By: Ingrid Vacha Mrs. Bolton Science 10 11/21/2015 A Scaber Cat By: Ingrid Vacha Mrs. Bolton Science 10 11/21/2015

What Biome Does It Live In? The Scaber Cat lives in the Boreal Forest Even though it is found in the Boreal forest, a scaber can only be found in parts of North America (reasons unknown) A great population of the Scaber Cats live in the Mackenzie Mountains range located in Yukon

Climate The temperature in the boreal forest can range from -25 degrees Celsius (winter) to over 15 degrees Celsius (summer) The precipitation in the boreal forest usually accumulates as snow (between 30cm-85cm) Results may very slightly…

Abiotic And Biotic Features Abiotic Features : The temperature in the boreal forest have very cold long winters and a shorter summer in comparison. Since the Boreal Forest lies up north they receive a lot of sunlight during warmer seasons, but not so much during the winter. Biotic Features: Plants : Berries, shrubs, mosses wildflowers, evergreens Animals : Caribou, wolves, black bear, moose, deer

Structural Adaptations Camouflage: It is actually very hard to find a Scaber Cat because of its ability to blend in with its surroundings. An interesting thing about Scabers is that their whole body is the exact same colour (including its tail and antlers). Scabers that live more along the mountain ranges have a more greyish-black colour to blend in with the rocks. Whereas Scarbers that hide among the trees have a black/brown colour. Because the fact that it lives in different kind of areas a Scaber will grow and shed its fur depending on where it lives. Hunting: Their ability to camouflage with their environment is not the only thing that helps a Scaber while hunting. Scabers have two very sharp teeth that extend right outside their mouth in addition to smaller (but just as sharp) teeth inside their mouth. These for sure guarantee a fast kill. A Scaber’s sharp teeth isn’t their only “tool” for hunting. Taking into consideration how sharp their tail is; while fishing or hunting a Scaber will stand very still and use its tail to strike small prey.

Behavioural Adaptation Marking Territory: Scabers that live in the forest mark their territory by scratching the trees’ that surround its territory with their antlers. Scabers that live in the mountains leave claw marks outside their den or brush up against rocks so that their fur is caught on it. In both of these situations the Scabers leave a strong scent which warns any other animals to stay clear of where they live. Protecting Their Cubs: Scabers do not live in packs like wolves, rather more like grizzly bears. Once the female mates, she does not stay with the male because he can become a danger to her cubs. Scabers (especially the males) can become very competitive (even with its own offspring's) in order to show dominance/strength. But, when it comes to protecting her cubs a female Scaber will become just as dangerous. (So make sure never come in between a Scaber and her cubs).

Physiological Adaptations Venom: Inside the body of a Scaper, venom is produced. So for instance, in any case that a Scapers prey still manages to get away, if it was bit/stabbed it slowly becomes paralyzed. Enough for the Scaber to then track it down again. The venom however is not deadly, but can be very harmful to small or weak animals.

Relationships Predation: A Scabers main diet contains of deer, and snowshoe hares. Mutualism: Since Scabers do not hunt in packs it is not able to eat a whole deer, moose etc. all by it self leaves remains behind. A red fox is not generally a scavenger since it can hunt itself, but if it happens to stumble upon the left overs of a Scaber it will help itself. Competition: Both a Scaber and a lynx both hunt for the same prey so when the winter seasons rolls around and food becomes scarce both of these felines will sometimes fight over their catch.

Niche Secondary Consumer: The niche of a Scaber is to hunt bigger animals, leaving extra for smaller carnivores like the red fox. They hunt and kill bigger animals just enough for what they need, focusing on smaller animals since the population (ex: Snowshoe Hares) is larger. Although they do not feed on any plants or berries, so that bears are not much competition. Even if a Scaber Cat is a predator it does not have any natural predators. A Scaber likes to keep to itself. They do not start kill or hunt other than to survive.