One word ... WOW!

[jpollard]

Originally Posted by Bazu135

They need to learn to hunt in pairs - one to make the kill, and another to stand at a distance and deliver a running drop-kick to any would-be kill-stealers

Doesn't work.

The lion is just too big and strong. One swipe from a lion paw would break a cheetah in half.

Hyenas would be next... doesn't work there either. Hyenas operate in packs. One cheetah has no chance against 10-15 hyenas. And one bite from them would break any bone in a cheetah.

[DBelton]

Some of it isn't so much that the cheetah could not fight and win against 1 animal wishing to take it's prey. The main thing is the cheetah realizes that one injury and he's pretty much dead. The cheetah depends on it's speed, and knows that any injury can cripple it, and a crippled cheetah is a dead cheetah. So it chooses to run off instead of fight.

[smr54]

Well, I think it's a combination of both factors. This is one reason that wolves, for example, don't really make great protection animals--they're far more timid than a domestic dog. Even though they live in packs, it seems to be hit or miss whether or not the rest of the pack will help them if injured. (Same goes for lions and other group living animals--I'll leave politics out of it, but it is hit or miss with humans too.)

So, all animals are going to be somewhat more timid than we'd expect. They also think a lot less than we would. The cheetah doesn't consciously consider that a bad bite from a hyena is a death sentence so it better run, it's just that, at least in the Serengeti, the less timid ones die more quickly and reproduce less.

Sometime I read many years ago, before I knew enough to research if the tale was accurate or not, is that pumas react differently to dogs in South America. In North America, pumas have to worry about wolf packs, and generally, a puma will run from even a small barking dog. However, in South America (according to this book I read years ago, which might not be correct--but even if it's just a story, it makes sense and helps us understand this stuff a bit), when hunting dogs were used to chase puma, there were far more injuries--not having an acquired or inherited fear of canines, pumas there, when chased by dogs, would stop and fight.

[Bazu135]

Originally Posted by jpollard

Doesn't work.

The lion is just too big and strong. One swipe from a lion paw would break a cheetah in half.

Hyenas would be next... doesn't work there either. Hyenas operate in packs. One cheetah has no chance against 10-15 hyenas. And one bite from them would break any bone in a cheetah.

Why do you people have to ruin my dream of big cat pro wrestling?!

[smr54]

Ok, that made me chuckle this morning. The two would have to probably be of fairly equal size and weight--there was a show on Animal Planet that used to do that--build computer simulations and try to figure out which would win.

I suspect that a lion might win over a somewhat larger tiger, as the male lion is more of a specialist--his job, in large part is fighting off other males, so both build and pyschology--meaning, in this case, hard wired genetics, are geared a bit more towards risking injury than a solitary tiger who has to be more cautious about that.

[jpollard]

Originally Posted by Bazu135

Why do you people have to ruin my dream of big cat pro wrestling?!

Obviously you don't have cats.

Even a small house cat can (when lucky) kill a human.

Usually through bacterial infection from deep scratches.

I nearly lost the use of my hand just because a calico panicked when I laid my hand on her back.

It looked minor. I cleaned it normally with antiseptic soap.

No dice. A deep infection occurred that caused my hand to swell up such that using my thumb and first three fingers became difficult.

[Bazu135]

The 'pro wrestling' remark was meant in jest, but you're correct in assuming I don't have cats - though infection risk has nothing to do with it! As much as I like cats, I find them to be more "housemates" than "pets," which isn't really what I'm looking for in a pet

Give me a cage of rats any day Very clean, perfect daily habits for day-time workers (they're most active early morning and during evenings) and very friendly and intelligent. Less prone to bringing dead animals into the house too!

