Stalking cats + flicking tails = huh?

[MRC_Hans]

Here's an expert stalker at work. Reminds me of some relationships I've had.

That is one complacent bird. I wonder what it's on.

However, I think there is indeed a clue here (or at least it seems to confirm something I already said ):

Hunting behavior requires the prey to show prey behavior. This makes a lot of sense for the predator: Unlike the popular view of predators, especially eagles and big cats, as brave and ferocious, predators are really lazy cowards. This is because they need to conserve energy, and getting hurt can be fatal if it keeps them from hunting (in contrast, a wounded herbivore can still eat).

So if we look at the cat in the video, what he is really doing is prodding the bird to see if it is a prey. Since the bird staunchly refuses to act like a prey, the cat keeps his distance.

Hans

 

[Gravy]

Well, yeah, I meant "get the hell out of there" in a sensible manner. I wasn't more specific, because, well, I wasn't planning on being there myself.

...and you should actually avoid facing the dog directly, as eye contact and "squaring up" give the social signal "I want to fight!"

Actually, being big and not afraid of dogs, I do square up, look them in the eye, and curse their mothers. If that doesn't work, I bend down like I'm picking up a rock, or actually pick up a rock if one's around. Outdoor dogs the world over know what that means. I don't recommend this to everyone, though, unless you're confident that you can defend yourself. It's never failed for me, and I've encountered a lot of territorial dogs while alone on foot. The only time I was ever bitten was by a small dog that came up silently from behind, when I was a UPS driver.

 

[Mister Earl]

As a child, I had an adopted stray cat that spent entire days hunting in the fields and forests near my home. I've seen it stalk birds. They crawl through the grass, belly probably rubbing the ground. No tail twitching. When it got close enough to pounch, it'd raise its hindquarters, do this odd little wiggle of the hips, then LEAP! Over the years of its life, it would bring each fresh kill back to the house, leaving each little corpse where we would stumble on it, but most always on the sill of a ground-level picture window. At first birds and baby rabbits, but eventually large rabbits and baby groundhogs. Once even a very young hawk. Best cat hunter I'd ever seen, then or since.

 

[Ysidro]

I am by no means an expert on cats and I have no sources readily available but I thought some cats used tail movement to distract their prey. Essentially the goal was to get them focusing on some other movement rather than the cat's forward creep/leap. Sort of what a cobra does before it strikes.

 

[MRC_Hans]

Here's a lioness in a classic stalking creep. She's certainly not flashing her tail. I may be all washed up about this. Although there are plenty of anecdotes that mention it, and I've seen it on a small scale, perhaps tail flicking isn't normal behavior on a stalk at all.

Mmm, wait till women's lib get to the lions.

I think when hunting prey that are in flocks, it is a distinct advantage to rouse the flock and get it running so the predator or predator pack can single out the slow one and concentrate on that.

Hans

 

[aggle-rithm]

Actually, being big and not afraid of dogs, I do square up, look them in the eye, and curse their mothers.

Being big helps, although a pit bull wouldn't hesitate to attack something many times its size.

The advice to avoid eye contact comes from dog trainers, a majority of which tend to be small females.

 

[MRC_Hans]

I am by no means an expert on cats and I have no sources readily available but I thought some cats used tail movement to distract their prey. Essentially the goal was to get them focusing on some other movement rather than the cat's forward creep/leap. Sort of what a cobra does before it strikes.

Or the ratlesnake. However, there is a difference: Venomous snakes also strike in self-defence, where it is preferable to warn (and possibly scare off) the opponent. I don't know for sure, but when I have seen films of snakes hunting, they have been very stealthy.

Hans

 

[Gravy]

However, I think there is indeed a clue here (or at least it seems to confirm something I already said ):

Hunting behavior requires the prey to show prey behavior. This makes a lot of sense for the predator: Unlike the popular view of predators, especially eagles and big cats, as brave and ferocious, predators are really lazy cowards. This is because they need to conserve energy, and getting hurt can be fatal if it keeps them from hunting (in contrast, a wounded herbivore can still eat).

