How to Tempt a Cat

Warning: This post contains cute cat photos. A LOT of cute cat photos.

A few days ago, a friend mentioned a viral, tongue-in-cheek blog entry called “How to Trap a Cat.” Someone had created a circle on their carpet using duct tape, and within minutes their cat located the circle and sat in it.

I thought that was pretty amusing, so I decided to test it out on my cats. A small part of me consider Biddy and Walter too smart to fall for such an obvious trick–they’re more interested higher pursuits, like playing in packing material:

duct tape experiment

So I set the “trap” and waited. The cats were in the room as I applied the tape, so I figured it wouldn’t be long before they were both sitting in their respective squares.

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When they didn’t come scurrying over, I went back to work at my desk.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I honestly don’t think they even noticed the “trap”. Finally, hours later, I walked into the room and found this happening:

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Then this:

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The, appropriately, this:

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It wasn’t quite what I expected, but it was good enough. I left the tape on the carpet, still hoping that both cats would end up in the squares simultaneously at some point, but Walter never even got close. Biddy did hang out on one of them for a while yesterday, though:

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The results were quite different when I introduced a box into the experiment. Within minutes, this was happening:

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Followed by this:

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Finally, Walter showed up:

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Cute, right? Nah, it was just a precursor to 10 minutes of this:

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That’s it.

Also, a writer friend of mine who often talks about cats on her blog reposted the entry I wrote a while ago about Biddy. I really value the little guy, and I’ve learned a lot by being a cat father. You can read the post here.

12 thoughts on “How to Tempt a Cat”

  1. When I saw Biddy sitting or rather squatting with his tail up in the smaller square I was hoping he did not thing it was a litter box. Very cute trick to keep the cats and you thinking.

    Reply
  2. One of the cutest posts ever!!! You still need to try circles though. Squares and rectangles don’t count. *Squeal* Fat cat in a box. A box filled with cat. 😀 I love it. And Walter being playful. Hopefully that was not a prelude to a cat fight.

    Reply
    • Ha ha…I’m glad you liked it. And he’s not fat! He’s healthy. And a few pounds overweight, according to the vet.

      Reply
  3. My cats weren’t impressed (or tricked) by the temptation of a circle on the floor either. I used a ribbon (which I did not tape down), and Hodor investigated the new addition but wound up carrying it away to use as a toy within minutes– Gwen glanced over at it, but couldn’t be bothered to leave her seat in front of the window to check it out.

    Reply

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