Have you ever snuck up on a cat while it is sneaking up on a bird?

I meow to cats. They meow back.

Never tried scaring one, but I’ve seen it. It’s hilarious.

Cats are hilarious. They can freak out, and they’ll turn around and look at you like “what?” and then they’ll start licking themselves as if nothing happened.

I have done that. We lived on a farm when I was a mid. At any given time we had three to a dozen cats. They would chase birds, bunnies, squirrels, grasshoppers, butterflies, you name it. I would do the follow you described, but if they went after the squirrels I did a head them off at the pass, and startle the squirrels to give them a head start. I didn’t worry about bunnies. They were able to go fast enough the cats would never bring one down.
I didn’t want them to get butterflies, but it was awfully funny when they were just out of reach, watching the cats make all those twisting leaps and ackward landings.

Not that I remember but..I have turned on the sprinklers on a couple of occasions to watch the cat launch like a missile. haha
The other day my big, 17 pounder “Myles” a Ragdoll that is not fat just very large, long, big boned, amazed me with his agility when he leapt into the air about 4 feet and did a crazy mid-air twist trying to catch a bird he flushed out of the hedge outside my back door. For such a big cat he is surprisingly agile.

Fuck no, that would be akin to sneaking up on a menstruating Russian flipping pancakes for Putin’s birthday breakfast.

No. I have tried outstaring a cat. It is impossible. I have made mean faces and showed my teeth, but the cat is totally unfazed.