Catwatching

by Desmond Morris

  Cats hate doors. Doors simply do not register in the evolutionary story of the cat family. They constantly block patrolling activities and prevent cats from exploring their home range and then returning to their central, secure base at will. Humans often do not understand that a cat needs to make only a brief survey of its territory before returning with all the necessary information about the activities of other cats in the vicinity. It likes to make these tours of inspection at frequent intervals, but does not want to stay outside for very long, unless there has been some special and unexpected change in the condition of the local feline population.

  The result of this is an apparent perversity on the part of pet cats.

  When they are in they want to go out, and when they are out they want to come in. If their owner does not have a small cat-flap on the back door of the house, there will be a regular demand for attention, to assist the cat in its rhythmic territorial supervision. Part of the reason why this repeated checking of the outside world is so important is because of the time-clock message system of the scent-marks. Each time a cat rubs against a landmark in its territory or sprays urine on it, it leaves a personal scent which immediately starts to lose its power. This decline is at a steady rate and can be used by cats to determine how long it has been since the scent-marker rubbed or sprayed. The repeated visits by a cat to inspect its territory are motivated by a need to reactivate its fading scent signals. Once this has been done, comfort and security beckons again, and the anxious feline face appears for the umpteenth time at the window.

  What does a cat signal with its ears?

  Unlike humans, felines have very expressive ears. They not only change direction as the cat listens to sounds coming from different sources, but they also adopt special postures that reflect the emotional mood of the animals.

  There are five basic ear signals, related to the following moods: relaxed, alert, agitated, defensive and aggressive.

  In the relaxed cat the apertures of the ears point forward and slightly outward, as the animal quietly listens for interesting sounds over a wide range.

  When the resting cat stirs itself and focuses on some exciting detail in its surroundings, the ear position changes into the 'alert mode'.

  As it stares at the point of interest, its ears become fully erect and rotate so that their apertures point directly forward. The ears are kept pricked in this way as long as the cat remains gazing straight ahead.

  The only variation occurs if there is a sudden noise away to the side of the animal, in which case an ear may be permitted a brief rotation in that direction without a shift of gaze.

  An agitated cat, suffering from a state of conflict, frustration or apprehension, often displays a nervous twitching of the ears. In some species of wild cats this response has been made highly conspicuous by the evolution of long ear-tufts, but the domestic cat lacks this refinement and the ear-twitching itself is less common. Slight tufting does occur in some breeds, especially the Abyssinian where there is a small dark hairy point to the ear, but compared with the huge ear-tufts of a species such as the Caracal Lynx, this is a very modest development.

  A defensive cat displays fully flattened ears. They are pressed tightly against the head as a way of protecting them during fights.

  The torn and tattered ears of battling tom-cats are a vivid testimony to the need to hide this delicate part of the anatomy as much as possible when the claws are out. The effect of flattening the ears to the sides of the head is to make them almost invisible when the animal is viewed from the front and to give its head a more rounded outline.

  There is one strange breed of cat called the Scottish Fold which has permanently flattened ears, giving it a continually defensive look, regardless of its true mood. What effect this has on its social life is hard to imagine.

  An aggressive cat which is hostile without being particularly frightened has its own special ear posture. Here, the ears are rotated but not fully flattened. The backs of the ears become visible from the front, and this is the most dangerous ear signal any cat can transmit.

  In origin, this ear posture is half-way between alert and defensive in other words, half-way between pricked forward and flattened backward.

  In effect, it is a 'ready for trouble' position. The animal is saying, 'I am ready to attack, but you don't frighten me enough to flatten my ears protectively." The reason why this involves showing off the backs of the ears is because they must be rotated backwards before they can be fully flattened. So the rotated ears are in a 'ready-to-be-flattened' posture, should the aggressive cat's opponent dare to retaliate.

  The aggressive ear posture has led to some attractive ear-markings in a number of wild cat species, especially the tiger, which has a huge white spot ringed with black on the back of each ear. When a tiger is angry, there is no doubt at all about its mood, as the pair of vivid white spots rotates into view. Again, domestic cats lack these special markings.

  How do cats fight?

  Under wild conditions cat-fights are a rarity because there is plenty of space, but in the more crowded urban and suburban areas feline territories become squashed together and frequently overlap. This means that a great deal of squabbling and serious physical duelling occurs, especially between rival tom-cats. Occasionally there are even killings or deaths resulting from battle injuries.

  The primary objective of an attacking cat is to deliver a fatal neckbite to its rival, employing much the same technique as when killing a prey. Because its opponent is of roughly the same size and strength, this lethal bite is hardly ever delivered. Indeed, the most craven and cowardly of rivals will defend itself to some extent, and a primary neck-bite is almost impossible to achieve.

  The point to remember here is that even the most savage and dominant individual, as he goes in to the attack, is fearful of the consequences of the 'last-ditch-stand' by his terrorized underling. Driven into a corner, the weakling will try anything, lashing out with sharp claws and possibly injuring the dominant cat in a way that may pose a serious threat to his future hunting success and therefore his very survival.

