this post was submitted on 28 May 2024
938 points (99.1% liked)

cats

19270 readers
899 users here now

typical internet cats. videos, pics, memes welcome!

rule 1) be kind

lemmy.world rules:

other cat communities midwest.social cats

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I mean, I like the picture, bit you could have a cat a squirrel a coyote and a horse all doing this and say all animals are the same. It's kind of just how quadrupeds stretch.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm not sure it's anatomically possible for a horse to stretch that way without injuring itself.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Nope horses can stretch like that. They just can't go as deep because of limitations on joint mobility. I have seen it quite commonly.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I've seen mini horses get pretty low stretching like a cat. They seem more flexible than the full sized guys but maybe it's cuz they're supporting less weight.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Couldn't say for sure. It might have something to do with whether they are mini horses or ponies. There is actually a difference, I don't remember the exact differences of the top of my head, but it has to do with body proportions.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Yeah, these were mini horses. I think mini horses have the same proportions of big horse(just tiny) whereas ponies tend to have their own proportions that are bit different.

The mini horses I've seen are flexible as hell though. Bend themselves in half to scratch an itch on flank with their teeth.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago (3 children)

While true, it's also true that cats of all sizes behave very similarly. Cheetahs are probably the least similar to the other cats.

If you've had pet cats and gotten to know their behavior, it's remarkable how familiar the behavior of big cats can be.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I have a friend who did her college internship at a zoo. She mostly worked in the big cat unit. As expected the lock out procedure for entering an enclosure was very strict.

One day a maintenance man was in the cheetah enclosure on a ladder and some how the cheetah was not properly locked out. It came over to the ladder and started rubber on it. The terrified maintenance man just waiting for the cheetah to knock the ladder over and eat him.

As soon a the cheetah keeper saw this they quickly come into the enclosure, scruffed the cheetah and dragged away. Cheetahs are a little special.

Spelling

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

This is probably just my layperson showing, but I honestly wouldn't be all that afraid of a cheetah. If I were in that situation in any other big cat habitat I would be absolutely terrified. Smaller cats like lynx I wouldn't really be afraid for my life but I would be fearful of attack and injury.

Cheetah I wouldn't really feel much fear, more just confusion about what I'm supposed to do. They really don't have the same cat software that all the others have. Much more chill.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Cheetahs are quite a bit more fragile since they’re optimized for speed. Any injury could hamper their ability to hunt, so as a result they’re more skittish and flighty than the other big cats. In zoos they often raise cheetahs alongside dogs, giving them a service animal of sorts so they are calmer around the weird hairless monkeys and don’t get stressed out as much.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Yeah they are definitely running a light version of cat 2.0

Apparently in the wild it is very possible for many cheetahs have brain damage. Basically they run so fast they can raise their body temperature above a save temperature for brain tissue. On the hunt this limiting factor for how long they can run. So it is very possible that over many huts they have a few less brain cells then when they were born.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Yeah, I always noticed at the zoo how familiar the movement of the big cats was.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Could be a picture of all of them sitting in cardboard boxes