Have you ever wonder where the term "cat and mouse game" was coined? I know I never gave much thought into the meaning behind the saying or at least not until I saw the saying in action. A few days ago I saw a cat toying with a chipmunk in a cruel cat and mouse game and then realized why it is called a cat and mouse game.
A couple weeks ago I was walking by Gorman residential hall on my way home when I saw a black cat in the distance. I love animals, so I was very excited by my discovery, until I was in close proximity to the feline. I saw that it was antagonizing a little chipmunk. It was a true game of "cat and mouse[chipmunk]". It had already swiped at the chipmunk and injured it causing it to become disoriented. Then it would let it escape and tackle it over and over again. It was toying with the chipmunk until it was no longer amused at which point it finished off the chipmunk.
According to Perfect Paws website the theory behind why cats do this is because they are still not confident with killing their prey. They do not kill them with the first strike and then slowly attack it to keep them from being attacked from their prey. It also explains that cats learn to kill prey slowly when they are still kittens from their mom. This might be why they take their time killing their prey because they may learn this from their parents behavior.
I am surprised that there is not more concrete research on this subject. I tried to find some more legitimate articles about this subject, but I could only access their abstracts. I would like to know if there is a more scientific perspective on this subject. I would like to know how slowly hurting the chipmunk protects the cat. I would like to know if there are any studies showing how the brain patterns in a cat are affected while attacking prey.
http://www.perfectpaws.com/help3.html
by Noelle Kellicker
So much research today is being done on wild species that domesticated animals aren't getting as much attention. It would be an interesting research topic to see if feral cats exhibit the same behavior. However, I do not complete agree with the PerfectPaws theory. The game of "cat and mouse" might just be a form of entertainment for the cats, sort of like how dogs like to play catch.
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Shi
Noelle- That actually is pretty surprising that there isn't much research on that out there.. But I do agree with Perfect Paws to a degree. While our domestic cats still have that natural prey-drive & instinct to kill, many of our household cats these days don't really know how to use it.. I think it's certainly possible that the cat you saw has a bowl of cat food waiting for it at home, so that need to kill & eat the chipmunk may not have been there. Also, I know that with species of big cats (cheetahs, leopards, lions) mothers in the wild show their cubs how to hunt & kill prey, & this is something that takes practice. So I think it's also possible that without watching another cat (or carnivore) take down prey, cats may not know how it's done. As a cat person myself, I think it'd be really interesting to figure out the truth behind this game of cat-and-mouse.
ReplyDeletePosted by Brianna Eddy
My question is does knowing how to kill depend on gender. Since in most cats the females are the ones that hunt and kill prey, is it innate for them while the males have to learn how to kill. It will be interesting to see who plays with their prey more?
ReplyDeletePosted by Jobin Oommen
I agree with both Michael and Brianna. In the wild, big cats such as tigers, lions, and leopards all have similar methods of attacking prey at either their throat or snout in order to kill their prey in the fastest method. This leads me to believe that if a cat really wanted to eat the chipmunk he would. Like Michael, I think that this "game" is just that, entertainment for the cat.
ReplyDeleteThis idea of "cat and mouse" actually makes me think of something really interesting I saw on Animal Planet. A young lion seemed to befriend a baby antelope and kept it at its side and wouldn't let it out of its site. Was this a game for the lion until it got hungry or did it really find companionship in this antelope? Scientists also couldn't agree on the lions motives.
I have also witnessed "cat and mouse" games and would be interested to learn more about this subject.
Last post Posted by Suzanne Sullivan (sorry)
ReplyDeleteI have actually never seen a cat playing with its prey. That must have been interesting, but a bit sad to see a chipmunk die. I wonder where the cat was from. I mean was the cat domestic, abandoned or feral? If it was domestic I would think that the cat would not be as hungry and thus would not try to kill and eat the chipmunk as soon as a feral cat.
ReplyDeleteAlso I would imagine age might play a role in the cats behavior. If the cat was in its first year or so I would think that it is just practicing hunting and not trying to kill the chipmunk.