While that's true when the encounter is between unfamiliar animals, the normal prey for a big cat doesn't have to do anything to be seen as dinner but be a peccary or zebra or antelope. The cats are more cautious when dealing with bigger and stronger potential meals. The cat in the video is young and learning, and may also be following the human dictum not to eat anything bigger than your head.

 

[Gravy]

Or the ratlesnake. However, there is a difference: Venomous snakes also strike in self-defence, where it is preferable to warn (and possibly scare off) the opponent. I don't know for sure, but when I have seen films of snakes hunting, they have been very stealthy.

Hans

Yes, I think Ysidro is describing two different behaviors. Rattlesnakes rattle and hooded cobras display their hoods when they're on the defensive, not when they're hunting.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

I've also noticed our (indoor) cats making chirping noises while watching birds through the windows. I suspect this isn't stalking behaviour either.

our younger cat makes a weird "clacking" with her jaw when she is watching birds through the window. It is very menacing but, again, I would hardly call it a positive in the stalking business.

 

[fuelair]

If it moves, it's a predator.

If it doesn't move, it's a predator.

Paranoia strikes the natural world...

If it is clearly visible, in front, carrying no obvious weapons and not moving rapidly in a suspect direction it is not a target.

 

[MRC_Hans]

Being big helps, although a pit bull wouldn't hesitate to attack something many times its size.

The advice to avoid eye contact comes from dog trainers, a majority of which tend to be small females.

Roughly speaking, a dog facing you has five stances:

1) Tail up (possibly wagging), ears back: Playful and friendly.

2) Tail down, ears back: Submissive.
2a) Tail down, wagging, ears back: Submissive and afraid of you.

3) Tail down, ears up: Afraid, but willing to fight (this is really the situation where it is most likely to bite).

4) Tail up, ears back: Self-confident, hostile.

5) Tail up (possibly wagging), ears up: Self-confident, but neutral or friendly.

Of course there are intermediate stances, especially the hight of the tail is a basically continuous gauge of how inferior/Superior he feels.

Now, when confronted with a dog you can choose between a number of reactions:

Playful: Pant a little, lift your chin (but DON'T smile), clap your hands or slap you thighs. Call, - hey come on boy or similar.

Soothing, comradely (especially good with stance 3 and 5, above): Crouch, say -hellooo, good boy, slap your thighs.

Soothing, backing off: Don't stare, mumble - easy boy, back or crap away.

Threatening: Look him in the eyes, make low rumbling noises, and when (if) he vinces shout -SHOO! (NEVER lift your arms!)

What you do will depend on the situation, your self-confidence, size and type of dog etc.

....

One place i lived, there was a mini collie a few houses away. He used to hide behind the fence and when you came walking in your own thoughts he would suddenly bark loudly scaring the **** loose in you. One day, I was prepared, and the moment he barked, I turned, spread my arms and shouted BOOO! He fled, his tail between his legs, peeing all the way. After that, whenever I came by, he would stay silent.

Another time, I think I must have been 13 or so, a friend of my parents was visiting, bringing his rather fierce German Shepard. At some point during the evening, I took him for walkies (he was disciplined enough for that). Suddenly a fairly big dog came toward us, and since I weren't at that time too confident with dogs, I stopped, heart pounding. Then I remembered who I was with, so I took a step forward, instead. The German Shepard gave me a glance that VERY clearly said -"Yeah! Let's kick ass!" and advanced with me.

- And the other dog suddenly remembered an appointment he was late for somewhere about six block away .


Hans

 

[MRC_Hans]

While that's true when the encounter is between unfamiliar animals, the normal prey for a big cat doesn't have to do anything to be seen as dinner but be a peccary or zebra or antelope. *snip*

Well, that makes sense, because otherwise the next question would be: Why do prey animals not stop acting like prey? And the answer is, of course, that they can't cheat an experienced hunter.

