Thursday, April 11, 2019

The Cleverness of Felids

Let's face it, cats are remarkable creatures. The big ones are the apex predators, but the house cats are pretty awesome too.

Aside from looking beautiful, I mean.



Case in point: when we brought Lacey home, we showed her the litter pan in the basement. She showed no interest at all and went off to explore. Not to worry. When she needed it, she knew exactly where it was — way down there in the basement somewhere. I don't know how she remembered something that she hadn't paid any attention to.

I have seen her and other cats thread their way around objects in tight spaces without apparently looking at the objects. Let's face it, their hind ends are pretty far from their front ends, but they move around objects as if they have some sort of mental map.  Even their long tails miss the objects. How do they do this without intensively sizing up the situation first?

Last evening, I turned around from my computer to see her mesmerized by the bookcase behind me. I don't know what caught her attention, but after two months, something grabbed her attention.

But there was no space for her to get up there.



Except there was. With one delicate, pussy-footed leap, she landed without touching anything. This would be impressive from any cat, but Lacey is a stocky middle-aged puss. How she managed that jump with the impeccable landing, I cannot tell. And she won't tell either.



She roamed around some still hardly disturbing anything. Truly remarkable in my estimation.





9 comments:

Jenn Jilks said...

Gosh, you nailed it! As well as Lacey.
When we rehomed Daisy her new owner told me she spent her time on top of the kitchen cupboards! They like to be high up.

Marie Smith said...

A new perch maybe? A cat’s eye view!

Vicki Lane said...

What's really amazing is that she didn't choose to bat something off the shelf -- as our cats do -- just to make sure gravity is still working.

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

A beautiful and graceful cat! I wish I were not so allergic to them.

Mage said...

Now you have kitty hair on your good lense. LOL

William Kendall said...

As I understand it, the whiskers have a sensory purpose and contribute to its awareness of its surroundings.

Joanne Noragon said...

Stuck the blind landing.

troutbirder said...

Our beloved HOUSE cat Simba lived with us for eighteen years enjoying an unusual friendly relationship with my two GSD's. Feral cats and house cats who roam the neighborhood not declawed I don't much care for...

Jenny Woolf said...

And they know what they are doing intellectually too. We had 2 cats before we discovered one of my daughters was allergic. When one of them felt you weren't paying enough attention, he'd walk along a mantelpiece or shelf delicately flicking things off with his tail! We knew it wasn't an accident :)