Why cats are afraid of cucumbers: the authoritative opinion of scientists

The Internet is full of videos of cats, seeing nearby cucumber, panic. Sometimes, the poor animals literally fly in the air filled with horror, causing bouts of merriment at the operator and spectators. Fear cause the cucumbers, as experiments with other vegetables and things break down. How to explain this animal behavior?

Modern scientists studying the behavior of cats, put forward several hypotheses as to why those so afraid of cucumbers. Many generally believe that the animal can get scared of any foreign object, which is unfamiliar to him. But this version does not hold water, because the network is full of videos where cats to no avail afraid of anything.

More plausible is the explanation that says that cats take cucumbers for snakes. The zoopsychology Con Slobodchikov (Con Slobodchikoff) argues that in the days when all cats lived in the wild, the reptiles were their most terrible enemies. So after thousands of years, these animals at the genetic level panic when I see items that remind them creeping reptiles. In this case it does not matter that Murzik grew up on the sofa and never seen any snakes.

Sounds quite convincing, but there are experts who are ready to compete with animal psychology. For example, a consultant on behavior of cats, Mikel Delgado (Mikel Delgado), who devoted many years to the study of relations between people and their Pets, believes that careful animals are frightened of items that appear suddenly where they were not.

Many video clearly shows that cucumber cats enclose unnoticed, if not drop suddenly, being out of sight of the animal. Aren't you afraid, if nowhere near you will be the bright object about the size of your foot? The animal psychology Jill Goldman (Goldman Jill) shared the view of Delgado, but adds that with the emergence of unfamiliar things in the cat triggered a protective psychological mechanism, giving the team immediately to get out of strange places.

There are other hypotheses, but they are rather humorous, so our attention is not worth it. But to remind you that cats are better so do not laugh, must. The fact that the mind cats are very vulnerable and frightening her with the cucumber, you cause the animal severe stress. This may not only affect the behavior of the cat, which will avoid you, but it may shorten her already short life.