Anyone who has a cat He knows very well: our feline friends love to slip into the canssometimes preferring to pass the time between cardboard walls rather than in their cucks and beds. The reason for this behavior has evolutionary roots: cats feel protected and quiet In restricted environments, and therefore tend to get these characteristics into anything. A phenomenon that also works When the box “does not exist”: If you draw a square on the floor with the adhesive tape, in fact, it is very likely that your cat puts you in the middle. The cats seem to perceive the contours of the objects in a similar way to us humans, and are therefore susceptible to the same types of Optical illusions.
The charm of the cats for cats: a protected environment
The main reason why cats love to stay inside the boxes is the same for which we feel more safe when we are within the home: the sense of protection offered by the four walls, but on a reduced scale. The affinity by cats for the restricted spaces is well known to the world of research, which has observed the behavior also in the laboratory environment and suggested that it is a adaptation to survival. They prefer spaces in which the body is in contact with the walls, excellent hiding places far from the possible dangers of open and larger places. Even in the wild, cats tend to make their lair in ravines, tunnels and other spaces where potential predators would not be able to enter.
Being in a box, therefore, makes them feel more peaceful and several research also confirm it: a study of theUniversity of UtrechtIn the Netherlands, he analyzed the behavior of a group of cats just admitted to a refuge for stray animals. All the cats they had available to the boxes presented some stress indicators behavioral minors Compared to cats to whom the boxes had not been given. As emerged from another study by the University of British Columbia, the search for safe places is so strong that cats just adopted and not yet set to their new home, in the absence of boxes or similar objects if they create them alonereversing the litteries and slipping below.
As well as a place that give a feeling of security, a hiding place and a surface suitable for sharpen the nailsa box also offers a pleasant warmth: the more comfortable temperature For cats (from 30 to 36 ° C) it is in fact higher than the typical room temperature of the houses (from 22 to 25 ° C), and a box could help them retain more heat and maintain an optimal metabolism.
The illusion cats and boxes
The attraction for the boxes is such that cats also put inside in those that do not exist. If you have a cat, try us too: draw a square with the adhesive tape on the ground and probably shortly after you will see it “enter” even in this box without walls. In 2017, a viral hashtag on Twitter, #Catsquare, He documented hundreds of examples of this behavior, and then inspired a real scientific study. The cats seem to be deceived by the same optical illusions that work on us humans: already in the 80s a study confirmed that they are able to perceive the contours of the objects. For this reason, a drawn square is sufficient to make him think of being faced with a real box.
Inspired by the #Catsquare phenomenon of a few years earlier, and taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic that forced many people at home with their own pets, two researchers of theHunter College of New York organized a study of Citizen Science. Baptized “If i Fits, the Sits” (If it is large enough, I sit inside me, but written with the wrong grammar typical of the memes on cats) The experiment asked over 500 participants contacted online to draw squares on the floor and observe the reaction of their cats. Not only did the cats inevitably sat inside the squares, but also fell into the so -called Illusion of Kanizsa. The illusion is made up of four circles with a cut corner, which seem to outline corners and an illusory side dish, giving us the feeling that there is a square inside the figure. A feeling that also seems to work on our feline friends.
If you want to make your cat be more peaceful, then, a box is always comfortable; And if you want to joke a little, you can try with an illusory box.
