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from the so-you-know-it-is-time-to-move-your-hand dept.
If you have a cat, you are furmiliar with the habit your furiend has of wiggling their hind end right before cathletically pouncing, catching, and shredding whatever unfurtunate part of your body foolishly moved under the blankets. This leads to an idle curiosity - why do cats adjust their rear before pouncing?
John Hutchinson, a professor of evolutionary biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College in London has several pawsible theories that may tell the tail:
may help press the hindlimbs into the ground to give cats added friction (traction) for pushing them forward in the pounce
It may also have a sensory role to prepare the vision, proprioception [an awareness of one's position and movement] and muscle — and whole cat — for the rapid neural commands needed for the pounce
It probably does stretch the muscles a bit and that might help with pouncing
This isn't behavior unique to house-cats. Wild felines all the way up to lions and tigers litterally do this fur real in the wild.
On the subject of purforming a proper acatdemic study to determine an answer to this biting question, Hutchinson isn't kitten around
"it must be done, somehow. I shall marshal some scientists, and some friendly cats, in due course."
Stay tuned, if the study is done purfectly we may eventually be able to scratch off another timeless question. Which would be pawsome.
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Monday March 11 2019, @08:14AM (1 child)
Perhaps related: When my cat is about to pounce on a mouse (she brings home a lot of mice), she first lashes her tail around. At first glance, this seems really counterproductive. "Hey, mouse, you're about to be eaten - run!".
After thinking about it, I have two theories: First, the sight of something moving may cause the prey to freeze, while they try to figure out what they are seeing. Second, the movement may distract the prey from the dangerous end - which is perfectly still.
Fascinating critters, anyhow. Or am I just infected with that parasite?
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday March 11 2019, @12:04PM
Cats wag (or with your turn of phrase, lash) their tails when they are under stress/annoyed/ready to pounce or fight.
My bosses* taught me that.
*As I mentioned previously, dogs have *owners*. Cats have *staff*.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr