Treecat vs Earth's apex predators

Daryl wrote:I recently read a disturbing article about how Siberian tigers have developed an action plan where two will invade a hibernating Polar Bear's den, to kill and eat it. I assume that surprise and a low metabolism cripples the bear's response.
Possibly it comes down to the American game of scissors, rock and paper. In that the result depends on the circumstances.
A tree cat clan would be irresistible to all but earth's apex predator, prewarned and armed modern mankind.

Daryl wrote:I recently read a disturbing article about how Siberian tigers have developed an action plan where two will invade a hibernating Polar Bear's den, to kill and eat it. I assume that surprise and a low metabolism cripples the bear's response.

Theemile wrote:That has to be some pretty desperate cats, pushed to the limits - surviving that is a 50/50, so survival (via the only remaining large food source) must be on the line.

What is the Siberian tigers range?
The Amur tiger (formerly known as the Siberian tiger) is found only in the mountain forests of eastern Russia, with a small population ranging across the border into China. This tiger subspecies is adapted to the region's high latitude, harsh climate, and long winters.

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About 400 Amur tigers are left in the wild, and they are listed as endangered. They are threatened by habitat loss and poaching of both tigers and their prey, as well as tiger-human conflict and infectious diseases.

tlb wrote:

Loren Pechtel wrote:Yeah, that's what I was thinking of. Yes, the 'cat would have lost, but it was a close match even with being constrained by having to protect Stephanie. I don't think Earth has anything remotely at the level of a Hexapuma.

In both cases the tree-cat fought to protect someone dear, despite knowing it had no chance to win, nor even hurt the other animal greatly. In both stories the tree-cat was knocked out of the fight by serious injuries and only saved from death because the Harrington girl had a weapon. In both stories the cats had to be treated by a doctor and Honor's Nimitz had broken ribs and Stephanie's Climbs Quickly probably lost a limb. That is not my idea of a close fight.

A grizzly bear is the equivalent Earth creature and in staged separate fights is reported to have killed both lions and tigers. The gold miners are said to have imported those animals to pit against the bear. A swipe of the bear's paw with its big claws can break the skull of either big cat.

Loren Pechtel wrote:Yeah, that's what I was thinking of. Yes, the 'cat would have lost, but it was a close match even with being constrained by having to protect Stephanie. I don't think Earth has anything remotely at the level of a Hexapuma.

tlb wrote:In both cases the tree-cat fought to protect someone dear, despite knowing it had no chance to win, nor even hurt the other animal greatly. In both stories the tree-cat was knocked out of the fight by serious injuries and only saved from death because the Harrington girl had a weapon. In both stories the cats had to be treated by a doctor and Honor's Nimitz had broken ribs and Stephanie's Climbs Quickly probably lost a limb. That is not my idea of a close fight.

A grizzly bear is the equivalent Earth creature and in staged separate fights is reported to have killed both lions and tigers. The gold miners are said to have imported those animals to pit against the bear. A swipe of the bear's paw with its big claws can break the skull of either big cat.

Loren Pechtel wrote:I'm thinking of death by bleeding out, not by direct damage.

The huge creature was almost three meters long. It must weight over five hundred kilos, and it howled its fury as the 'cats razor-sharp claws slashed at it. But peak bears' hides were thick, their skins loose, riding on deep layers of fat no treecat's claws were long enough to penetrate. The 'cat could hurt and enrage the monstrous omnivore, but he couldn't possibly defeat it, and he knew it.

Daryl wrote:Just checked. In Frozen Planet 11 by Attendbrough.

We continue further north to our next frozen world which is a story about Siberian tigers, incredibly rare and hard to film, that go looking for hibernating black bears. We rigged caves and pathways and we can see the tigers entering the caves to look for prey. That hasn’t been filmed before.

cthia wrote:There is no reason that treecats cannot sense the emotions of Terran creatures as well. It should give them an edge when fighting if they are able to sense when prey intends to strike. Its crease. Their empathic sense should be a bit like a spider sense, although storyline doesn't speak of it in that manner.

tlb wrote:

cthia wrote:There is no reason that treecats cannot sense the emotions of Terran creatures as well. It should give them an edge when fighting if they are able to sense when prey intends to strike. Its crease. Their empathic sense should be a bit like a spider sense, although storyline doesn't speak of it in that manner.

You are still stuck with the fact that a treecat cannot defeat, by itself, either a Hexapuma or a Peak Bear; so there is no reason to assume that is enough of an advantage over a grizzly bear (for example).

cthia wrote:But an empathic advantage against a grizzly bear might enable a Cat to blind the bear by clawing out his eyes.