Tyger Tyger Burning Bright

"Tyger Tyger Burning bright;

In the Forests of the Night..." 

Those are the immortal lines of the well known English poet William Blake. 

Tiger and its cousin domestic cat have 86% of their traits in common. They share their similar canine teeth, same way of stretching, crouching posture while they stalk, followed by their galloping style of chasing their pray. Their jaws are similar and powerful. A tiger can drag a full grown Buffalo easily for more than 100 yard. The paws of both animals are strong, incisive enough to rip off the skin of an animal in seconds. 

The other day I saw a cat in my backyard catching a squirrel with its jaws and peeling off its skin in an effortless manner. A tiger's powerful claw can tear apart the thick skin of a Buffalo like we humans tear apart the skin of a ripe jackfruit using our bare hands. Both tiger and cat can climb trees, thanks to their claws powerful enough to give them a firm grip on the tree trunks and push their weights upward. No wonder Shivaji killed his burly adversary Afzal Khan using his famous pair of "BAGHNAKH" (Tiger Claws), ripping apart his enemy's stomach who tried to embrace him with the intention of killing the Maratha warrior. 

Similarities apart, there are few notable differences between a tiger and a domestic cat. Apart from not eating fish and not meowing like a common feline, unlike cats, tigers love to take a dip in water and known to be excellent swimmers. The Royal Bengal Tiger loves to swim through the myriad distributaries and rivulets crisscrossing the Sundarban Delta of Bengal. The house cat hates water and get flustered under shower. If you have seen a cat in rain, you can figure out how uncomfortable it gets. 

Lion may be the King of the jungle, but Tiger commands respect. The tiger is a passive, shy animal but can be at its ferocious best when cornered. Hence we have the term "Cornered Tiger", not cornered lion, or a cornered panther. Similarly we have "Caged Tiger", not "Caged Lion" to denote someone with a potential yet to be unleashed. Though lion is the King of Jungle, it doesn't have the potential of a Tiger. 

Not to forget, we have this phrase "Tigress in Bed" for a reason. Not Lion or Elephant in bed.