A cat is a cat is a cat
December 20, 2016 7:00 AM   Subscribe

Siberian tigers investigate a drone sent to investigate them. Tigers aren't the only ones curious about drones. Cheetahs [cc speech] are all about the chase. Housecats have had more success with flying objects. Male lion don't care but (captive) lionesses are more curious. Token pupper. [all vids music/ambient noise only unless specified] posted by AFABulous (28 comments total) 27 users marked this as a favorite
 
A caracal can catch a bird out of a sky. Drones: you've been warned.
posted by MrGuilt at 7:20 AM on December 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Yes. Those tigers are good kitties.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 7:26 AM on December 20, 2016 [6 favorites]


Tigers also like to sit in boxes.
posted by briank at 7:30 AM on December 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


Excellent butt-wiggle at about the 0:07 mark in the tiger video.
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:33 AM on December 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


i would like to pet all of these kitties
posted by entropicamericana at 7:33 AM on December 20, 2016 [4 favorites]


WHY?! WHY DOES IT CUT OFF WHEN THE TIGER JUMPS?!
posted by I-baLL at 7:34 AM on December 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


Cheetahs seem pretty doglike for cats.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:48 AM on December 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


The setting for the cheetah video looks a lot like the volunteer experiences In South Africa that are basically breeding programs for canned hunting reserves.
posted by rh at 7:55 AM on December 20, 2016


I'm tellin' ya, those chimps are on to us!
posted by BlueHorse at 8:09 AM on December 20, 2016


Tigers also like to sit in boxes.

I highly recommend Big Cat Rescue's YT channel for videos about big cat behavior. Big cats like boxes, cats vs. laser pointers, mirrors, catnip (stoned cats, science [auto cc])
posted by AFABulous at 8:19 AM on December 20, 2016 [7 favorites]


A caracal can catch a bird out of a sky

I think most housecats can do this; mine does this kind of movement with toys all the time. The caracal can just jump higher because it's bigger.
posted by AFABulous at 8:21 AM on December 20, 2016


The setting for the cheetah video looks a lot like the volunteer experiences In South Africa that are basically breeding programs for canned hunting reserves.

Ugh. However, that particular organization, Volunteer South Africa, explicitly states that it does not participate in canned hunting.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:25 AM on December 20, 2016


There is a very fine line between gathering useful information and harrassment. Most predatory animals walk a fine line in terms of daily survival, especially in stressful conditions like deep snow (though it can also make predation easier, ymmv). In my personal opinion, if you are flying so low that you are changing an animals behavior, you are flying too low and crossing the line.

I hope all of those filming are trying to strike the right balance.
posted by Patapsco Mike at 8:35 AM on December 20, 2016 [12 favorites]


Cats gonna cat.
posted by mudpuppie at 8:38 AM on December 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


The sensation of being followed around by interested tigers staring right into the camera lens is a bit unnerving. Genre: "POV Prey".
posted by clawsoon at 8:43 AM on December 20, 2016


There is a very fine line between gathering useful information and harrassment.

The housecats, indeed, looked pretty alarmed, even as they landed some sweet cat tolchocks. I'm not sure how much fun this was for them.
posted by thelonius at 8:49 AM on December 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


A commercially-built quadcopter drone I got a few years ago came with a big black-box label cautioning the user that "Using the drone in the company of a dog may lead to it behaving erratically or perhaps even dangerously." Not the drone — the dog. They were not wrong.

Presumably better drones let you turn the ultrasonics off to not do that sort of thing, or maybe cats aren't bothered by it as much. But you certainly wouldn't have been using that drone to do any observations of wolves or other canids.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:52 AM on December 20, 2016


Cheetahs seem pretty doglike for cats.

I have read that with their narrow faces, their semi-retractable claws and (of course) their being built for high-speed pursuit rather than pouncing, the cheetah is a cat built on a dog chassis.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:22 AM on December 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


I see that drone over those tigers and wonder if the drone operator really has any idea how high those things can jump. I remember a video on MF some years of a hunt for a Bengal tiger in India, on the backs of elephants. A tiger jumped onto the elephant with barely a running start. So maybe that's what happened when the tiger leaps at the end of this video.
posted by Ber at 10:25 AM on December 20, 2016


i would like to pet all of these kitties

Sadly, the opportunity to pet these gorgeous creatures usually comes at a steep price for the animals.

