They say curiosity killed the cat.
What about courage? Sure, being brave could put some felines in tough spots, but in this video out of New Hampshire, a house cat had the tenacity to chase a black bear. That’s the textbook definition (or at least the “see example”) of courage if I’ve ever seen it.
Cats have a stereotype for being lazy, and not caring about their owners. Those things could very well be true, though it doesn’t encompass all cats that are out there. Especially this one that apparently likes to chase big bears in its spare time.
This footage is reminiscent of another cat video we saw recently, where a black cat excitedly stood at the back door of its home waiting to be released so it could give a scare to some deer standing in the backyard. Just how it is with dogs, we have to remember that these cuddly pets we keep indoors had ancestors that fought for survival out in the wild.
And our pets are still using that “fighting instinct,” just in different ways. Your dog might put up a battle for a specific seat on the couch, or your cat might start roaring throughout the house when you keep them waiting for their nightly meal. It’s all the same really… just different.
Was this bear really fleeing because it was scared of a much smaller cat? Or was it maybe more confused than anything else, and decided to high tail it to safety after seeing the feline closing in. After all, if something that small thinks it has a chance to take on a bear, it must be crazy enough to be right.
The video hilariously shows the black bear look back, then sprint across the road and into the trees. You would have thought a sizable mountain lion was chasing it from just out of frame, but a couple of seconds later, the small grey cat comes running by and continuing after the bruin.
The cat even chased the bear up a tree across the road, proving that it wasn’t just messing around. Forget guard dogs… we might start seeing a shift to guard cats. Especially if they are this effective at deterring dangerous bears from your property.
Check it out:
