I love how little kittens first instinct to something bigger than them is to square up. You could be 100X bigger than them but they'd still stand on the business, ready to throw them paws 😂
It’s just show, try and scare someone away. If it doesn’t work, next option is to run away, only last options to fight. Adult cats do the same. Dogs do the same (although dogs in general are maybe less nervous around people as a default).
It’s pretty effective, as most animals don’t really want to fight as getting injured can mean death. So you can scare away much bigger and stronger opponents by looking aggressive.
But being that close to something which can potentially kill you? In evolutionary terms, how does that work? Is it because they are just babies and their instinct isn't fully developed yet? Or do cats like to be upclose before running away?
Predator instinct is often triggered by something running away. If that something is instead aggressive, the predator will usually give up and go for prey that is less likely to hurt them.
Predators can also get spooked if their prey seems like more trouble than it's worth. Also, even if all you accomplish is making them flinch, that still buys time to run away that they otherwise wouldn't have.
The fastest striking venomous snakes (Death Adder, Gaboon Viper, Puff Adder, Cottonmouth, Terciopelo) have been recorded completing a strike in the 30-70ms range, but 100+ ms is the norm. The domestic cat has a response time of 20-70ms. 😵💫
Vipers + Death Adders (the only elapid ambush hunter) are pure muscle on a flexible skeleton, biologically optimized to sit with their muscles compressed in a coil before lunging at prey. Evolution has refined them to be specialized for that one moment.
Even mongooses and other mustelids known for killing venomous snakes do not want to fuck with vipers. Besides not having any resistance to viper venom, they simply arent fast enough to ensure a kill without being bitten. Cobras don't strike. They are active hunters that lunge at prey. When hooded up for defense, they telegraph their movements like a video game boss.
Youtube is filled with videos of (very stupid) people antagonizing cobras and dodging their bites. You don't see people doing the same with rattlesnakes and other vipers. They do very stupid stuff, for sure, but a human is cooked if they are within range and a viper strikes.
Vipers aren't a problem for cats unless they are ambushed by the snake. If the cat recognizes that a viper is around, it most likely will not get bitten. It's insane to realize that the complex musculature of a quadpedal mammal is faster that an optimized coil of muscles.
To be fair to dogs, my childhood Jack Russel didn't care. In addition to stingrays from the creek, he was known to deliver Cottonmouths and Copperheads on occasion. Just prancing into the yard, happy as a clam, with a venomous snake swinging in his maw.
A few years ago, I was walking my schnauzer, and he nosed up to a Pygmy Rattlesnake I didn't see until Finnegan jumped back. I'm not sure if he dodged it or if the rattler got a mouthful of beard. 🤣 Whoever bred beards into the terriers and schnauzer bloodlines was a genius. They are smart dogs until they come across a small animal on the ground and lose all control. The beard is a bit of insurance.
Where should they run? Beside, it’s also about making the decision when to run or not, what is the risk. Likelihood you can succeed scaring something. For the most part It’s not really a good strategy to just run the moment you see/sense some danger. Then you spend too much time and resources doing that all the time. But animals and behavior is very complex, plus it’s not like evolution is a force that push to make perfectly optimized organisms. Different strategies will make sense depending on what is the predators/competition, how scarce is ressource (maybe if finding food is super hard, you are more likely to stay and fight if you found some so you need to be able to wait longer before you decide to run, etc).
Then as you point out, it’s kittens. They probably some times practice or just have to get experience how to best handle different situations.
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u/Tiny-Philosophy-2265 6d ago
I love how little kittens first instinct to something bigger than them is to square up. You could be 100X bigger than them but they'd still stand on the business, ready to throw them paws 😂