Don’t know if anyone saw the video of Larry the cat seeing off a fox outside of Number 10 Downing Street, but I must have watched it half a dozen times. Hard to believe a cat could do that, but apparently Larry is a hard nut.
The Graun seems almost as obsessed as me and sent a reporter out for quotes and explanatories.
Experts say cat behaviour is strongly shaped by instincts that date back to their wild ancestors. Domestic cats are far more similar, genetically and in behaviour, to wild relatives than dogs are to wolves. As solitary hunters, establishing and maintaining control of territory in which to hunt and mate is central to the cat lifestyle.
“Cats will confront most other animals if threatened, even dogs,” said Nicky Trevorrow, a behaviour manager at the charity Cats Protection. “This is because they’re naturally territorial – it’s an ingrained instinct – so will often challenge any other animals on their territory.”
…
Dennis Turner, the director of the Institute for Applied Ethology and Animal Psychology near Zurich, said: “Larry obviously feels at home at No 10 and is a large male. Although males, even intact ones, are usually more tolerant of other males – they have other things on their minds – they can still chase intruders away from their core areas of activity. Those include cats unknown to them, dogs and even foxes as in this case. Obviously this fox was one of the urban foxes living in and around London – but I bet it won’t come back for a while after this.”
I for one welcome our new UK Feline Overlord 😻
Reckon [insert name of current occupant of No. 10 Downing Street here] will be keeping him close.
Another tick goes into the pros column for cats, leaving the cons column still as empty as.
As empty of native fauna as their stomachs must surely be?
I understand the issue,and it’s a serious one. I’m sure those of us here who own cats are responsible in that regard.
I'm sure too. Sorry, a bit testy here after chasing a persistently sneaky feral mog here in the bush. My aim seems to be off.
You'd think that fox would tear that cat up. Nope. That cat is pretty badass.
The Fox may be French. Lots of bad blood there
So it must be Le Fox then.