  So even an out-and-out attacker shows fear mixed with his aggression, when the final crunch of physical contact arrives.

  A typical sequence goes as follows: the dominant animal spots a rival and approaches it, adopting a highly characteristic threat posture, walking tall on fully stretched legs so that it suddenly appears bigger than usual. This effect is increased by the erecting of the hairs along its back. Because the crest is greater towards the rear end of the animal, the line of its back slopes up towards the tail. This gives the attacking cat a silhouette which is the exact opposite of the crouching shape of the weaker rival, whose rear end is held low on the ground.

  With the backs of his ears showing and a great deal of howling, growling and gurgling, the attacker advances in slow motion, watching for any sudden reaction from his cringing enemy. The noises made are startlingly hostile and it is hard to understand how anything so totally aggressive can ever have been misnamed the tom-cat's 'love song'. One can only wonder at the love-life of the people who gave it this name. Needless to say, it has nothing whatever to do with true cat courtship.

  As the attacking cat comes very near its rival, it performs a strange but highly characteristic head-twisting action. At a distance of about three feet it raises its head up slightly and then tilts it over to one side, all the time fixating the enemy with its eyes. Then the attacker takes a slow step forward and tilts its head the other way. This may be repeated several times and appears to be a threat of the neck-bite to come, the head twisting into the biting position as much as to say 'this is what you will get'. In other words, the attacker acts out the 'intention movement' of the assault typical of the species.

  If two cats of equal status meet and threaten one another, a long period of deadlock may follow, with each animal performing exactly the same slow, hostile approach, as if displaying in front of a mirror.

  The nearer they get, the slower and
shorter are their movements, until they become frozen in a prolonged stalemate which may last for many minutes.

  Throughout this they will continue to give vent to their caterwauling howls and moans, but neither side will be prepared to capitulate.

  Eventually they may separate from one another in incredibly slow motion.

  To increase their speed would be tantamount to admitting weakness and would lead to an immediate attack from the rival, so they must both withdraw with almost imperceptible movements to retain their status.

  Should these threats and counter-threats collapse into a serious fight, the action begins with one of the adversaries making a lunging attempt at a neck-bite. When this happens the opponent instantly twists round and defends itself with its own jaws, while at the same time striking out with its front feet, clinging on with its forepaws and then kicking wildly with its powerful back feet. This is the point at which the 'fur flies' quite literally, and the growling gives way suddenly to yowls and screams as the two animals roll and writhe around, biting, clawing and kicking.

  This phase does not last long. It is too intense. The rivals quickly pull apart and resume the threat displays, staring at one another and growling throatily once again. The assault is then repeated, perhaps several times, until one of them finally gives up and remains lying on the ground with its ears fully flattened. At this point the victor performs another highly characteristic display. It turns at right angles to the loser and, with great concentration, starts to sniff the ground, as though at that very moment there is an irresistibly delicious odour deposited there. The animal concentrates so hard on this sniffing that, were it not a regular feature of all fights, it would have the appearance of a genuine odour-check. But it is now only a ritual act, a victory display which signals to the cowering rival that its submission and capitulation have been accepted and that the battle is over. After the ceremonial sniffing the victor saunters slowly off and then, after a short while, the vanquished animal slinks away to safety.

  Not all fights are conducted at such high intensity. Milder disputes are settled by 'paw-scrapping' in which the rivals swipe out at one another with extended claws. Slashing at their rival's head in this way, they may be able to settle their disagreement without the full ritual battle and all-in wrestling described above.

  Why does a cat arch its back when it sees a strange dog?

  If a cat feels threatened by a large dog, it pulls itself up on fully stretched legs and at the same time arches its back in the shape of an inverted U. The function of this display is clearly to make the cat look as big as possible, in an attempt to convince the dog that it is confronting a daunting opponent. To understand the origin of the display it is necessary to look at what happens when cats are threatening one another. If one cat is intensely hostile towards another and feels little fear, it approaches on stiffly stretched legs and with a straight back. If its rival is extremely frightened and feels no hostility, it arches its back and crouches low on the ground.

  In the case of the cat approached by a dog, there is both intense aggression and intense fear.

  It is this conflicting, double mood that gives rise to the special display. The cat borrows the most conspicuous element of its anger reaction – the stiff legs – and the most conspicuous element of its fear reaction – the arched back – and combines them to produce an 'enlarged cat' display. If it had borrowed the other elements – the straight back of anger and the low crouch of fear – the result would have been far from impressive.

  Aiding its 'transformation display' is the fact that the animal, while stretching its legs and arching its back, also erects its fur and stands broadside-on to the dog. Together these four elements make up a compound display of maximum size increase. Even if the cat retreats a little, or advances towards the dog, it carefully keeps its broadside-on position, spreading its body in front of the dog like a bullfighter's cloak.

  During the arched-back display the cat hisses ominously, like a snake, but this hissing turns to growling if it risks an attack. Then, when it actually lashes out at the dog, it adds an explosive 'spit' to its display. Experienced cats soon learn that the best policy when faced with a hostile dog is to go into the attack rather than run away, but it takes some nerve to do this when the dog is several times the cat's weight. The alternative of 'running for it' is much riskier, however, because once the cat is fleeing it triggers off the dog's hunting urges.

