When facing potential danger, most animals choose either fight or flight. Cats, being the amazingly awesome and confusing creatures that they are, choose to do both, poofing themselves up like they’re about to attack, fleeing, coming back for a swipe while hissing, and then repeating the process till the situation becomes like one of those cartoon scuffles where the people are fighting in a very comical dust cloud.
This hair-raised state, often reminiscent of some of our worst bad hair days, is one of the most interesting tactics used in fighting, as it doesn’t actually make the cat look more dangerous, but rather follows the line of thought that, while still kind of small, the fact that it’s still trying to intimidate is in itself intimidating, if not downright scary, as if it truly believes itself to be as strong as the fiercest of big cats.
