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Do Cats, Lions and Tigers Understand each other? | Animal facts for kids · The Curious Kidcast | Fun Facts and Curious Questions

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  Picture this, you're walking through a zoo and you stop at
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  the lion enclosure. The lion looks at you, opens
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  it's massive mouth and lets out a roar so loud your chest
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  actually wobbles. Then you walk a bit further and
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  there is a tiger doing the same low grumbly stare.
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  And then you go home and your little pet cat is sitting on the
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  sofa giving you that same exact look.
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  And you think, wait a second, are these things actually
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  related? Can they understand each other?
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  Well, today we are going to find out.
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  Curious kid cast? Here we go.
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  Questions poppin. Minds will blow Big ideas.
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  They're taking flight. Let's explore.
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  Feel the light. Welcome to the Curious Kid cast,
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  the show where we take your big, brilliant, slightly bonkers
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  questions and hunt down the answers.
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  I am Charlie, your guide through the wonderfully weird world of
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  science, nature, and all the things that make you go.
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  Today's question comes from Jasper, who's nine years old and
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  lives in Bristol. Jasper was watching his cat, Mr.
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  Fluffington, staring intensely at a nature documentary about
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  tigers. And Jasper, being the kind of
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  curious genius that listens to this podcast, started wondering
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  whether Mr. Fluffington and the tiger on the telly was somehow,
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  in some strange way, having a conversation.
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  Jasper, that's a fantastic question.
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  And honestly, we wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Fluffington was
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  absolutely convinced he was a tiger all along.
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  So let's start at the beginning. Cats, lions and tigers are all
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  part of the same animal family. Scientists call it the feline
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  family, but you can just call it the cat club.
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  And just like in any club, the members have a lot in common.
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  They all have sharp claws, powerful bodies, long tails,
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  brilliant night vision, and that same deeply suspicious look they
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  give you when you sneeze too loudly.
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  But here's the real question. Because they're related, can
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  they actually understand each other?
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  Can a house cat and a lion have a chat?
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  Well, not in the way you and your best friend chat about
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  video games or what's for lunch, but they do communicate, just
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  not with words. They use sounds, body movements,
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  smells, and facial expressions. And some of those signals are
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  surprisingly similar across the whole cat family.
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  Let's talk about sounds first. A house cat hisses when it's
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  scared or angry. A tiger growls.
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  A lion roars. These are all very different
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  sounds, but they all basically mean the same sort of thing,
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  which is back off. I'm not happy right now.
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  If a lion heard a tiny house cat hissing at it, the lion would
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  almost certainly understand the message, even if it also found
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  it quite funny. Like, imagine a hamster telling
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  off a horse. The horse gets it.
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  It just maybe does not take it super seriously.
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  Body language is another big one.
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  When a cat is scared or angry, it flattens its ears, puffs up
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  its fur, arches its back and shows its teeth.
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  Lions and tigers do very similar things.
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  They tense up, show their teeth, lower their heads and flick
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  their tails when they are irritated.
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  So if a house cat met a tiger, which we are definitely not
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  recommending by the way, they would probably both understand
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  pretty quickly who was feeling what.
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  The cat would understand the tiger was dangerous.
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  The tiger would understand the cat was absolutely terrified.
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  Communication successful. Terrible idea, but successful
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  Body language is another big body language is another big
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  one. When a cat is scared or angry,
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  it flattens its ears, puffs up its fur, arches its back and
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  shows its teeth. Lions and tigers do very similar
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  things. They tense up, show their teeth,
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  lower their heads, and flick their tails when they are
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  irritated. So if a house cat met a tiger,
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  which we are definitely not recommending by the way, they
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  would probably both understand pretty quickly who was feeling
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  what. The cat would understand the
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  tiger was dangerous. The tiger would understand.
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  The cat was absolutely terrified.
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  Communication successful. Terrible idea.
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  Now let us get into something really interesting.
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  Smell cats communicate loads through scent.
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  Your pet cat rubs its face on everything, scratches the
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  furniture and sometimes, rather embarrassingly, sprays smells
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  around the place. This is all a way of leaving
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  messages. It is basically cat graffiti.
