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Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

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Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#91

Post by RosanaAnaDana »

Perz1val wrote: post #61
dillydogg wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know you specifically asked about rats but domestic cats are killing machines. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23360987/ We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4-3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

A wild cat would have parasites, a few still healing wounds, one eye and one of it's legs has bones did not heal quite straight. This is a cat that "naturally" hunts mice and birds. Compare that to a suburbian cat which is healthy, well fed and it's biggest health risk is obesity

That's my porch cat, Sable. She just showed up one day and made herself at home. Real sweet cat. I've taken her to the vet a few times for bad wounds.

Was on the porch the other night and saw her take a 15 foot dump out of a tree with a rat ( big one too). She landed on top and made short work of the rat. She's an excellent ratter.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#92

Post by dylan604 »

svachalek wrote: post #72
dylan604 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard this for years with the concept that the cat's vocal range developed to be like this. But not once had I ever heard a cat sound anything unlike a cat. Until...my recent adopted fur baby. He freaks me out how much like a kid he sounds. Just the other day, he let out a sound that even my coworkers on a meeting call thought I had a kid. It's a little unsettling at times

It's not even necessarily aimed at us. Mountain lions and bobcats can sound remarkably human and I'd be shocked if they ever had enough human prey for that to be intentional.

>I'd be shocked if they ever had enough human prey for that to be intentional.

this just made me think of the movie Annihilation where the bear like creature got a human like voice. that would definitely make a walk in the woods a lot more creepy.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#93

Post by forinti »

jack_pp wrote: post #2

Are modern cats even that good at killing rats anymore? Haven't we mostly bred cats that have very rarely even seen a rat their entire life?

If you get a normal cat, not on of those weird breeds with short legs or flat faces, they are great athletes and terrific hunters.

I have a couple of cats that are quite old: about 16 years. The male spends most of the day on the bed, but he can still jump about 5x his height.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#94

Post by maxbond »

wkat4242 wrote: post #55
jamesgreenleaf wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nothing is too quick for them. Cats even have a faster average reaction time than snakes.

But they'll never hunt a snake. They have an inbuilt terror of them. This is why they jump at cucumbers and hiss (trying to scare others with snake sounds)

I think the cucumber thing is about being surprised by something snake like. They'll absolutely fuck with snakes (depending on their personality).

Here's a cat batting at a snake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptJpLivNyoE

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#95

Post by lioeters »

JohnFen wrote: post #39
yomlica8 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bumblebees always seemed pretty docile in my experience. Come to think of it, I can't recall ever being stung by an actual bee. Asshole wasps are another story.

I was stung once, as a child, when I stepped on a bee. Even in the moment, I thought "fair enough". Wasps are just embodied evil.

Yea, got stung by a bumblebee when I was a child, because I grabbed it in the palm of my hand. It hurt, I cried, but I also understood, fair enough.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#96

Post by kbutler »

bch wrote: post #73
kbutler wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds awesome, actually. I'd love to attract bumblebees. I like to watch them, and love the sound they make, plus all the benefits of native pollinators... Bumblebees are usually not aggressive, though they can sting multiple times (like wasps and unlike honeybees).

It’s been so long since I’ve been stung I don’t know which hurts more, but it must be noted the reason honey bees sting only once is that the stinger is barbed and hooks into the skin of its victim. The bee might leave, but will not live to fight another day - the bee is essentially disemboweled, as the stinger-attached organ producing/pumping venom is pulled from its guts to leave behind with the embedded stinger, c…

Yes - it hurts you, but it kills the bee. Honeybees don't want to sting you, but will if they need to.

Note also that the "continuing to pump venom" is why you shouldn't pinch a stinger to remove it - scrape it out w/ a fingernail or other item to avoid injecting yet more venom into the sting.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#97

Post by HappySweeney »

agloe_dreams wrote: post #38
dillydogg wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know you specifically asked about rats but domestic cats are killing machines. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23360987/ We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4-3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

This. Domestic cats are some of the most specialized killing machines in nature. Everything is raw murder machine. Massive muscle to weight ratio, optimized for extreme agility. 30mph top speed blows the doors off nearly anything it may encounter in nature. Tail allows for balance while running. Able to jump multiple times its own height. Able to fall a multiple of it's jump height. 20 built-in claws also act as tool…

The ultra-high upper frequency limit of their hearing also allows them to detect the hypersonic communications of mice, which is why they always seem to know where one is. Dogs cannot hear this high.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#98

Post by tsavo »

wkat4242 wrote: post #55
jamesgreenleaf wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nothing is too quick for them. Cats even have a faster average reaction time than snakes.

But they'll never hunt a snake. They have an inbuilt terror of them. This is why they jump at cucumbers and hiss (trying to scare others with snake sounds)

Snakes are not a preferred target of cats but they will take them out.

From personal experience. Came home on a hot summer day. Let the cat loose and it immediately began to act unusual and drew our attention to a snake that had made it into the house. "Petals" ended the snake in short order without much fanfare.

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#99

Post by cevn »

wilburTheDog wrote: post #86
jboy55 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last cat I had that was allowed to go outside was a fearsome mouser, delighted in toying with them and was quite the biology teacher, showing off their inner anatomy to us kids. However, birds mercilessly teased him as he had no clue how to catch one, surrounding him while he lay on the grass, chirping, then flying just far enough away when he'd move towards them.

A neighbors cat was being harassed by a bird once. It would dive bomb the cat then fly away quickly. It did this multiple times while I watched. The cat got tired of it after a while and stood perfectly still. The bird swooped down toward it and, just as it was close enough, the cat leapt in the air twisting its body upside down mid leap and grabbed the bird from the air. It was the first time I saw how a normal cat…

Isn’t this more of an example of “suicide by cat”? My cat gets dive bombed by crows occasionally but I think they are mostly playing on both sides…

Re: Why bumblebees love cats and other beautiful relationships (2021)

#100

Post by ianburrell »

kbutler wrote: post #35
MisterBastahrd wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of the neighbors across the street who were too lazy to get rid of an old half-barrel planter on their porch that was full of dirt and nothing else. It had hundreds of holes in the soil. Bumblebee nests. Every day, they'd take the chance of getting bopped by one of them as they entered or exited their home.

That sounds awesome, actually. I'd love to attract bumblebees. I like to watch them, and love the sound they make, plus all the benefits of native pollinators... Bumblebees are usually not aggressive, though they can sting multiple times (like wasps and unlike honeybees).

Best way to attract bumblebees and other native pollinators is plant native flowering plants. There are non-native plants, like dandelion, bee balm, and lavender that they really like.
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