedule.
This depends largely on the “what, how, when” factors. A taxidermy order also only becomes available for production scheduling upon receipt of the required deposit and trophy mounting instructions.