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  Lions and tigers do this too. They spray scent, scratch trees
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  and leave marks to say I was here, this is my space, stay
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  away. And because they are all related
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  they can probably read each others messages at least a
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  little bit. A tiger sniffing a spot where a
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  house cat had been would probably know another feline had
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  passed through. It might not get every single
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  detail, but it would get the general idea.
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  But here is where it gets a bit more complicated.
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  Lions live in groups called prides, and they have developed
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  sounds and signals for group life, calling to each other,
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  keeping the family together, warning each other of danger.
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  Tigers mostly live alone, so their communication is built
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  more for a solitary life. And house cats have actually
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  developed some special ways of talking specifically to humans.
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  Meowing, for example, is something adult cats mostly do
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  with people, not really with other cats.
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  So some parts of their communication are quite
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  different. They can understand the big
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  general feelings like danger, fear, and this is my territory,
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  but the finer details might get a bit lost in translation.
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  Now here is something Jasper also got us thinking about.
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  What about cats from different countries?
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  Could a cat from England understand a cat from Australia
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  or Canada? Well, the brilliant news is,
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  yes, almost certainly all domestic cats are the same
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  species. They all use the same basic
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  signals. A hiss means the same thing in
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  Tokyo as it does in Toronto. A purr is a purr whether you're
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  in London or Los Angeles. An upright tail means the same
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  friendly, confident thing no matter which country you are in.
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  Cats do not have different languages depending on where
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  they grow up. They might have slightly
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  different personalities depending on how they were
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  raised, whether they are St. cats or house cats, whether they
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  grew up around lots of other animals or just humans.
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  But the core cat language is the same everywhere.
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  Think of it like facial expressions in humans.
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  Even if two people speak completely different languages,
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  they can both tell if someone is laughing, crying, or about to
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  sneeze dramatically. Cats are the same, they just
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  swap faces for tails and ears and growls.
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  So to wrap it all up, cats, lions and tigers can understand
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  each other, but only partly. They share a kind of basic
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  feline vocabulary of feelings, things like danger, anger, calm
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  and get out of my space. But they would not understand
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  every little detail of each other's communication because
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  they have each developed their own special signals for their
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  own very different lives and cats from different countries.
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  They are pretty much fluent in the same cat language wherever
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  in the world they happen to be napping.
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  Right? Before we finish today, it is
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  quiz time. 3 questions and you can shout your answers at the
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  pod. It is fine, we encourage it.
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  Question one. What do scientists call the
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  animal family that cats, lions and tigers all belong to?
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  Is it A the canine family, B the feline family or C the stripey
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  family? The answer is B the feline
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  family. Well done if you got that one
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  question Two, what does a slow blink usually mean when a cat
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  does it? Is it AI am about to attack you
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  BI have something in my eye or CI am calm and I trust you?
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  The answer is CI am calm and I trust you.
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  So next time your cat slow blinks at you, slow blink back.
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  You are basically having a whole conversation.
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  Do cats from different countries speak different versions of cat
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  language? Is it a yes, every country has
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  completely different cat sounds? B.
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  No, all domestic cats use the same basic signals, or C Only
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  cats in France speak a different language because they are
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  French. The answer is B.
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  All domestic cats use the same basic signals.
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  Although option C was very tempting.
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  That is it for today's episode of The Curious Kid cast.
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  A massive thank you to Jasper from Bristol for the brilliant
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  question. And an extra special shout out
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  to Mr. Fluffington, who we are now fully convinced is secretly
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  a tiger in disguise. If you enjoyed this episode,
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  please share it with a friend, a classmate, or anyone who has
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  ever looked at their cat and thought what are you actually
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  thinking? And if you have a question you
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  would like us to investigate on a future episode, head over to
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  curiouskidcast.com and send it in.
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  We read every single one and your question could be the next
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  one we explore. Do not forget to subscribe so
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  you never miss an episode. We will be back soon with more
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  brilliant questions, more surprising answers, and quite
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  possibly more jokes about cats who think they are tigers.
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  Until next time, stay curious, hey?
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  We'll let your questions rise. Listen up to the endless sky.
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  Everyone isn't far so bright. Curious.
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  Kick ass. Ignite the light.