Cats
Cats are interesting animals.
Many people have cats at home as pets.
These are domestic cats.
They may seem quite independent,# but they depend on you for food and shelter.
They meeow when they want to be fed,# or want to go out.
Sometimes they seem quite wild# and go out looking for birds or mice.
They might bring them back home,# offering them to you as a present.
You may not want a half-eaten mouse as a present,# but your cat does not know this.
Cats also like to be stroked.
They sometimes like to sit on your lap.
Quite a few like to be tickled under the chin,# or behind their ears.
Then they will purr, often quite loudly.
Imagine doing that to a tiger,# or a lion, or a cheetah!
But tigers, lions and cheetahs are also cats.
They are not domestic cats, of course.
Though some foolish people# try to keep them as pets.
They are wild cats.
In scientific terms, they are called big cats.
There are plenty of similarities# between your cat and the big cats.
Both have very strong jaws for their size.
Both have long canine teeth# for piercing and ripping flesh.
Both have claws which they can sheath #for padding along the ground# or up a tree,# and then suddenly reveal when they need to attack.
But there are also differences of course.
You may think that is obvious:# big cats are big and domestic cats are small.
You are right,# but this is not actually the main distinction.
The main distinction# between the big cats and the small cats# is to do with sound.
The big cats roar, the small cats do not.
A tiger roars, your pet cat does not. 
This is why the leopard,# although it is much bigger than your cat at home,# is categorized as a small cat.
The snow leopard does not roar.
In fact, it makes very little noise at all.
It likes to sit up high in a tree,# surveying the ground beneath,# on the lookout for its next meal.
When it spots suitable prey,# it creeps down its tree very quietly.
It slinks noiselessly along the ground.
Then suddenly it pounces.
When it has killed, or half killed its prey,# the leopard drags it up the tree.
A leopard can drag animals# much heavier than itself# right up high into a tree.
There, it will maybe leave# the dead animal for a while.
It might want dinner later,# or tomorrow, or the next day.
So the next time your pet cat# brings home a mouse or a bird,# just be thankful it does not# hide the bird or mouse somewhere up high,# keeping it for a late supper.
Or maybe you should check# that high shelf in your bedroom.