In contrast, buffaloes often face off lions and get away with it.

Hans

 

[richardm]

Threatening: Look him in the eyes, make low rumbling noises, and when (if) he vinces shout -SHOO! (NEVER lift your arms!)

Firmly commanding a strange dog to "Sit!" often disarms it surprisingly well too.

Re: cats tails: I've always assumed it was pure excitement rather than anything else. Or sort of the cat equivalent of going "Steady! Steaaaaaaady! Steeeeaaaaaaady!" in preparation for the pounce

 

[Gevaudan]

According to Desmond Morris, it's a displacement activity.

His theory goes: A cat's normal prey is rodents, not birds. A domestic cat lives among humans who actively eradicate rodents but enjoy small birds visiting their gardens. A cat normally hunts by making use of cover, so when it confronts a bird on a stretch of well-mowed lawn, where it is entirely exposed to view, it is experiencing conflict between wanting to crouch and stay hidden and wanting to rush forward and attack.

This psychological turmoil is vented by twitching the tail, a social signal used between cats - but in this case, it is NOT directed at other cats (the hunter is not 'signaling' to another cat to stay away) or trying to hypnotize a bird (I doubt any species that was so easily hypnotized would last very long).

My cats are indoors cats, and I've noticed the same tail-wagging when they see squirrels on the fence outside the window, where they're exposed to the squirrel's view. The squirrels clearly know they're safe - they'll nap a few feet away from the cats.

As for the tooth-chattering, Morris explains it as the cat performing the precision killing bite as it it already had the prey clamped in its jaws. A cat seeing unobtainable prey just can't resist this instinctive movement any more than we can prevent ourselves from drooling when we see delicious food on tv.

 

[aggle-rithm]

Well, that makes sense, because otherwise the next question would be: Why do prey animals not stop acting like prey?

In some cases, they do!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stotting

 

[Modified]

Firmly commanding a strange dog to "Sit!" often disarms it surprisingly well too.

That's my usual technique: say "Ey. Siddown," in the voice the dogs master probably uses when slightly annoyed at them.

There was a scary dog in my neighborhood when I was a kid. She was a husky and liked to be petted. If you didn't pet her, she would growl and bark at you, and sometimes bite. If you petted her and stopped, she would do the same. So you would start petting her to save your skin, and then you were trapped until the next unfortunate kid came along to take your place.

 

[Mojo]

Re: cats tails: I've always assumed it was pure excitement rather than anything else. Or sort of the cat equivalent of going "Steady! Steaaaaaaady! Steeeeaaaaaaady!" in preparation for the pounce

No - the preparation for the pounce is that bum-wiggling thing they do.

 

[Earthborn]

If a behaviour seems maladaptive for life in the wild, I think the simplest explanation is that your cat has never been in the wild. How would it know what behaviour is appropriate there? If a behaviour seems to make hunting harder instead of easier, I think the simplest explanation is: perhaps your cat never learnt how to effectively hunt.

Hunting strategies are not innate, they require a great deal of learning. If they were innate, people trying to release predators into the wild wouldn't need to go through such lengths to teach them basic survival skills. They could just drop the beasts off in the wild and expect them to survive. But unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

Your cats probably have no experience with prey at all, let alone with catching it. Not only that: since pets are usually taken away from them direct family at a fairly young age, they may not even have significant play-fighting experience. When they see something that excites them, they don't know how to suppress their displays of excitement to catch it by suprise, so they'll just show themselves to be excited.

 

[Drudgewire]

The behavior does collide with hunting, unless the individual animal is able to suppress the reflex when actually out to kill, but traits that have conflicting effects are not that unusual in the animal kingdom (just think of gaudily colored and feathered birds that have a mating advantage, but loose camouflage and mobility).

In the case of birds, I was always led to believe the males are the ones who have the gaudy appearance, so it will lead predators towards them and away from the mother gathering food for the young 'uns.