In the summer of 2000, I went to visit the Siberian Tiger Foundation in Gambier, OH, just outside of Columbus, for a "Close Encounter" for my 30th birthday. I interacted with all of the animals shown in these rescue videos - Nikita, an Amur; Simba, an Amur; Joseph and Sasha, two beautiful lions, as well as Sierra, a White Bengal; Nala, an Amur, and a number of other Amurs.

I will be the first to tell you that it is an incredible feeling, to have the head of a tiger in your lap, rumbling contentedly as you scritch her ears and ruffle her thick fur. Getting head-butted by Joseph the lion was startling and sweet. He rubbed his face on mine and licked my hair and pretty much acted like any housecat would. "Me! Pet ME! Love ME!"

BUT.

I will also be the first to tell you that I genuinely regret providing part of the demand for such an experience, because I learned later that those animals were being terribly maltreated. At the time I had visited, the USDA had opened an investigation and an effort was underway to remove the cats because of their maltreatment. Her operating license had been suspended, it was illegal for her to even have us on the property.

Siberian Tiger Training Scheme
Welcome to the Jungle

These cats really should not be interacting with people. It's not good for them. No, not even when they are exquisitely cared for. (Most animals that interact with the general public are NOT exquisitely cared for. Not even close. They are often declawed, defanged, and drugged.)

I understand all too well the desire to pet this magnificent cats. I am, however, ashamed to have acted on that desire. Please, don't ever patronize such a thing. Give money to organizations like Big Cat Rescue to help take care of the cats that are rescued from these schemes, and fight like hell to get such exhibitions shut down. Locally, this asshole has been shut down for a couple years, and although he won a bid in court to get the animals back, the Ohio Department of Agriculture appealed and he can't have them back while the appeal works its way through the courts.
posted by MissySedai at 10:36 AM on December 20, 2016 [10 favorites]


The sensation of being followed around by interested tigers staring right into the camera lens is a bit unnerving. Genre: "POV Prey".
posted by clawsoon at 11:43 AM on December 20


I don't even need to say it, do I?
posted by adamgreenfield at 10:49 AM on December 20, 2016 [6 favorites]


what a good post, what good kittehs, what an excellent pupper
posted by poffin boffin at 1:07 PM on December 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


Presumably better drones let you turn the ultrasonics off to not do that sort of thing, or maybe cats aren't bothered by it as much. But you certainly wouldn't have been using that drone to do any observations of wolves or other canids.

Depends on whether they're annoyed by the sonics from the brushless AC motor's PWM driving frequency or just the general doggo bird hunting role. I _suspect_ it's more the latter than the former, although some advancements in what we think of as acceptable PWM drive speeds have been raising the audible frequency a bit.

FWIW neither of my cats wants anything to do with my quadcopters - they both scatter as soon as they spin up.
posted by Kyol at 2:08 PM on December 20, 2016


(which is to say, it's not entirely something that can be turned off - it's sort of intrinsic to the technology.)
posted by Kyol at 2:09 PM on December 20, 2016


Thankfully my greyhound has some sort of understanding that birds can fly higher than he can jump, because most drones apparently sound like the rabbit at the track. He ignores them if they're high enough to count as a bird, but goes nuts if they fly low. One pilot thought it was funny to tease him, but seemed unaware how high the dog can jump. It adds an extra excitement to letting him run at the park - is he going to catch someone's expensive toy?? Remote control cars are worse, but less common.
posted by sepviva at 2:50 PM on December 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


haha "rambro." good job, youtube commenter. you win that one.
posted by wibari at 3:41 PM on December 20, 2016


c'mon tiger pounce on it pounce on it pounce on it pounce on it
posted by yeahlikethat at 11:40 AM on December 21, 2016


These were awesome, thank you. :)
posted by mordax at 6:23 PM on December 21, 2016


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