Posted by Caroline Adams
This doesn't surprise me. Just like the song learning ability we talked about in class, today, learning to hunt is both innate and learned. It would make sense that evolution has been slacking in naturally selecting for hunting in domestic cats- why would they need it? So if the mothers don't really teach their domestic offspring because they don't use it for food, themselves, the kittens are free to develop their own way of hunting, hunting that is a little off.
ReplyDeletePosted by Chelsea Van Thof
Response to Michael Shi
ReplyDeleteI agree there needs to be more research done into domesticated cats. I feel like perfectpaws.com's reasoning is only partially true and I do not discredit completely. I feel like their reasoning has something to do with the behavior but is not the complete story behind it. I found this article that seemed like it would give a better reasoning behind the behavior, but I could only view the abstract. This is the article and the web link, but I could not gain the answers from the abstract, but I bet there is a better reasoning behind the behavior somewhere in the article. The development of predatory aggression and defense in the domestic cat (Felis catus): I. Effects of early experience on adult patterns of aggression and defense
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016310478091256X
Posted by Noelle kellicker
Being a cat owner, I have too seen this game of "cat and mouse" in the act, although my cat seems to have a preference for moles. I agree with Michael, from seeing this "game" first hand its seems that my cat is doing it out of pure entertainment. Since my cat often preys on moles, they don't serve as much of a threat to her, as they can barely even see. Even when i sometimes try to stop the torture, it seems as if my cat sees this as an even greater challenge she is willing to accept. It seems being able to be in control of the creature gives her a thrill, even if to me it seems a sick one. I do agree that further research should be done to explore this topic, as I too am curious of the supported answer.
ReplyDeletePosted by Sara Corey
It could be a matter of the mouse being a releaser for a FAP. House cats aren't physically designed to take down prey anymore-breeding and genetic trends have reduced their claw and jaw size. If they don't kill it at once, they continue to see a moving mouse and pounce again.
ReplyDeleteI often play cat and mouse with my own cat, wagging my finger until it pounces, then stopping until he leaves it alone before I wag it again. He is enamored by it each time, no matter how many times I do it, making me believe that it's inherent.
By Joseph Needleman
I think that this behaviour of cats playing with their prey and dragging out the kill is some leftover instinct from wilder feline ancestors. Even though a chipmunk is not much of a threat to a house cat, it's larger ancestors would be used to hunting dangerous prey their own size, and their hunting style might have been passed down to our pet cats. Also, animals in mortal danger can get pretty ferocious. Even though the chipmunk is small compared to the cat, it can bite hard and would put up a fight if cornered, and the cat is too smart to want to get hurt.
ReplyDelete-Rhys Ursuliak
This is a very interesting topic and I agree with what Michael said that not much attention has been payed to domestic animals. However I believe Perfect paws makes a good point in stating the possibility that the cat is still not confident killing prey so it attacks the chipmunk and kills it for fun to practice its skills. I find also that cats have always been less domesticated then dogs and rely less on humans so maybe these killing instincts come more natural to cats.
ReplyDeletePosted by: Andrew Ryan
Very good blog. I have a cat also and I have noticed that when outside, she will slowly plot out its attack. When she does, the cat will swat at the bird, squirrel, etc. It will not kill it right away but almost toy with it in a sense causing it to be troubled and disoriented like you said. I have also noticed that dogs do not do this but will in fact kill their prey, most likely inherited down the line from wolves. Are there any other species which play this "cat and mouse" game?
ReplyDeletePosted by Ryan Dulmaine
It does bring some comfort to my mind that cats are not sadistic creatures that just enjoy torturing their prey. This article is really interesting, I had never thought about what advantage that playing with your food had rather than just outright killing it. Just a fun fact I read a while ago that when a cat brings a dead mouse, bird, chipmunk etc. to your door it is doing so because it does not think you are capable of hunting on your own.
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Thomas