Cats are remarkable creatures that can seemingly become silent whenever they want to. While they may make a lot of noise if they have the zoomies, they can also creep up on you without making a sound.
This ability is of course useful for hunting as it allows them to catch unsuspecting prey. But how do they manage to be so quiet when they hunt? Let’s take a closer look!
The Evolutionary Need for Stealth
Animals hunt in a variety of different ways. Wolves hunt in packs often using endurance, eagles dive at incredible speeds, and crocodiles are ambush hunters. The need for cats to be silent stealth hunters comes from the animals they are trying to catch.
Larger predators can often afford to chase down their meals. However, cat prey, such as birds and mice, are easily frightened and quick. This means a cat needs to get close to them until it’s time to pounce.
The hunt for a cat is usually over extremely quickly. With the potential for their prey to hide or fly away, silence became vital. This ability, along with their incredible senses, allows them to catch nimble prey in the blink of an eye.
Specialized Anatomy for Silent Movement
The stealth of a cat all starts with their legs. Firstly, they have soft and cushioned paw pads which effectively act as shock absorbers on impact. Added to this, they can retract their claws, so they don’t make any noise when they are moving, especially on hard surfaces.
Another feature of their legs is the ability to do something called direct registering. This is the ability to walk and only create two footprints. This is because their hind legs will walk in the same footprint as their front legs.
It means they don’t have to worry about stepping on leaves or anything else that may make a sound. This crossing over of their legs is where we get the term catwalk from. Cats don’t always walk like this, only when they need to.
Finally, they are also digitigrade. This means they walk around on their toes at all times. With a long foot and a high ankle, this not only allows them to tread lightly but it also helps to give them that incredible leap.
Other Anatomical Features
Along with their feet, cats have a few other features that allow them to be silent hunters. One of those is their flexible spine. It allows them to move and manipulate their body without touching anything and allows them to stay low to the ground while stalking.
Cats also have incredible muscle control, including using their tail for balance and movement. They can move with precision, with every step being deliberate and controlled. It allows them to make incredibly accurate jumps and movements, whilst limiting any sound.
Their whiskers also play a role in their silence. For cats, whiskers act like an instrument panel in a fighter jet. The data they receive about air currents, spatial awareness, balance, and objects allows them to make informed decisions to reduce noise.
The Art of the Silent Stalk
Cats may have all the physical traits needed to hunt silently, but they also have the behavioral skills to go with it. Once their eyes are locked onto their target, cats will be happy to stalk their prey. This includes keeping their body low to the ground and moving deliberately, calculating their approach.
They also know the art of when to pause. If they fear being detected, they can stay perfectly still until they can continue stalking. Cats may also do this to reassess their target without giving the game away.
An often-overlooked aspect of animal hunting is patience. Cats will happily wait for long periods if they need to, stopping for the perfect moment. They won’t make any unnecessary movements and will avoid any meowing, chirping, or anything that may cause sound, such as tail movements.
Once the stalking and pausing has worked, the final phase is the pounce. With being ambush predators, cats like getting close to their prey. They’ll use their powerful hind legs along with their other features to launch towards the victim with incredible speed and accuracy.
Enhanced Senses for Stealth
We’ve looked at their anatomy and behavior, but the hunting ability of cats is also aided by their incredible senses. That starts with their hearing, as they detect incredibly high frequencies, allowing them to hear the faintest rustle or squeak that a human would never notice. The ability to rotate their ears only helps with this sound detection.
Cats’ eyes are also perfect for hunting. Having slit pupils allows them to accurately judge distance and they have incredible low-light vision. This allows them to hunt at dawn or dusk, as well as avoid any missteps that may give the game away.
Another heightened cat sense when compared to humans is their smell. They can not only use their own nose to detect prey, but they also have awareness of how their own scent can give them away. It adds to the ability of cats to know exactly where their prey is, even if their prey has no idea where the cat is.
Why These Skills Should Be Nurtured
It’s best for owners to appreciate that cats are natural hunters. The reason cats were domesticated is for their ability to kill pests. They haven’t lost these instincts, even if they can still happily live an indoor life without killing a single thing.
Yet, those instincts should still be encouraged and nurtured. Doing so provides them with mental stimulation, encourages physical exercise, relieves stress and fulfills their natural instincts. Cats store up their energy to hunt, and they need to release this in a healthy way.
Thankfully, this can be done without harming any animals. Practice is enough to pacify them and this can be done with toys and interaction. Feather wands and ribbons can be a great way to practice pouncing, laser pointers and food puzzles can also help to keep their mind active.
A cat will know how to hunt without ever being taught, it’s just in their blood and their entire anatomy is geared towards it. Nurturing these skills not only helps keep them stimulated, but it can help you bond, reduce behavioral problems, prevent the zoomies, and give them better sleep.
