Attempts to domesticate small wildcats other than F. cattus have failed: being both territorial predators and prey, they tend to be aggressively paranoid creatures. Having said that, who’s to say this wouldn’t be the second successfully domesticated felid species?

[–] PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

"Fuck off I don't like you, I'm happy out here, it's where the birds are"

Edit: A counterpoint, Matt Damon told an entertaining story about adopting a small cat that they found more or less in the jungle during a vacation, pretty injured but generally fighting to survive. She hung around and ate the food they gave her for a couple of weeks and they decided we have a cat now.

He thought that they would take her home, get her veterinary care, and she would become a little jungle-cat terror of the neighborhood, but he said that once they got her home she literally never went outside again.

[–] onslaught545@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 weeks ago

We have a cat like that. Spent the first 2 years of her life outside, and 13 years later she still has no desire to leave the house.

[–] paranoidcyborg@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 weeks ago

Everything I've heard from my family, who grew up on a farm in the Chilean southern zone, they're pretty aggressive little guys. I think they're super cute, especially the melanistic ones, but pretty wild too.