Cats

Some interesting wikipedia finds about cats. Bolded are somethings that I feel could transfer into the Red Queen's character development.



A group of cats is referred to as a "clowder", a male cat is called a "tom" (or a "gib", if neutered), and a female is called a "molly" or "queen". The male progenitor of a cat, especially a pedigreed cat, is its "sire", and its female progenitor is its "dam". An immature cat is called a "kitten". In English of the early modern period, the word kitten was interchangeable with the word catling.


Although wildcats are solitary, the social behavior of domestic cats is much more variable and ranges from widely dispersed individuals to feral cat colonies that form around a food source, based on groups of co-operating females.[104][105] Within such groups one cat is usually dominant over the others. [...] Despite some cats cohabiting in colonies, cats do not have a social survival strategy, or a pack mentality and always hunt alone.[107]




Domestic cats use many vocalizations for communication, including purring, trilling, hissing, growling, snarling and several different forms of meowing.[10] In contrast, feral cats are generally silent.[108]:208 Their types of body language, including position of ears and tail, relaxation of whole body, and kneading of paws, are all indicators of mood. The tail and ears are particularly important social signal in cats, with a raised tail acting as a friendly greeting.[109][110] Tail raising also indicates the cat's position in the group's social hierarchy, with dominant individuals raising their tails less often than subordinate animals.[110]Nose-touching is also a common greeting and may be followed by social grooming, which is solicited by one of the cats raising and tilting its head.[105] However, some pet cats are poorly socialized. In particular older cats may show aggressiveness towards newly arrived kittens, which may include biting and scratching; this type of behavior is known as Feline Asocial Aggression.[111]


Domestic cats, especially young kittens, are known for their love of play. This behavior mimics hunting and is important in helping kittens learn to stalk, capture, and kill prey.[132]Cats will also engage in play fighting, with each other and with humans. This behavior may be a way for cats to practice the skills needed for real combat, and might also reduce any fear they associate with launching attacks on other animals.[133]