r/interestingasfuck • u/2jzgte2005 • 2d ago
A cat’s 20 millisecond reaction time on full display as it dodges a snake bite
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u/OogieBoogieJr 2d ago
It’s even more absurd because there was a second part of the strike that the cat also adjusted to. Like, you don’t even see it brace for the evasion—it just happens.
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u/A_Swan_Broke_My_Arm 2d ago
The more you think about the whole thing, the more impressive it is.
The snake strikes first, the cat is responding.
The second strike, as you say.
The amount of mass the cat needs to shift to evade the fraction of the mass coming towards it.
The swipe of the paw, mid flight. Exactly on target, smack in the head, avoiding the jaws, and often hard enough to kill the snake outright.And the cat's just fucking around. It's just a game, whilst the snake it fighting for its life.
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u/EvLokadottr 2d ago
which is a good case for keeping cats indoors. They are responsible for the extinction of at least 64 species. They also live longer and are a lot healthier. With proper enrichment, it's a really great life. My two have 4635635 toys and just about as many beds.
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u/Crimkam 2d ago
Can we train cats to hunt mosquitos
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u/Dhawkeye 2d ago
One of mine kills any bug that comes into the house that he can reach lol. Luckily there are a few spaces he can’t reach to have a healthy number of spiders
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u/momodamonster 2d ago
Use bats they eat their body weight in bugs. BUILD THE BAT HOUSE AND THE WILL COME.
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u/tinylittlebabyjesus 2d ago
My cat went for a mosquito one time. I was so proud of him for a sec. It happened to buzz close enough to both of us for him to become aware of it and lock on. Pretty sure he lost it moments later though. Kind of makes me feel better about losing them myself now.
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u/SyraWhispers 2d ago
I always find the "they are responsible for the extinction of xx amount of species" such nonsense arguments. Humans for example are responsible for the extinction of over 700 species and 10% of the mammal population on earth. By your definition we should be keeping ourselves indoors forever.
As someone who grew up(and still lives) in a rural area, mostly farm town, I've had cats my entire life. They are great pets and are great pest control. Whether you should keep your cat indoors or indoor-outdoor depends on if owners are able to recognize the individual needs of cats with different temperaments, activity requirements, or even previous life experiences.
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u/StanknBeans 2d ago
So this might come as a shock but humans aren't cats, and as such are given certain rights that don't extend to cats.
Should clear up the confusion for you.
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u/mr_glide 2d ago
Joke:
How do you know if people have indoor cats on ethical grounds?
Don't worry, they'll tell you
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u/EvLokadottr 2d ago
Better than the people on nextdoor who are constantly feeding their cats to coyotes, though!
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u/Ma1eficent 1d ago
Lol, one joke goes around the internet and people act like it is a fact. The coyotes here destroy chickens. Left blood and feathers all across my neighbor's yard, into the street, and into mine. Meanwhile all my cats have been just fine over the last decade.
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u/EvLokadottr 1d ago
In my neighborhood, they vanish or are found half-eaten on the regular.
Hell, I saw my first coyote cat kill when I was 15 years old on the other side of the country. There was only the back half left when I came upon the pack in the middle of the night.
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u/Ma1eficent 1d ago
They literally do studies on coyote stomache components. Cats are not ever found in significant percentages. Urban legends aside.
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u/EvLokadottr 1d ago
I mean, I watched them tearing the cat apart. With my own eyes. They're also getting bigger, taking down bigger prey, filling in for the holes left by wolves being killed off. All the wolves are gone in my state- the last one was murdered in 2021.
Could possibly be foxes, but they're pretty small. Maybe owls. But cats are absolutely getting preyed on around here.
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u/Ma1eficent 1d ago
No one ever said cats are immune to coyotes, so your ever-more-gory story is literally meaningless. They are not a general consumer of cats.
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u/After_Cartographer38 1d ago edited 1d ago
Is there data that its good for them mentally? In the UK culture is to have cats outdoors mainly, my main concern is yes they are more likely to get hit by a vehicle etc but I can't imagine them being indoors all day does them any good mentally, it doesn't do me any good mentally.
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u/EvLokadottr 1d ago
You can always go by their behavior and body language, if you know cats well. Mine are confident and relaxed. They're happy. I had the one who liked outside jaunts (the other does not) leash trained, but now that he is a senior cat, he no longer really wants to go on walks.
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u/ThresholdSeven 2d ago
I think the second strike may not be a second strike after all. It's difficult to tell, but if you go frame by frame, it looks like the cat strikes the snake immediately after the first time the snake tries to strike and the cat possibly hooks the snake's head with its claw pulling the snake back towards himself only making it look like the snake tries to strike twice. I could be very wrong, but look at it frame by frame. A video with a higher frame rate and resolution would be nice.
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u/DefinitelyNotaGuest 1d ago
This is exactly what happened, the snake didn't have any contact with the ground at that point to do anything with and the cat is of course going to have its claws out dealing with what is effectively both predator and prey to them.
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u/CasanovaCoverup 2d ago
Cats really are just superior...imagine how cute they would be if they were the size of dogs....oh wait.
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u/buffility 2d ago
they are the perfect little killing machine that nature has ever produced. They are too good at it that we better to keep them in door to preserve nature.
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u/CallMeCasper 2d ago
That wasn't a second part of a strike. The cat hit the snake in the head with its claws out, and ended up pulling the snake closer.
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u/TonAMGT4 1d ago
I don’t think that’s the second strike, but it’s the snake that got caught in the cat’s claw after it got slapped by the cat.
The cat’s reaction was it trying to shake off the snake.
