Aren't cats supposed to be super-alert?

[Telperion]

Twice in the last few weeks I have caught neighborhood cats in condition white while riding on bike trails.  As in had to cough or shift gears noisily within 5 yards to alert them lest they freak out and dash underneath my front tire.  Both times I was rewarded with this "OMG where did you come from!!11" look.  This contrasts to ground squirrels who are usually scramming before I am anywhere close.

I thought these were predatory machines, the epitome of tactical situational awareness?  Or am I just seeing some fattened and dulled suburban variety?

[Standing Wolf]

Like people, cats sometimes lose both visual and auditory acuteness as they age.

[Guest]

Further, any evolutionary advantages they may have gained are surely being dulled over time in favor of things like being cute and fluffy. Try hooking up a small speaker unit with the sound of a vacuum playing out of it - it seems to scare my cats away well enough.

[crt360]

Rubber-band a Joker on your spokes.

[Zundfolge]

Domestication reduces the alertness of any species (thats one reason us married guys all appear deaf).

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

My sister's cat is only a couple years old, and is the laziest animal I've ever seen.
She lays on her back all day, all four legs straight up in the air.  It's great fun to sneak up on here, and poke her fat belly, or shout her name and watch her freak out.

[grampster]

Zund,

Har Har Har Har.

[USP45usp]

It could have been concentrating on some prey.  When my cat is in "prey mode", she tunes out everything around her and won't know that I am there until I touch her, and she jumps 20 feet straight up into the air.

Great fun that *evil grin*

Wayne

[Jamisjockey]

My 2 year old can sneak up on my cat sometimes.  I think that, as mentioned earlier in this thread,
A) she's getting older
B) life is good being a fat housecat with an unlimited food supply.

[Guest]

Bicycles are pretty quiet for the speed they travel.  Most animals are not tuning into that type of noise either.  As other said though, animals can lose focus when not in the wild or when concentrating on other things just like humans.  

Take a city person out into the woods and see if they pay attention to where they are walking or putting their feet.  Someone who grew up around the woods or lives out there pays more attention (snakes, cow patties, ants, etc.).  It is all learned behavior and what you are used to.

[Jamisjockey]

Not to hijack your thread....but...
On a mountain bike ride last month I was bombing a long, and I mean long descent (the ride was 26 miles, with an hour of downhill).  I came across a bunch of cows.  They were on the trail, and would stampede as I approached, running wildly down the trail until they could crash off into the brush.  It was pretty freaking comicial, until I almost broadsided one at 20mph.