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Comment by jsiepkes | Hacker News Reader

I wouldn't say my cats are smart but you can definitely see they are natural born killers. Everything they set their eyes on dies. Flies, spiders, you name it. Nothing is too quick for them.

I keep my cats indoors (we take them in to the garden from time to time under supervision) for a variety of reasons one of them being fluffy cute little murders who kill birds and such just for sport...

There are also birds which are smarter then cats where "killer instincts" don't work on. For example I've seen magpies "play" with cats to lure them away from their young. From the interaction it was clear the magpies were employing strategy while the cat was just reacting.

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What I find fascinating is the ability our cat has to mimic a crying baby - this really upsets my wife. As I am the main cat servant in our household when our cat wants services (food, cuddle etc.) it complains to my wife who then issues the relevant orders to me.

I've heard this for years with the concept that the cat's vocal range developed to be like this. But not once had I ever heard a cat sound anything unlike a cat. Until...my recent adopted fur baby. He freaks me out how much like a kid he sounds. Just the other day, he let out a sound that even my coworkers on a meeting call thought I had a kid. It's a little unsettling at times

Mine has learned exactly what corners to yell into such that their cry/meow echoes and reverberates everywhere so it can't be ignored. It's kind of impressive how smart and adaptable cats are, lol.

It's not even necessarily aimed at us. Mountain lions and bobcats can sound remarkably human and I'd be shocked if they ever had enough human prey for that to be intentional.

>I'd be shocked if they ever had enough human prey for that to be intentional.

this just made me think of the movie Annihilation where the bear like creature got a human like voice. that would definitely make a walk in the woods a lot more creepy.

I've heard coyotes make a sound like a crying child (I was in a nature preserve and went to the source until I saw it) so there is some cross species commonality in sound for some reason and there is evidence for recognition of crying baby primates by crocodiles. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nile-crocodile...

We had a black bird try this with our cat a few weeks ago to protect a fledgling in our garden.

I would be more inclined to call the behaviour brave and desperate rather than smart because it doesn’t always work out well for the birds.

> I wouldn't say my cats are smart but you can definitely see they are natural born killers. Everything they set their eyes on dies. Flies, spiders, you name it. Nothing is too quick for them.

Most cats I've known don't kill much. They might pounce on a lizard or fly to catch it and play with it, but I can't remember the last time I've seen them actually kill something. Certainly never gotten the fabled "gift" of a dead animal from a disappointed cat who thinks I can't get my own food. I wonder what the difference is.

We have two cats and it differs from cat to cat, and with age.

When they were young our female would hunt quite a bit, certainly several times a month. Our male was hopeless at it, occasionally bringing back a live mouse and then not knowing what to do with it.

Now they have got older we have not had so much as a single mouse in a couple of years. I'm fairly sure I've seen more spiders as well.

> Nothing is too quick for them.

Cats even have a faster average reaction time than snakes.

But they'll never hunt a snake. They have an inbuilt terror of them. This is why they jump at cucumbers and hiss (trying to scare others with snake sounds)

I think the cucumber thing is about being surprised by something snake like. They'll absolutely fuck with snakes (depending on their personality).

Here's a cat batting at a snake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptJpLivNyoE

Snakes are not a preferred target of cats but they will take them out.

From personal experience. Came home on a hot summer day. Let the cat loose and it immediately began to act unusual and drew our attention to a snake that had made it into the house. "Petals" ended the snake in short order without much fanfare.

My favorite cat / bird interaction of all time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANZBs8Za0Q

A cat that can kill houseflies is a gem.

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