[smr54]

A cat I had many many years ago, somewhat neurotic, gave me a deep bite when she panicked, when we were moving. I could barely use my arm for about 2 weeks. The doctor said that cat bites (in this case, I'm guessing domestic housecats) were more prone to bad infection because of the nature of the bite. Small cats usually kill with a neck bite, and their fangs make very narrow holes, often narrower at the opening then lower down, making infection easy. In contrast, when I used to train protection dogs, I had a dog's fangs go in between the lacing on an undercover sleeve, giving a deep wound. However, just pouring alcohol on it, it was fine--it was a wider wound. Fairly stupid to not get a tetanus shot aftewards, I admit, but I had had one a few years previously, and I think at the time, you were supposed to get it every 10 years. Regardless, despite the swelling and bruising around the puncture, there was no infection.

I remember as a kid reading books by a fellow who lived in Africa--pretty sure his name was John Hunter--and I remember him saying that even with large cats, there was more danger from gangrene from the claw scratches than the actual wounds themselves.

[Bazu135]

It'd make sense - when you consider the amount of filth and such they must get on their claws on a daily basis, the risk of infection must be enormous!

[jpollard]

Yes.

Cat teeth are serrated - meaning there are lots of sharp protrusions used to cut meat. Think of them (especially the fangs) as uncleaned steak knives.

Cats are naturally clean creatures... they are hunters, and as such will clean themselves thoroughly after eating to keep the smell of rotting meat away from their next dinner.

That doesn't mean they can remove bacteria from their claws or teeth.

[BBQdave]

Originally Posted by jpollard

Even a small house cat can (when lucky) kill a human.

Usually through bacterial infection from deep scratches.

I nearly lost the use of my hand just because a calico panicked when I laid my hand on her back.

It looked minor. I cleaned it normally with antiseptic soap.

No dice. A deep infection occurred that caused my hand to swell up such that using my thumb and first three fingers became difficult.

Wow! You are making me nervous about my house kitty. She's a casual kitty, that likes to give the golden retriever a bath. So there is harmony in my home between the cat and the dog, and us humans. Now I am starting to wonder if she has some master plan... lulling us into a mellow state... than chomp we're gone'rs!

[jpollard]

Why do you think there is a meme about Basement Cat?

Cats can be extremely loving and caring. My second cat refused to accept a visit from a girl - she insisted on sitting between us the entire time... She didn't work out, so I found another.

My wife (of 20 years now) had no problem with her. I was even acceptable to her cat (she ended up sleeping on my hip one night).

The two cats even got along - after an initial hissy fit over newness.

... now, cats seem to find me when they need some assistance (or just food). Doesn't mean they fully accept me for anything else. I have fostered (or adopted) up to 20 cats, currently down to 13. Our eldest died of a brain tumor (he would bite if he thought kittens were being harmed), others developed kidney problems and died.. and my wife will NOT let me foster anymore -- though that seems to have weakened a bit. We are fostering a formerly feral cat after her owner died after a request from our vet service.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by another sucker for a stray meow

... now, cats seem to find me when they need some assistance (or just food).

... You too, huh?

<....>

[BBQdave]

Originally Posted by jpollard

Cats can be extremely loving and caring. My second cat refused to accept a visit from a girl - she insisted on sitting between us the entire time... She didn't work out, so I found another

Cats have a crazy sense of us humans

Our cat has successfully predicted the pregnancy of a couple we are friends with. Kitty would have nothing to do with them, accept randomly (we thought) wonder up and sit on the girl's lap - and purr. A few weeks later, she finds she is pregnant. The last visit by these friends, kitty wondered up and sat on the girl's lap - which sent her to the drug store for a test kit - and yes she is pregnant.

Cats are funny, kitty never approaches that girl unless she is pregnant. Our friends' are happy with the number of children they have. At this point, when they visit, they do not want to see kitty - and her message of more children

[jpollard]

One thing I have noticed - the female cats like me better than my wife (one protested after going through rotation - I moved, took most of the cats, after hurricane Katrina, my wife moved up. The last fostered female wouldn't share the bed... and peed on her foot).

The males all like her better (we have 3 now) and one sleeps by her head, and the other two take her lap as soon as she sits. Most of the girls sleep with me (on/in my face, lap, behind my knee...). Even the fully feral one (that bit me) will occasionally condescend to sleeping on my legs in the winter.