https://youtube.com/shorts/LxATR0Ot_rs?feature=share
This is a real bust-up between a domestic cat and a domesticated duck living the same home. It’s one of those households where the owners love to have lots of animals. Something sparked off this confrontation. Suddenly they became enemies and the fight looks more of less 50/50 to me.
It is rather sad to see as there seems to be friction in the home when there should be harmony. Are interspecies relationships more likely to cause friction than those of the same species? Probably, yes, particularly when one species is a top predator and the other is a prey animal.
In principle the duck is a prey item for domestic cats but they’ve been socialised to each other which results in the cat losing their predatory instinct vis-a-vis this duck. The cat looks like a purebred; perhaps an American Shorthair.
However, I don’t think domestic, stray and feral cats prey on ducks very much. They will be hard to catch! Ducks can both float on water and fly in the air. Cats can’t do either of these. And cats prefer to attack easier prey such as mice. But I guess ducklings on the ground would be a tasty prey animal for a cat if the opportunity arose.
RELATED: Do domestic cats prefer mice or birds?
You can see the duck biting the cat on the upper chest. The cat cries out. A serious duck bite can cause bruising and swelling and even bleeding. They have good bites. You can feel the strength of a duck bite if you feed large ducks by hand direct to their mouths as I do sometimes.
Most ducks have a downward pointing tip to their beak called a ‘nail’. It enables them to dig efficiently through the ground but it can cause injury when biting…cats! Perhaps it is for this reason that the cat cries out in the video.
I am a bit surprised that the video maker allowed the fight to continue as their cat was being harmed albeit slightly. I guess nowadays no-one passes up on the chance of making a hit video!
Below are some more articles on interspecies relationships.
People piss me off! Poor kitty. They should have stopped it. Shameful.
Yes, agreed, but as I said when a good video presents itself, the camera rolls first and foremost. 😉.