Several people sent me links recently to videos of cats being scared by cucumbers. Just google "cats scared by cucumbers" - evidently it's a thing.
Hmmm, I thought. I wonder why cats are scared of cucumbers? And is it ALL cats, or just SOME cats?
Enquiring minds wanted to know.
We'll start with the permacats. The deal is, you're supposed to place cucumbers behind cats when they are otherwise distracted, and when they turn around and see the cuke, they lose their sh*t.
Cukes placed:
They turn around, and .... nope. Just a sniff.
Soda sniffed the cukes, and Pony sniffed Soda's butt. *sigh*
Okay, let's try the fosters! Cucumbers placed:
The kittens turn around, and ... nada.
I currently have ... let's see ... seven cats in the house, and not one reacted to the Cucumber Challenge. Anybody else out there try it?
4 comments:
haven't tried it. but there are also articles saying not to scare your cats - ummm - so no more vacuuming?? cracks me up
You know what's weird? With the foster kittens I've had, only about 20% of them are scared by the vacuum - the rest are just curious. Whereas with older cats I've had, the vacuum scare rate is almost 100%, with the exception of my current cat Ponyboy, who fears nothing.
I guess cats get more cautious as they age? Or maybe more bothered by loud noises?
I have a possible explanation for the cucumber thing. If you're ever walking in the woods and smell cucumbers, stop and look around carefully. Copperhead snakes smell like cucumbers. There were a lot of copperheads around where I lived in Maryland, and I often smelled them. They release the scent when they're annoyed. The shape of a cucumber is sort of like a fat snake on first glance. Maybe the cats are reacting to an instinctive ancestral fear.
~~Silk, that is FASCINATING. I'm going to try cutting the cucumbers up, to release the smell, and see if the cats react. Science!
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