This video shows not only the remarkable fearlessness and dexterity of the cat, who apparently knows the snake is dangerous, but also raises the possibility that the cat is killing just to practice its hunting skills—or for fun.
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I think the sound effects happens like that all the time in nature. It’s good we finally have a documentary wherein the sound equipment was sufficient to finally pick it up.
I preferred it with the sound turned off, to avoid the inane commentary.
Way too Casey Kasem wannabe for me. SFX and music seemed pointless as well.
Ditto.
Are you trying to imply the SFX aren’t real and don’t happen like that out in the wild? I’d be shocked!
“but also raises the possibility that the cat is killing [...] for fun.”
Hmmm, cats are like Dick Cheney?
We had a russian blue cat that would take on 3 metre snakes. The cat would start from the tail, and work their way up until the snake was dead. (or would have, except we rescued the snake and took it far away to release in a forest)
I don’t think the cat was playing; it was deadly (like, angry) serious. There is just something about snakes that cats don’t like? In any case, yes, cats are faster than snakes.
Come to think of it, the side to side motion of a snake may look like an “angry cat tail movement” to the cat and trigger an agression response.
Makes sense, I guess: it is like my aggression response to “‘strident’ accommodationist ass-wiggling movement”.
Could it be a little interspecific competition? By killing the snake, the bobcat is eliminating another predator in a resource-poor ecosystem. More rodents are left to the winner. Yum.
Maybe a mother with kittens nearby? But the idea that it’s doing it for fun seems fine. I wonder what proportion of the time humans now spend doing things with a proximate adaptive explanation?
Just put “cat vs. snake” into Google and there are several videos. This one is pretty cool. Every time the snake strikes, the cat bats its head into the ground. Talk about quick reflexes!
and yet…
looks to me in playing dead and luring the cat close, the snake outwitted the cat.
I can imagine the snake as it buries its teeth in the cat’s NOSE:
“Yeah, who’s laughin’ NOW, kitteh!”
I think you’ll find if you look closely at 53 secs that the cat has taken the snake in its mouth and then runs off with it. Kitteh 1, snake 0.
Bobcat sez:
“Enough is enough! I have had it with these mother****ing snakes on this mother****ing road!”
Bobcat sez: “I’ve had it with the stupid narrator. He’s just throwing me off of my game.”
Pretty amazing that the cat is faster than the snake!
I wish I didn’t immediately distrust most wildlife vids; i.e., suspect set-ups. Then I wonder about the ethics of such things . . .
I play hand/paw slap with my cat. He always wins. I quit when there is blood.
Oh, and I’m nowhere near a speed-match for a cat, either. But I’ve seen snakes striking, and that’s a pretty darned fast phenomenon itself. Guess I have them properly ranked, now, though.
Am I right that this is a wildcat – the North American lynx (Lynx rufus)? In that case this animal is increasing its chances of survival by attacking and killing rattlesnakes: one advantage is the elimination of a competitor for food. Another the elimination of a potential danger to its newborn young. And if fighting a rattlesnake turns out to be ‘fun’, all the better!
Regarding common names, the wild feline Lynx rufus is, in fact, known as the bobcat. What we call a lynx is Lynx canadensis.
Yes, you are right – thanks for correcting me!
Cats don’t play, they practice.
This is a bit of a “rock paper scissors” type of thing: cat beats snake, snake beats dog, dog beats cat.
Not as nasty as a honey badger.
If I were a feral cat of any breed, and such a dangerous predator as a poisonous snake came into my territory, I’d be killing it to protect my young from being killed by it. I might enjoy the challenge, but I wouldn’t take such a risk to my life, it if weren’t moreso to protect the survival of my species.
“the cat is killing just to practice its hunting skills—or for fun”
1. How to tell the two apart?
2. Based on my reading of observations of animals in the wild, this seems to be almost certainly true. It would seem not a mis-fire; but a parallel-fire that is selected for because it in fact hones the animal’s skills. Although the risk in this case seems high — that part might be a mis-fire.
I have sleep apnea and had to get a cpap machine which involves a long tube running from the machine to my face. First time I tried it out, my cat came into the room, saw the tube and attacked it exactly like this film. Guess she thought she saved my life, but I had to get a new tube.
I just stumbled across a feral cat breed that kills snakes to eat: youtube.com/watch?v=7MjG9r_YP_U&list=PL0395B2AC9C3104C0&index=4&feature=plcp. Even more surprising, the adult is under 7 lbs!
Under the video in YouTube, the poster writes: “Man and cats are the only two species on the planet that will kill just for sport. Another reason that I dislike both at times!”
It strikes me that this can’t be true as other animals (e.g. killer whales) play with food. At the same time, I don’t know of any examples of another species killing “just for sport” (whether it be “play” or “practice”). Can anyone here help out? Dolphins, maybe?
Ferrets.