Purely instinctive behaviour

**bassybill** · #1 03-27-2011, 07:40 AM

My sister's crazy cat trying to bring down a young lamb in the field at the back of her house.

hover · #2 03-27-2011, 07:43 AM

I can haz muttunz?

**bassybill** · #3 03-27-2011, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hover

I can haz muttunz?

Lol!

It's a great pic if you look closely. Look at the twisting stance and the cat's back legs / left front - perfectly placed for maximum stability and leverage. And look at the buckling of the lamb's back legs. There's some real pressure there, down and to the left - almost enough to fetch him to the ground. If the cat was just a little bigger or the lamb just a little smaller, it would be all over.

This cat's a real mean bastard, he's big and heavy and it's all solid muscle. He regularly kills and eats rabbits close to his size (the only bits we find left over are the skulls) and he's even brought my sister down in an ambush attack as she walked from the car to her door on one occasion! She really kicked his ass for that one, though.

hover · #4 03-27-2011, 07:53 AM

absolutely, it is that balance between playful toying and knowing, instinctual skill.... it's funny you see the elder sheep in the background ...if it had seens this going down would surely have stepped in ...yeah, small kitteh...

I had a cat like him before...but replace muscle with leg-draping flab and put him the same situations....ooof.

**bassybill** · #5 03-27-2011, 07:58 AM

The cat chases the big sheep all over the fields! Heck, he's even been know to chase my sister's horses. God knows what he'd do if they stopped running away and turned around to confront him.

Fassa Albrecht · #6 03-27-2011, 08:53 AM

Haha that picture is AWESOME!

Joe Gress · #7 03-27-2011, 08:59 AM

I've got a cat just like that at home. Solid 20 pounds of all muscle. Except he's a real puss (and not in the literal sense). He'll fight off skunks, coyotes, foxes, deer, other tom cats, and dogs, but when it comes to hunting anything smaller than him he has the female cats do it. He stole a live mouse from one of them once and was playing with it till he accidentally killed it. He then pawed at it and sat in the grass crying for 10 minutes cause his toy was dead.

**colcifer** · #8 03-27-2011, 09:23 AM

Poor lamb! And if the cat keeps chasing it, its meat won't be tender!

**bassybill** · #9 03-27-2011, 10:00 AM

My sister just posted this on Facebook:

"He's had a couple of them on the floor today & it is just like watching a cheetah! He's bored with them now though & mum has headbutted him up the backside!"

sloasdaylight · #10 03-27-2011, 10:18 AM

We have two cats in our family. One of them is about 15 pounds of solid fat. The other is probably 8-10 pounds, and he has eliminated the squirrel population at our house. He also will catch the occasional bird, and all we'll see left over are the feathers from the destruction. It really is awesome watching house cats go and hunt their prey.

Also, you spelled "behaviOr" wrong.

hover · #11 03-27-2011, 10:21 AM

My current cat is the definitive mole-er. Not particularly kind in her methods, but feels she is earning her keep by leaving the heads for me to constantly step on on our back deck in the morning.

duff beer · #12 03-27-2011, 10:52 AM

My cat likes to leave partially eaten bird/squirrel/mouse carcasses just outside the back door...I've learned to look before stepping outside in my bare feet!!

**cheezewiz** · #13 03-27-2011, 11:02 AM

That is a great pic! My 25 lb. fat cat would just watch

Fassa Albrecht · #14 03-27-2011, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Gress

I've got a cat just like that at home. Solid 20 pounds of all muscle. Except he's a real puss (and not in the literal sense). He'll fight off skunks, coyotes, foxes, deer, other tom cats, and dogs, but when it comes to hunting anything smaller than him he has the female cats do it. He stole a live mouse from one of them once and was playing with it till he accidentally killed it. He then pawed at it and sat in the grass crying for 10 minutes cause his toy was dead.

I don't know why but I found this hilarious. Especially the last sentence.