4 ms·

Let's see if it (or crossbreeds) can be tamed. This particular one was actually being kept in a house because someone confused it for a "pretty housecat". Afte

Let's see if it (or crossbreeds) can be tamed. This particular one was actually being kept in a house because someone confused it for a "pretty housecat". After a while, the owner realized it didn't want to be tamed and contacted someone for help. Also, it's the only known one in existence. Hard to start a breeding program unless they find more.

mlmonkey 8d ago
> Let's see if it (or crossbreeds) can be tamed. Clearly you are not a cat person ... the question is not if it can be tamed, but how quickly it can tame the humans around it ... ;-)
shevy-java 8d ago
I mean, taming animals is trivial. Look at the lion whisperer. People before that thought that lions are always wild. Some animals are just harder to tame and remain ferocious more than others. But behaviour of animals is adaptable and most animals learn.
- reaperducer 8d ago
  I mean, taming animals is trivial. FTFA: "The man took the animal home, believing it to be a domestic breed. But after about a year of living with the clearly wild animal, he realized it would be better off at a sanctuary."
  - shagie 7d ago
    There's a YouTube (and other) channel out there about a guy and his (I use the possessive with caveats) coyote (named Weave). His motto is "Anything can be a pet if you don’t mind getting bit."
- quickthrowman 8d ago
  I think the lady that got mauled to death in 2018 at the lion preserve that guy works at might disagree with you if she hadn’t been y’know, mauled to death by a lion. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/28/africa/woman-killed-lion-sanctuary-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/28/africa/woman-killed-lion-...
  - account42 5d ago
    People also get mauled by dogs yet we don't consider that to mean that they can't be domesticated. A domesticated animal is still an animal and if its big enough to kill you can coommon enough then some people will be killed by it.
- WalterBright 7d ago
  A tamed lion ripped the face off of Melanie Griffith.
  - quickthrowman 7d ago
    I still need to watch that movie, I feel obligated to see it after so many people suffered so many injuries while filming it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roar_(film)#Injuries_and_set_damages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roar_(film)#Injuries_and_set_d...
    - WalterBright 7d ago
      I've watched a lot of horror shows that had no effect on me. But this one wasn't a horror show, it was for real. I found it very disturbing. I couldn't believe what I was watching.
    - olvy0 7d ago
      And you'd think Tippi Hedren would have learned not to go around wild, untamed animals after what her character wrnt through in The Birds!
      - WalterBright 7d ago
        I missed that connection!
- sscaryterry 7d ago
  The only reason my house cat has not murdered me is because he is 4kg, and I'm not. He loves me though.
  - WalterBright 7d ago
    My cat always looked at me like "if only you were smaller..."
    - sscaryterry 7d ago
      I'd be getting scared when a cat reaches the 20kg threshold. I'm about 90kg, so thats a 4.5x ratio :) Cats are the perfect killing machines (apart from maybe sharks) :)
      - WalterBright 7d ago
        There's a bobcat that lives around here. He's on my porch now and then, and I also see its tracks in the snow. It doesn't look like it wants to be petted. I stay clear.
        jstrieb 7d ago
        Many people don't know that Craigslist has a "best of" which includes this (relevant) post that makes me laugh every time I read it: https://www.craigslist.org/about/best/ric/6881185958.html https://www.craigslist.org/about/best/ric/6881185958.html
        WalterBright 7d ago
        Yep, a bobcat. But much smaller than the one around here.
        nunez 7d ago
        omg WHAT Where do you find this?!!??! This is GOLD!
- mdp2021 7d ago
  > always wild If they do not have a developed prefrontal cortex acting as a filter from instinct to action, they will be nice or calm for a long time - until the whim occurs and they will act violently. Maybe just for a fraction of a second. And at that point, their strength and natural weapon will make a whole difference.
schoen 7d ago
I remember seeing a wildcat in a sanctuary in Costa Rica with a similar story (the kittens looked like housecat kittens, so someone adopted them, but the adult cat's behavior was different enough to be really challenging). I've been trying to remember the exact species I saw there (maybe an oncilla?), but apparently there are several kinds of wildcat fairly easily mistaken for housecats as kittens. I think not all of them categorically refuse to be pets, but they're noticeably more aggressive and less affectionate compared to housecats.
locallost 7d ago
What do you mean it's the only one known? It got the name because locals called it that way. Locals will not call things they don't normally see.
- Nursie 7d ago
  Yeah it’s not the only one known. Unfortunately while people are going wild as if someone found a never-before-seen cat, this is actually more “after genetic analysis we now know that the tiger cats that everyone already knew about in Bolivia are actually a different species to the ones in Brazil”. But that’s not very exciting so people and news outlets seem to be running with the story as if nobody had ever seen one before.
- pvaldes 5d ago
  Locals are not trained zoologists, I suppose. There are almost identical animals from different species in the area. The scientific term is an species complex.
LaGrange 7d ago
> This particular one was actually being kept in a house because someone confused it for a "pretty housecat". After a while, the owner realized it didn't want to be tamed and contacted someone for help. I mean, the dude tried to feed it "noodles, rice, and eggs" so I'm not sure if he'd be able to tame my very own house cat, even starting from the house cat's current stage of being entirely tamed.
avadodin 7d ago
The "owner" clearly hasn't interacted with real cats. If you don't raise them with humans since they are born, they can't be tamed.
- wolvoleo 6d ago
  That's not always the case. Some feral cats from colonies that are TNRed are found to be very receptive to humans and instead of returned sometimes offered for adoption instead of returned (the R in TNR) However these come from a centuries-long bloodline of house cats of course. A species that's never been domesticated is very different.

