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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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A raccoon was left regretting their decision to explore the porch of a nearby house late one evening.
Security camera firm Ring shared dramatic footage with Newsweek that captured the moment the wild animal made his way up the steps toward the door of a property in an unspecified part of America.
What the raccoon evidently didn't count on, however, was that he was being watched by a feral cat perched up on a wooden railing outside the house.,
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The property owner, Donald, who sent the video in, told Ring: "The cat on the railing is one of the feral cats that live in the neighborhood. We see him on our Ring camera periodically, but this is the first time he stayed for a while."
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Animal welfare charity PETA estimates that there are anywhere between 60 and 100 million homeless cats living in the U.S. today. The vast majority of these cats rely on humans' kindness to provide food, water, and sometimes shelter from the elements.
However, there are plenty who would turn a blind eye to the plight of these animals.
That fact was perhaps best highlighted in a previous cross-sectional study of households in Ohio published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The study contacted 1,250 households and quizzed them on their interactions with free-roaming cats.
Researchers found that 78.7 percent of participants reported seeing free-roaming cats at least occasionally. However, just 26.2 percent reported having fed them on at least one occasion over the past year.
Worse still, just 22.8 percent of those who fed free-roaming cats had ever taken one to a veterinarian. In the case of Donald, this was arguably the most he had ever seen of this particular feral cat.
While much about the cat's life remains unknown, it certainly looks like this particular feline is more than capable of taking care of itself.
According to Donald, "after about two hours" of the cat relaxing on his porch, "the raccoon appeared and started looking around." That's when the cat sprang into action, albeit while remaining up on the handrail.
As the video shows, it takes a matter of seconds for the cat to go from relaxed contentment to intense alertness, as the feral feline locks her eyes with her new raccoon companion.
The raccoon is quick to notice the unwanted attention and the two animals lock eyes. The raccoon is arguably the biggest of the two and would likely prove a worthy match for this cat had things turned ugly.
Thankfully for all involved, it never got that far, with the cat instead stepping up to deliver the mother of all death stares while slowly arching its back and hissing. This combination is enough to send the raccoon packing, leaving the cat to resume their relaxing evening in peace.
The message of the video is simple: feral cats are not to be messed with.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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