Weight: 10-30 pounds 
Head/Body: 22-28 inches 
Tail: 12 inches 
Subspecies: 7

An older species, evolving about 650,000 years ago, the European wildcat is in the direct ancestral line of the domestic cat and is the parent species for several related small cats, most notably Felis lybica, which it strongly resembles. It is about one-third larger than a feral domestic cat and resembles it in both build and coat. Its coat is long and thick, to protect it from harsh European winters, and is colored and marked identically to your basic brown stripped-tabby alleycat. The European wildcat may be found in all parts of Europe and Asia west of the Urals and the Caspian except the arctic. It is not afraid of humans and will live on the outskirts of cities scavenging in garbage bins. It hunts by twilight, from the ground, and seeks rats, squirrels, birds, small deer, domestic cats, small dogs, and poultry.