What is my cat doing?

December 6, 2008 2:58 PM

Predatorfilter: What is my cat doing?

Right now my cat sees a squirrel out on the balcony. He's crouching low, obviously, and also making a low, strange "clicking" sound in his throat with his mouth closed. It seems like some kind of primal, predatory "I want to eat that" response, but where does it come from and what does it mean? Clearly in the wild, predators wouldn't make such noises as it may scare away the food, and wild cats often hunt alone, so it probably doesn't come from a need to call over fellow hunters. What is the purpose of this noise?

posted by sweetkid to pets & animals (10 comments total)

My grandma always said when they did this, they were "charming the birds."

It's chattering (scroll down).

"This behavior is called "chattering" and it even has the experts stumped. Perhaps it's nothing but frustration, as the cat obviously would like to make a meal of the bird. Sometimes they actually salivate while carrying on, so this explanation could be a good guess."
posted by peggynature at 3:08 PM on December 6, 2008

My cat does this too. My thought is that it is to softly alert other cats of its intention to go on a killing rampage. Or maybe it's a best attempt at suppressing the urge to do the kitty equivalent of a person going "HOLY CRAP! OH BOY! OH BOY! OH BOY! WHEEEEEEEE!!"
posted by iamkimiam at 3:08 PM on December 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

It's a mystery why cats do this. Some surmise it is related to mimicking birdsong to attract birds, others say they are imagining devouring their prey as they watch. There is no definitive answer.
posted by fire&wings at 3:11 PM on December 6, 2008

"Clearly in the wild, predators wouldn't make such noises as it may scare away the food,"

Yeah, I can't see a cat doing it. But predators and prey do communicate.

Zahavi & Zahavi did a bunch of research on "Handicap signals", such as stotting, in which gazelles and other prey quadrupeds will,on noticing a preator, hop up and down. It seems a poor strategy to waste energy hopping when the animal may soon need to run away from the predator, but the stotting signals the predator that that prey animal is so confidence of his stamina that he can afford the handicap of hopping up and down. The signal is honest in that it can't be faked (it wastes energy/stamina to do it, an it's a signal about energy/stamina), and informs the predator that chasing that prey animal would be a fruitless (meatless) waste for the predator, who is advised to find a weaker prey.

Conspecifics (animals of the same species) also communicate, both with honest handicap signals and less honest subterfuges, like inflating throats or manes to look bigger, etc.

Standing on principle or "acting crazy" -- both come to the same thing -- is a known human tactic: if I'm so angry (or principled, or religiously zealous, or nationalistic, or whatever) that I'll risk disproportionate losses to uphold my principle/get even with you/defend my honor, it's probably not worth trying to intimidate me. Even if you are bigger or tougher than I am, if I'm willing to die just to rip off your arm (thus making you much weaker in your next fight), you won't benefit from beating me.

So do predators communicate to prey? Hard to say, but a blood-curdling scream that freezes your opponent/prey might work. And convincing your prey that he's bound to be eaten no mater what he does might convince him to give up sooner, thus costing the predator less effort. Certainly, humans use boasts, reputation, and propaganda to this effect against other humans.
posted by orthogonality at 3:17 PM on December 6, 2008 [5 favorites]

We have two cats that both do this while watching birds in our back yard from inside the house. Often one will see the bird, do the chatter, and the other cat will come running to the window from wherever they are in the house to see the bird.

When they're both there, they tend not to chatter.
posted by odinsdream at 3:28 PM on December 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

I think it's the opposite of stotting, actually.

Imagine you're a cat looking at birds. Which one do you go for? A bird is generally able to get into the air and away before you can get it, but there well might be one in a group in bad enough condition you can catch it, but they're all doing their best to put up a good front.

So you do something so scary, the chattering, that they all are forced to react, and you go for the one that's the most sluggish.
posted by jamjam at 3:51 PM on December 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

The cat is practising his killing bite.
posted by essexjan at 4:16 PM on December 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

My GF (who has an animal science degree...) says it's frustration. Domestic Housecats often aren't taught to kill - so the killing bite is right...if the cat was trained by it's mother as a mouser etc...

It's more likely frustration; the cats who are outside aren't making this sound.
posted by filmgeek at 7:54 PM on December 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

Couldn't find this yesterday, but polar bears can do something similar:

“An aggressive polar bear is more assured in its movements. It may attack without warning, but sometimes gives various attack signals. It can, for example, snort through its nose, or snap its teeth with a smacking sound. In that event one should be particularly on guard. The attack often comes quickly. The bear takes a course directly towards its prey at a quick trot, or in big bounds.”[Emphasis added.]

And there is a fairly recent BBC story about the challenges of being a teenager above the arctic circle in Norway (that I wasn't able to find) which singled out snapping their teeth as the big sign you were really in trouble.
posted by jamjam at 10:51 AM on December 7, 2008

The mama of my two was a real sneaky little witch :) (No she was, hey.)
Anyway, she would do this all the time! I'd definitely have to agree with "Charming the birds."

She would crouch in the sun out in the garden and sing to bunches of birds... who would cock their heads to the side in puzzlement. The braver amongst them would venture closer to the source of this curious song. Closer... and closer... and closer. Until I would come over and put an abrupt end to her crafty schemes, ha-ha! :)

They knew she was a Cat - I could always locate her by listening for a tree full off shrill calls. But when she was singing to them, it was like it was a Siren's Call or something?
My Kitties have a crack at it but they're nowhere near as masterful at it as she was. She was a sneaky old girl.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 9:40 AM on December 8, 2008