• Laticauda@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        Foxes don’t share all that many behaviours with cats though, they share more with dogs, so I don’t know why people always say this.

        • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          7 months ago

          They fill a similar niche in the food chain as most cats (smaller, non-apex solitary predator).

          For the opposite, see hyenas - pack animals that fill a role similar to coyotes but are more closely related to cats than dogs. Dog software running on cat hardware. The same could probably be said of lions, as apex pack hunters like wolves.

          • Laticauda@lemmy.ca
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            7 months ago

            By that logic any smaller predator that feeds on small animals is a “cat” and any large predator that feeds on larger animals and/or hunts in packs is a “dog” which is… Not at all how nature works. Foxes are canines that exhibit a lot of classic canine behaviour and very little cat behaviour in top of many behaviours unique to foxes, domestic cats are not actually solitary creatures just solitary hunters hence why they develop colonies, some wolf species are solitary hunters such as the maned wolf, birds of prey also fill the same ecological niche as cats, as do weasels, chimpanzees are also apex pack hunting mammals too but no one would ever say they’re running “dog software”, heck humans are the ultimate Apex pack hunting predator, does that mean wolves are just running “human software”? Lions and hyenas exhibit completely different behaviours and social structures from both domestic dogs and cats as well as each other, lions also aren’t the only large cats that hunt in groups, cheetahs can as well when they form a coalition. It just seems like a dumb way to classify animals as if dogs and cats aren’t extremely diverse and complex animals in their own right and instead every member has to be forced into these awkward and inaccurate “hardware vs software” stereotypes.

      • orphiebaby@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Hate this statement with a passion. Sounds cool, but is complete nonsense. And nobody who’s ever upvoted or agreed with it has been around both a fox and a cat.

  • owenfromcanada@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Literally none of these are cats. Here you have:

    • a fart squirrel
    • a trash panda
    • a teeny tapir
    • a doggo lite
    • and a tasmanian angel
    • maniclucky@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      And have personalities similar to cats I’ve been told. No idea if that’s true, but I chose to believe it.

      • Doxatek@mander.xyz
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        7 months ago

        Weirdly enough I’ve had two in my life and one currently. It’s definitely hard to approximate how their personality is as dog or cat. Cat is most similar of the two but really they’re a unique really weird thing lol. Mostly like a weird funny ferret haha

          • Doxatek@mander.xyz
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            7 months ago

            My mother bought them and gifted them to me, they came from a skunk breeder. She can’t understand that gifting someone an animal is not something anyone should ever do as it’s such a big commitment. Of course I love the skunk and she’s super sweet but still haha.

            In my experience they’ve been pretty easy pets though. One wouldn’t think of them being better than a cat but my cats cause me much more stress than she does.

    • root_beer@midwest.social
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      7 months ago

      Foxes too, they’re as acrid as skunks are. Lovely creatures, but let’s appreciate them from afar.