The one single time in my life I actually felt the ‘prey’ instinct go off (as in ‘I am prey’) was when a tiger choose to look at me for a bit at the Edinburgh Zoo. I do assume if I had been that close to other large cat predators the sensation might have been very similar.
It was quite disconcerting, though also illuminating, in a way.
I had that feeling once. I didn’t think they could see but an alligator was looking up at us. I moved us on.
“a tiger choose to look at me”
I had that experience at the Detroit zoo. No one else noticed, but a tiger fixed his eyes on me, and intense fear gripped me, as I wondered if he could clear the moat and the fence. I didn’t say anything to my Dad who was with me, but you may be sure I moved right on to the next exhibit.