Treecat vs Earth's apex predators

You know you have asked yourself the same question. Simply, who would come out on top between a Treecat and any of Earth's apex predators? A lion is huge and has a tremendous bite force. Even a leopard or tiger is bigger. And a bear has those darn huge unforgiving claws. So, what are the chances a single Cat would live? Any bets?

Larger bears like Kodiaks and similar would probably survive relatively intact. Their fur is just so damned thick, that they'd be very similar to Hexapumas and other Sphinx wildlife which develop particularly thick furcoats during their winters. But unlike Sphinxian wildlife, they'd be unable to do much to the cat in response so it'd boil down to who has more energy. End result is probably going to be a stalemate, the large bear wouldn't be able to do much (if anything) to the cat, but the cat wouldn't be able to do anything to the bear unless it ran out of energy and collapses.

Leopards and Tigers just don't have the speed or defenses to put up a fight to a cat. Treecats are used to fighting things that large (Hexapumas), which have 2 extra limbs and considerably larger claws than Terran cats. In a 1v1, they're not winning, and the treecat will probably go from a hamstring to slow them down even further, which also means blood-loss. Both Leopards and Tigers also like to be near trees, which the treecats are obviously far more at home with, and their whole strategy vs hexapuma's involve lots and lots of climbing trees and then leaping from above. Not even a contest with these two breeds of Terran cats, victory to the treecat.

A male lion, due to the thick shaggy mane, may also survive, but only if it realizes how screwed it is and makes a run for it early. It doesn't have that protective fur everywhere, so much like the other Terran cats, it's in high danger of being hamstrung. But unlike the other cats, there aren't really as many trees in a lions native area, so depending where the fight went down, the treecat may not have any way to get above the lion and would be stuck on the ground. So this ranges from "stalemate, lion fled" to "stalemate, treecat fled", with chance for treecat victory.


Shark vs cat is not even a question really, sharks getting a nice meal and the cat is unlikely to even get a single claw strike off. Just Google things like "Great White eats bird" and you'd see how blindingly fast they can be.


Gators and crocs are a tossup, on/near water they're more likely to win, on land they'll probably lose or it might be a stalemate, their leathery skin might be able to resist treecat claws unless the cat got to their softer underbelly.


Large snakes like pythons or constrictors are probably screwed, their skins aren't thick so they're going to be gutted shortly after coming near it.

We've seen a lone 'cat vs a hexapuma before, the 'cat barely lost the battle and the 'cat was constrained by the need to constantly engage.

Thus, give the 'cat a good engagement space and I would expect it to win against any earthly land predator. The 'cat wins on agility, it would be slow but the 'cat could bleed out the stuff it couldn't outright kill (like a bear.)

Loren Pechtel wrote:We've seen a lone 'cat vs a hexapuma before, the 'cat barely lost the battle and the 'cat was constrained by the need to constantly engage.

Thus, give the 'cat a good engagement space and I would expect it to win against any earthly land predator. The 'cat wins on agility, it would be slow but the 'cat could bleed out the stuff it couldn't outright kill (like a bear.)

In "The Best Laid Plans" from the Beginnings anthology, Laughs Brightly (Nimitz) and Sharp Nose encounter two peak bears and their young; without intending to fight. But when Nimitz's younger brother falls from a tree and is injured, Nimitz attacks to defend him; even though it is hopeless.

The 'cat could hurt and enrage the monstrous omnivore, but he couldn't possibly defeat it, and he knew it.

Nimitz ended up with broken ribs and was saved when Honor shot the two adult peak bears.

In the story you are thinking about; was that where Stephanie Harrington was present and in the end the cat's clan came and killed the Hexapuma? But Stephanie stabbed the Hexapuma with a vibro-blade after it badly hurt the 'cat, and then the clan arrived; from "A Beautiful Friendship", the first story in More Than Honor:

He glared down at the death fang, sounding his challenge, and knew he couldn't win. No single scout or hunter could encounter a death fang and live, yet he could no more abandon his two-leg youngling than he could have abandoned a kitten of the People. He felt her desperate emotions urging him to flee and save himself despite her own terror, even as he felt his sister's mind voice screaming the same, but it didn't matter. It didn't even matter that the death fang would kill the two-leg the moment he himself was dead. What mattered was that his two-leg—his person—must not die alone and abandoned. He would buy her every moment of life he could, and perhaps, just perhaps, it would be long enough for Sings Truly to arrive. He told himself that firmly, fiercely, trying to pretend he didn't know it was a lie, and then the death fang charged.

On the list of apex predators that are not intelligent, note also jackals and the Komodo dragon. The dragon with some frequency kills and eats people.

cthia wrote:You know you have asked yourself the same question. Simply, who would come out on top between a Treecat and any of Earth's apex predators? A lion is huge and has a tremendous bite force. Even a leopard or tiger is bigger. And a bear has those darn huge unforgiving claws. So, what are the chances a single Cat would live? Any bets?

The kimodo dragon also has a venomous bite, iirc. I wonder whether treecats are vulnerable to Terran creature's poisons and venoms. I personally don't think a kimodo dragon could take a treecat. The cat should be much faster than the dragon, and smarter too.

On the notion of speed. I don't think a treecat would choose to fight an apex predator unless it was cornered and there is no other option. If a Cat cannot make it up a tree, he would run. But that begs the question of whether a treecat can run faster than the average Terran Cat. A cheetah would certainly catch a Cat out in the open. Probably. Maybe. But would a lion or any other Terran predator outrun a treecat? A treecat has the advantage of being native to a bit heavier gravity. So, comparatively, how good is a Cat's stamina and speed on Earth?

And shouldn't a pair of extra legs count for something? But then, to be accurate, a treecat doesn't really have an extra pair of legs.

phillies wrote:On the list of apex predators that are not intelligent, note also jackals and the Komodo dragon. The dragon with some frequency kills and eats people.

cthia wrote:You know you have asked yourself the same question. Simply, who would come out on top between a Treecat and any of Earth's apex predators? A lion is huge and has a tremendous bite force. Even a leopard or tiger is bigger. And a bear has those darn huge unforgiving claws. So, what are the chances a single Cat would live? Any bets?

tlb wrote:In the story you are thinking about; was that where Stephanie Harrington was present and in the end the cat's clan came and killed the Hexapuma? But Stephanie stabbed the Hexapuma with a vibro-blade after it badly hurt the 'cat, and then the clan arrived; from "A Beautiful Friendship", the first story in More Than Honor:

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 the story you are thinking about; was that where Stephanie Harrington was present and in the end the cat's clan came and killed the Hexapuma? But Stephanie stabbed the Hexapuma with a vibro-blade after it badly hurt the 'cat, and then the clan arrived; from "A Beautiful Friendship", the first story in More Than Honor

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.

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.

A couple of others recently involve orcas stalking and eating great white sharks, and battles between sharks and estuarine crocodiles (that depends on size and circumstances).