  To a dog a 'fleeing object' means only one thing – food – and it is hard to shift the canine hunting mood once it has been aroused. Even if the fleeing cat halts and makes a brave stand, it has little hope, because the dog's blood is up and it goes straight for the kill, arched back or no arched back. But if the cat makes a stand right from the first moment of the encounter with the dog, it has a good chance of defeating the larger animal, simply because by attacking it, the cat gives off none of the usual 'prey signals'. The dog, with sharp claws slashing at its sensitive nose, is much more likely then to beat a dignified retreat, and leave the hissing fury to its own devices. So, where dogs are concerned, the bolder the cat, the safer it is.

  Why does a cat hiss?

  It seems likely that the similarity between the hiss of a cat and that of a snake is not accidental. It has been claimed that the feline hiss is a case of protective mimicry. In other words, the cat imitates the snake to give an enemy the impression that it too is venomous and dangerous.

  The quality of the hissing is certainly very similar. A threatened cat, faced with a dog or some other predator, produces a sound that is almost identical to that of an angry snake in a similar situation.

  Predators have great respect for venomous snakes, with good reason, and often pause long enough for the snake to escape. This hesitation is usually the result of an inborn reaction. The attacker does not have to learn to avoid snakes. Learning would not be much use in such a context, as the first lesson would also be the last. If a cornered cat is capable of causing alarm in an attacker by triggering off this instinctive fear of snakes, then it obviously has a great advantage, and this is probably the true explanation of the way in which the feline hiss has evolved.

  Supporting this idea is the fact that cats often add spitting to hissing. Spitting is another way in which threatened snakes react.

  Also, the cornered cat may twitch or thrash its tail in a special way, reminiscent of the movements of a snake that is working itself up to strike or flee.

  Finally, it has been pointed out that when a tabby cat (with markings similar to the wild type, or ancestral cat) lies sleeping, curled up tightly on a tree-stump or rock, its coloration and its rounded shape make it look uncannily like a coiled snake. As long ago as the nineteenth century it was suggested that the pattern of markings on a tabby cat are not direct, simple camouflage, but rather are imitations of the camouflage markings of a snake. A killer, such as an eagle, seeing a sleeping cat might, as a result of this resemblance, think twice before attacking.

  Why does a cat wag its tail when it is hunting a bird on a lawn?

  The scene is familiar to most cat-owners. Through the window they see their cat stalking a bird by creeping stealthily towards it, head down and body low on the ground. This cautious crouching attempt to be as inconspicuous as possible is suddenly and dramatically ruined by the animal's tail, which starts swishing uncontrollably back and forth through the air. Such movement acts like a flag being waved at the bird to warn it of approaching danger. The intended victim takes off immediately and flies to safety, leaving a frustrated feline hunter staring up into the sky.

  Cat-owners witnessing this scene are puzzled by their cat's inefficiency. Why does the cat's tail betray the rest of the body in this self-defeating way? Surely the wild ancestors of the domestic cat could not have survived such a serious flaw in their hunting technique?

  We know that conspicuous tail-wagging in cats is a social signal indicating acute conflict. It is useful when employed between one cat and another and is then an important part of
feline body language. But when it is transferred into a hunting context, where the only eyes that will spot the signal are those of the intended prey, it wrecks the whole enterprise. So why has it not been suppressed in such cases?

  To find the answer we have to look at the normal hunting sequence of the cat. This does not take place on an open lawn and is less well known to cat-owners than it might be because it involves a great deal of waiting and hiding. If owners do happen on a hunt in progress they will automatically disrupt it, so that there is nothing more to observe. The disturbed prey escapes and the cat gives up. So for a casual observer the whole sequence is not easy to study. It requires some systematic and secretive catwatching. When this is undertaken, the following points emerge:

  First, the cat makes a great deal of use of cover. It spends much time lying half-hidden in undergrowth, often with only its eyes and part of its face visible. The tail is usually completely hidden from view.

  Second, it never attempts to pounce on a prey until it is very close to it. It is not a prey-chaser. It may make a few stalking-runs, rushing forward in its flattened posture, but it then halts and waits again before pouncing. Third, its normal prey is not birds but rodents. A careful study of feral cats in the United States revealed that birds accounted for only 4 per cent of the diet. The excellent eyesight of birds and their ability to fly straight up in the air to escape make them unsuitable targets for domestic cats.

  Together these points explain the dilemma of the suburban cat hunting a bird on a lawn. To start with, the open, manicured lawn robs the cat of all its natural cover, exposing its whole body to view. This is doubly damaging to its chances. It makes it almost impossible for the cat to creep near enough for its typical, close-quarters pounce without being seen. This puts it into an acute conflict between wanting to stay immobile and crouched, on the one hand, and wanting to rush forward and attack, on the other. The conflict starts its tail wagging furiously and the same lack of cover that created the conflict then cruelly exposes the vigorous tail movements to the frightened gaze of the intended prey.