Don't underestimate small wildlife. Squirrels here take swipes at our cat. The birds also take turns repeatedly dive-bombing the cat. We have a useless cat.
I've ALWAYS believed in that adjective being used in conjunction with the smaller feline species.
My cat and one of the tree squirrels surprised each other in the yard last summer. They were both frozen about two feet apart, neither moving a muscle, for a long time, then the cat backed off.
Our cat (RIP, alas) had an arch-enemy squirrel.
They hated each other.
When our cat was hit by a car chasing him from our pecan tree to the neighbors, I bought a pellet gun and killed the damn rodent.
It just seemed the thing to do.
Our cat caught and ate an adult squirrel. Took him two days to finish up.