I had exactly the same thing. I would most like think this is play aggression. My rescue bengal used to do the same but he would get higher than me, then eyeball me, pupils would dilate and game on. I consulted a cat behaviourist who did not mince her words to me.......I was not meeting Oscar's very particular bengal needs. The simple fact is you have a bengal with a high play requirement and very high prey drive. Oscar can still get like this sometimes but I just redirect as soon as it starts to happen. When your cat starts on this, you get up, say a firm and loud NO and walk away and totally ignore. Do not punish your cat, he is only doing what comes naturally to him......hunting. The only trouble is that bengals are much stronger and full on than most cats so when he catches his prey (your feet etc), it flipping hurts and you can bleed. Real aggression is very different and trust me, you would know it. I knew with Oscar that if he got like this then he needed to hunt something so after about half an hour of him being ignored, I would get the toys out and exhaust him with play. Don't whatever you do play with him immediately after him going for you as he might think " great!, if I attack him then he plays with me!" Please don't think badly of your cat as he is just behaving naturally. Bengals are not docile little lap cats and need different things. Please give him a chance. I know it's frustrating but he is a bengal!!! Also make sure he has lots of different toys, scratch pads, cat trees etc. I also had a trick of having a big stuffed toy sitting next to me all the time and let Oscar attack that rather than my arm. Kong kikaroos are great as they can wrestle them and use their back feet to shred their prey as they would in the wild. Good luck and try to think differently about his behaviour.
_________________ Melissa
UK Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal
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