Friday 11 March 2022

Black domestic cat sees off black bear - why?

The video uploader describes this as a "brown bear". But the bear looks black to me 🤞! I'm not sure. But the question in the title is why is this enormous black bear scared of this tiny black cat? On the face of it there is no competition. Perhaps the bear is not hungry but it seems to me that he or she is inherently, at least, slightly scared or unsure of the black cat. This is pretty obvious from the video. And it must be down to the bear's character. And perhaps the circumstances play a role in this behaviour as well.

My research indicates that black bears are inherently timid and with that background character this bear decided that it was just not worth the bother getting involved with this cat because there was the possibility of getting injured on the face.

And my research also indicates that black bears are normally afraid of any animal that aggressively defend their territory. Unless we are talking about a female bear defending their young. Once again, the research indicates that black bears are timid. This is in contrast to brown, Kodiak or grisly and polar bears who are far less likely to be intimidated by a domestic cat.

Black domestic cat sees off black bear - why?
Black domestic cat sees off black bear - why? Answer: the bear is timid and wants to avoid injury. Screenshot.

As you can see the black domestic cat maximises her size by positioning sideways on and arching her back. This is the classic defensive manoeuvre and body language. It certainly worked.

RELATED: Why do cats do the crab walk?

There is also the common-sense approach of wild animal predators in general in that if they can see the possibility of being injured, they my back off. In this instance this domestic cat could damage the bear's snout with multiple slaps which is something that he or she is unprepared to accept. 

Injuries can impair survival. What if deep scratches on the snout became infected? This would affect the bear's survival. Survival in the wild requires the bear to be on peak condition and the bear decided to play safe, I guess.

RELATED: Domestic cats are as smart as bears but not as smart as dogs.

Sometimes you see bears and cats becoming friends. There is an element of that possibility in this video. You'll see some extraordinary and unexpected interspecies friendships online. It almost looks as if the bear is curious rather than thinking about attacking. This is what I get from his/her body language.

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