mlmonkey 8d ago

> Let's see if it (or crossbreeds) can be tamed. Clearly you are not a cat person ... the question is not if it can be tamed, but how quickly it can tame the humans around it ... ;-)

shevy-java 8d ago

I mean, taming animals is trivial. Look at the lion whisperer. People before that thought that lions are always wild. Some animals are just harder to tame and remain ferocious more than others. But behaviour of animals is adaptable and most animals learn.

reaperducer 8d ago
I mean, taming animals is trivial. FTFA: "The man took the animal home, believing it to be a domestic breed. But after about a year of living with the clearly wild animal, he realized it would be better off at a sanctuary."
- shagie 7d ago
  There's a YouTube (and other) channel out there about a guy and his (I use the possessive with caveats) coyote (named Weave). His motto is "Anything can be a pet if you don’t mind getting bit."
quickthrowman 8d ago
I think the lady that got mauled to death in 2018 at the lion preserve that guy works at might disagree with you if she hadn’t been y’know, mauled to death by a lion. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/28/africa/woman-killed-lion-sanctuary-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/28/africa/woman-killed-lion-...
- account42 5d ago
  People also get mauled by dogs yet we don't consider that to mean that they can't be domesticated. A domesticated animal is still an animal and if its big enough to kill you can coommon enough then some people will be killed by it.
WalterBright 7d ago
A tamed lion ripped the face off of Melanie Griffith.
- quickthrowman 7d ago
  I still need to watch that movie, I feel obligated to see it after so many people suffered so many injuries while filming it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roar_(film)#Injuries_and_set_damages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roar_(film)#Injuries_and_set_d...
  - WalterBright 7d ago
    I've watched a lot of horror shows that had no effect on me. But this one wasn't a horror show, it was for real. I found it very disturbing. I couldn't believe what I was watching.
  - olvy0 7d ago
    And you'd think Tippi Hedren would have learned not to go around wild, untamed animals after what her character wrnt through in The Birds!
    - WalterBright 7d ago
      I missed that connection!
sscaryterry 7d ago
The only reason my house cat has not murdered me is because he is 4kg, and I'm not. He loves me though.
- WalterBright 7d ago
  My cat always looked at me like "if only you were smaller..."
  - sscaryterry 7d ago
    I'd be getting scared when a cat reaches the 20kg threshold. I'm about 90kg, so thats a 4.5x ratio :) Cats are the perfect killing machines (apart from maybe sharks) :)
    - WalterBright 7d ago
      There's a bobcat that lives around here. He's on my porch now and then, and I also see its tracks in the snow. It doesn't look like it wants to be petted. I stay clear.
      - jstrieb 7d ago
        Many people don't know that Craigslist has a "best of" which includes this (relevant) post that makes me laugh every time I read it: https://www.craigslist.org/about/best/ric/6881185958.html https://www.craigslist.org/about/best/ric/6881185958.html
        WalterBright 7d ago
        Yep, a bobcat. But much smaller than the one around here.
        nunez 7d ago
        omg WHAT Where do you find this?!!??! This is GOLD!
mdp2021 7d ago
> always wild If they do not have a developed prefrontal cortex acting as a filter from instinct to action, they will be nice or calm for a long time - until the whim occurs and they will act violently. Maybe just for a fraction of a second. And at that point, their strength and natural weapon will make a whole difference.

schoen 7d ago

I remember seeing a wildcat in a sanctuary in Costa Rica with a similar story (the kittens looked like housecat kittens, so someone adopted them, but the adult cat's behavior was different enough to be really challenging). I've been trying to remember the exact species I saw there (maybe an oncilla?), but apparently there are several kinds of wildcat fairly easily mistaken for housecats as kittens. I think not all of them categorically refuse to be pets, but they're noticeably more aggressive and less affectionate compared to housecats.

locallost 7d ago

What do you mean it's the only one known? It got the name because locals called it that way. Locals will not call things they don't normally see.

Nursie 7d ago
Yeah it’s not the only one known. Unfortunately while people are going wild as if someone found a never-before-seen cat, this is actually more “after genetic analysis we now know that the tiger cats that everyone already knew about in Bolivia are actually a different species to the ones in Brazil”. But that’s not very exciting so people and news outlets seem to be running with the story as if nobody had ever seen one before.
pvaldes 5d ago
Locals are not trained zoologists, I suppose. There are almost identical animals from different species in the area. The scientific term is an species complex.

LaGrange 7d ago

> This particular one was actually being kept in a house because someone confused it for a "pretty housecat". After a while, the owner realized it didn't want to be tamed and contacted someone for help. I mean, the dude tried to feed it "noodles, rice, and eggs" so I'm not sure if he'd be able to tame my very own house cat, even starting from the house cat's current stage of being entirely tamed.

avadodin 7d ago

The "owner" clearly hasn't interacted with real cats. If you don't raise them with humans since they are born, they can't be tamed.

wolvoleo 6d ago
That's not always the case. Some feral cats from colonies that are TNRed are found to be very receptive to humans and instead of returned sometimes offered for adoption instead of returned (the R in TNR) However these come from a centuries-long bloodline of house cats of course. A species that's never been domesticated is very different.