[net.pets] Bobcats as Pets

551rcg@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS) (06/04/84)

         I suspect (..and seem to recall reading something to this effect
         a while back) that bobcats, like many wild animals, do not make
         good pets. They may be all right for the first year or so, as
         juveniles, but when they mature, their natural behavior takes
         over, and they can be hard to control, even dangerous.

         Bobcats have a reputation for their nasty disposition. I'd be
         real careful around one.

feinberg@trwrb.UUCP (Cheryl R. Feinberg) (06/08/84)

I don't know about Bobcats specifically, but I bought a book
about dogs, Understanding Your Dog, which was really good.

At any rate, one of the premises he sets forth is regarding
any cats, and especially big cats (wild ones).  Cats have
never been pack animals, therefore have much less respect
for authority than dogs and their cousins, the wolf.  Because
of this, a cat may be okay when young (i.e. a kitten), but
not as an adult.  Dogs, on the other hand, see us as the
"dominant" pack leader if we have trained them right, and
treat and respect us accordingly.  Part of the way dominance
is decided is by size, and since we are usually bigger than
our dogs, it is often easy to establish ourselves as the
leader.  This gets tougher with the larger and more dominant
breeds, especially for a woman.  

Enough - not really on the subject of Bobcats, but I thought
the part about pack animals vs. non-pack animals was
both interesting and enlightening regarding our domestic pets.


                             Cheryl R. Feinberg

annej@hammer.UUCP (Anne Jacko) (06/11/84)

I read a book called "Man Meets Dog" by animal psychologist (yes, I guess
they exist) Konrad Lorenz.  He too talks about the pack instinct in
dogs, and the fact that it is missing in cats.  Another interesting
premise of his is that certain breeds of dogs regard their owners
as "pack leaders" while other breeds regard their owners as "parents."
He calls these two kinds of dogs "wolf dogs" and "jackal dogs"
respectively.  Wolf dogs are the breeds which sort of look like
wolves--huskies, Malamuts, Samoyeds, chows, German Shepherds.
Since my personal prejudice is that these and related breeds are
the smartest, I enjoyed his theory and it reinforced my resolve to
only own this kind of dog (it's fun being pack leader, after all).

He had just a few words to say about cats--mostly that they still
have such wild instincts and he finds it amazing that they can
live such a dual life--snoozing by the fire and out maiming birds.
Again, being a cat lover and respecter of their hunting ability,
I enjoyed this.

-- A. Jacko, Tektronix