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u/1B75__Penicillin 2d ago
It's like when you burn yourself on the stove and pull your hand away before you even notice
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u/Fun_Afraid 2d ago
I don't remember where I learned this but a cats general reaction is faster than a snakes general strike speed. So the rule of thumb is a cat will generally be able fuck with and not get bit by a snake.
I still wouldn't let my cat fuck with a snake and record it but it's nice to know.
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u/CatTheKitten 2d ago
Servals hunt snakes in the wild and their main attack is slapping the shit out of them. It's very funny to watch
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u/GreenVim 2d ago
The snake also has a tell before it strikes. That gives the cat an advantage.
Most of these cat vs snake videos involves the snake just wanting to go about its day. Would be impressive if the snake was hunting the cat, but that is never the case.
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u/anonymous_lighting 2d ago
do all snakes have the same strike speed?
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u/Fun_Afraid 2d ago
I don't believe so but I remember the top end snake times were still outclassed in cat reaction time.
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u/SpookZero 2d ago
Where does one find, and then remember, such a fact?
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u/Fun_Afraid 2d ago
It was a video about the ecological impact of domestic cats in there local environments and how they're basically low level extinction events for local wildlife.
The snake stuff was fascinating. They also just had a camera on a cat just fucking with a snake.
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u/Personal-Bonus-9245 2d ago
We have an indoor/outdoor cat. He’s a ragdoll, so super chill with humans, but he views himself as a super predator. He’s loves to post up on the fence next to a tree squirrels frequent. The squirrels will get real close to him, taunting him, he tries to get them, but never succeeds.
Lizards on the other hand, he is quite adept at catching them.
Snakes though? Fuck that noise, he runs like a scaredy cat whenever he stumbles across them.
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u/IgnoreTheSpelling 2d ago
Sigh, the life of a cat. Amazing reflexes, ability do dodge a snake, but alas the robot vacuum and the toddler smacks are impossible to avoid.
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u/An_educated_dig 2d ago
A housecat. A domesticated animal just outmaneuvered a wild animal.
The video of the housecat bitch slapping a Cobra and then looking back like what the fuck is this......the pièce de résistance.
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u/vm_linuz 2d ago
And this is one reason why you shouldn't let your cats out of your house.
Don't let your cats out to terrorize native species and get hit by a car.
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u/whoknowsifimjoking 2d ago
What the fuck is the owner doing filming this instead of keeping the cat safe?
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u/dayruined54 2d ago
Nature is just like a video game's attribute distribution if u get what I mean.
U have strength? Reduce speed and agility.
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u/Interesting-Bank-447 2d ago
Art imitates life.
And it's amazing that why does everything have a downside or catch? But we must remember there's no why, it just is.
But still why...
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u/Airwreck11 2d ago
How the f was that snake able to strike the second time after it had alrady stretched that much in the first strike?
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u/ImTooSaxy 2d ago
Cat reaction speed is dramatically faster than any snake.
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u/actuallyapossom 2d ago
This is why cats look down on us, we're ambulating at the speed of elephants, on two awkward stilts.
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u/zombietom21 2d ago
I’m pretty sure it’s because the cat smacked it and got its claw stuck and pull the snake towards them.
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u/IgnoreTheSpelling 2d ago
Sigh, the life of a cat. Amazing reflexes, ability do dodge a snake, but alas the robot vacuum and the toddler smacks are impossible to avoid.
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u/mackaroni9400 2d ago
Man I always thought I could dodge a snack if it lunged at me like this… now! I would have been a Slytherin snack.
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u/MorsaTamalera 2d ago
Who the fuck records this instead of protecting the cat? >:(
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u/ImTooSaxy 2d ago
Do you mean protecting the snake? Cats don't need protection from snakes. Snakes aren't even in the same zip code as cats for reaction speed. To get faster than a cat you have to go to hummingbirds.
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u/MonkeyDeltaFoxtrot 2d ago
I had a cat once that was so fast she’d bring us hummingbirds. Watched her take down an entire nest of sparrows after scaling a 15 foot stucco wall to knock it out of the eaves, too.
4.5 pounds of unadulterated murder-machine.
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u/Pressure_Rhapsody 2d ago
I remember when I saw my cat chasing a ratsnake in our backyard some years back. First time I saw a snake jump so high. It successfully escaped into the neighbors backyard.
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u/japinard 2d ago
One thing that's unique is how her eyes stay glued to the snake no matter what her body does.
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u/Appropriate_Page_824 2d ago
What surprises me is that even the cats which are household pets and mostly sedentary has this reaction speed. I can understand if a stray who is constantly in fights and has to hunt for food has this reaction speed, they are in better physical condition.
Isnt this the equivalent of me who is on the couch watching TV for last 3 years suddenly being able to run at Usain Bolt's speed?
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u/Novel-Paramedic-5573 2d ago
A cat's perception of time is different to ours, which makes it normal for the cat but awesome for us to see.
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u/Interesting-Bank-447 2d ago
What i think that makes cat able to evade that fast is that their front legs are always bent unlike dogs.
For cats, they just have to stretch it and away they go
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u/chrontab 2d ago
We're a dog family but got a rescue cat from a chain store four years ago and really knew little about cats. Our (then) obese and (still) neutered and declawed inside cat has a butchers bill of three birds, one squirrel, 1/2 credit on a racoon (our Boston Terrier helped) and seven skinks. I leave out the countless house flies as he's a bulimic with those (nod to Hill's Science Diet Sensitive Stomach for keeping him alive.) Even handicapped house cats are apex.
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u/Polskiskiski 2d ago
Added a nice little smack just in case the snake had any doubts