Yup. Cheetahs are somewhat weird kitties, admittedly...
> It seems perfectly reasonable to have a hunting cat, I have one, it
> just happens to hunt and kill mice which it then dutifully drops in the
> kitchen. I am sure if it was bigger, and if there were rubble runners in the
> local area then I would occasionally trip over large, dead, scaley rats
Exactly; in order to be useful as a hunting animal, a cat has to be 'trained' to a) kill things (null-op), b) not eat all their kills (not especially hard -- a lynx may be able to kill a deer, but (*oip*) couldn't eat a whole one...), and c) do so in a time and place such that the human hunter can benefit from the proceeds. OK, it's likely to be a _tad_ more organised than that in practice, but it illustrates that the basic process is hardly infeasible.
OTOH, to be a good 'sheepcat', an alynx would need to be alert, energetic, and watchful over a sustained period of time; Mildly Concern the sheep, but not scare them clean out of their fleeces; obey immediate, direct commands from the human shepherd, in considerable contrast to the 'light managerial touch' implied by the former regimen, and otherwise behave in a spectacularly unfeline manner, altogether.
Incidentally, this is of some significance 'IMG', since our clan has a significant amount of herding (40% of 'economy'), and has a Yinkin shrine.
Cheers,
Alex.
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