Tabby Cat Chases Black Bear Up Tree

[gunsmith]

http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/ap/2006/06/09/ap2806110.html

Jack the Cat Chases Black Bear Up Tree
Friday, June 9, 2006
 

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(06-09) 13:33 PDT West Milford, N.J. (AP) --
A black bear picked the wrong New Jersey yard for a jaunt earlier this week, running into a territorial tabby who ran the furry beast up a tree ⬠twice.
Jack, a 15-pound orange-and-white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, chasing small animals when he can, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.
"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty,' never knowing he'd go after a bear," cat owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's newspapers.
Neighbor Suzanne Giovanetti first spotted Jack's accomplishment after her husband saw a bear climb a tree on the edge of their northern New Jersey home's back yard on Sunday. Giovanetti thought Jack was simply looking up at the bear, but soon realized the much larger animal was afraid of the hissing cat.
After about 15 minutes peering down at the cat from the tree, the bear descended and tried to run away, only to have Jack chase it up another tree.
At this point Dickey, who feared for her cat, called Jack back home and the bear scurried back to the woods.
"He doesn't want anybody in his yard," Dickey said.
Bear sightings are not unusual in West Milford, which experts consider one of the state's most bear-populated areas.
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[Sindawe]

BWAHAHAHHAHA  That poor bear.

House cats are VERY territorial.  Its been 3+ years, but one of my toms has still to fully accept the most recent addition to the household.  And the things that come out of the other toms mouth when he sees another cat outside, takes days to get all the blue tinged air out of the house.

[Strings]

ours are fine accepting a new member of the family. However, when they were outside at my in-laws, if ya weren't family, you were lunch. I watched the one female chase a stray tom out of our yard and tag my wife's male... who promptly chased the poor bugger off the block...

[Azrael256]

One of my cats is a total creampuff with other animals, but will jump right in the lap of any human who happens to cross my threshold.

My other cat, by contrast, is terrified of new people (hides under the bed), but hasn't the slightest problem going toe-to-toe with my sister's 100lb rottie/heeler/shepherd thing (among others).  I actually watched him beat down the dog.  It only took once.  The cat weighs eight pounds.

Cats are fierce little animals when they want to be.

[Fjolnirsson]

So, now we know, the best pistol for Black bear is the Tomcat.

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

In PRNJ the cats are so badass that you need a Tomcat Purchase Permit to buy a tomcat. And it's limited to ten claws.

- NF

[Preacherman]

The BBC has featured the story on its Web site ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5067912.stm ), and included a lovely picture of the cat treeing the bear:

[Strings]

I knew Preacherman couldn't BEAR to leave this one alone!

[Antibubba]

It's refreshing to read about bears that are still wild enough to be scared like this-not acclimated to human presence, and not starving so as to eat a housepet.

[Stand_watie]

It's refreshing to read about bears that are still wild enough to be scared like this-not acclimated to human presence, and not starving so as to eat a housepet.

Yeah, that's exactly the way they should be. Hey I think bears are great, I wish we had a few in east texas. Just a very few though. It's better for the bears from a genetic standpoint, and better for humans as well. A black bear sighting near large scale human civilization should be a rare treat that sees the bear protecting it's decendants by scurrying off quickly.

Same for mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats and wolves. I'd like to see them living at a much lower population density in the areas they do live, but spread over a much larger area. Ranchers in Montana would be much less hostile to wolves if they were allowed to shoot them on sight. Wolves in Montana would be much less likely to go after livestock if they had better genes that weren't corrupted by contact with humans.

[gunsmith]

I saw a mountain lion the other day while driving to Virginia City, NV.
It was my first ever spotting of a big wild cat, very exciting!


thats a great pic of the bear treed by a cat, it's really funny to look at.

[InfidelSerf]

a larger pic of Jack the cat.  
http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2006/06/10/picture_of_the_4.php