So that's why my domestic kitty likes to sneak up behind me.  I used to have a Siamese mix who would would sometimes follow me and just lightly grab my ankle.

That's entirely possible. Even domestic cats have a wild streak to them. I think that's one reason I'm a cat person.

-Stian

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Kristina L. wrote : So that's why my domestic kitty likes to sneak up behind me.  I used to have a Siamese mix who would would sometimes follow me and just lightly grab my ankle.

They call that "play" Of course, the chances of being tripped by a Siamese grabbing your ankles is a little different than being tripped by a bigger paw...just keep your feet and you should be okay. LOL

The more attention I pay to kitty cats, the more i realize they wouldn't be exactly safe if they were tiger size.  Or even lynx size.  I guess they might be safer than tigers though, with all those years of domestication.

The way I look at it, I have two dangerous hobbies:

1) I interact with cats that are larger and stronger than me
2) I ride a motorcycle in South Florida

I consider the motorcycle riding to be by far the more dangerous of the two.

-Stian

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Kristina L. wrote : The more attention I pay to kitty cats, the more i realize they wouldn't be exactly safe if they were tiger size.  Or even lynx size.  I guess they might be safer than tigers though, with all those years of domestication.

Anytime that you engage any animal, certain choices have to be made--both on your part and the part of the animal.  For the human animal, we use a hierarchical and complex concept of 'society' in order to determine our rules of engagement and course of action and eliminate the basest of instincts.

When you cross species lines, choices are also being made.  Any day any cat can decide that it wants to kill you.  Of course, they could also decide it wants to play with you, tease you, splash you, etc. etc.  All these options are as available to them as they are to us.

The difference lies in the capability of consistent and reliable decision making potential as compared with the risks of catastrophic ideation.  That's a fancy way of saying that predictability has to be balanced with how bad it can get.

If you are in an enclosure with a cat, you'd better realize a few things.  There is no such thing as a tame big cat.  Just as there are humans that can be timid, but never tame.  They will make a choice, and have the ability to carry out that choice.  Let's take a totally differnet example to drive the point home...

A nuclear weapon has disasterous consequences, so the decision making algorithm for using one is phenomenally complex taking into account massive amounts of data, intelligence information, and situational awareness.  If you were to choose someone who were to utilize this information to determine whether to fire or not--ideally, you would choose someone who is either A) remarkably predictable so you know exactly what will happen when, or B) of an exceptional intelligence level such that you could depend on their processing power to make the right decision.

Bring this back to the level of the big cats...you're never going to get A--they are inherently unpredictable as they are wild (like us).  So therefore, your alternative is B--the higher intelligences will be better able to draw on multiple experiences to make a determination.

Case in point, you can raise a leopard from cubhood, but if you disappear for too long, they are going to 'forget' some of those lessons learned from you earlier due to absence and you fall out of their circle.  The amount of time until you fall out of any cat's circle is predicated on intelligence and capability.  Lions and their pridal structure leaves them hardwired to form relationships and recent research by Packer and his crew indicate that it also allows them to RE-form relationships.  That's why pride members can wander off to have cubs, get lost, etc, and rejoin the pride later without being driven off.  Tigers have a lower per-capita than lion prides, but still can share a hunting ground with close family.  They have to retain that memory for months or even years at a time, so if you start off right with them, you MIGHT have a chance depending on how strong the bond is.

And now, if you've made it this far, regarding small cats like the lynx, caracal, bobcat, etc...you've mixed lightning speed with above-domestic processing power but below large cats, in generally solitary creatures, and a permanent inferiority complex because they are smaller than you.  They will nail you faster and harder than the big cats--and you'll suffer more because they aren't strong enough to end you quickly. LOL

I have never been woken in the night by a tiger, but how many people can tell you stories of their cats batting their faces or biting their toes at night?

The question is, how often do you sleep where a tiger can get at you?

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stian wrote : The question is, how often do you sleep where a tiger can get at you?

In all honesty, it has been a while.  But when it was commonplace, I had far less worry.  And of course, they were cubs who had nothing but love for everyone

I've slept with a full grown serval on my bed before.  On second thought, I couldn't really consider it "my" bed.  It belonged to the serval.  

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stian wrote : The way I look at it, I have two dangerous hobbies: 1) I interact with cats that are larger and stronger than me 2) I ride a motorcycle in South Florida I consider the motorcycle riding to be by far the more dangerous of the two. -Stian

What about being run over by trucks and buses?  

Less dangerous than both of the above.  

Servals aren't known for their cleanliness and hygene, I hope you had a good night's rest and didn't "smell" (Any worse than normal) in the morning...