Nobody has had a more productive day than my mother pic.twitter.com/LK6KX9KM1x
— Danielle Matheson (@prograpslady) April 10, 2017
Did you know: If you mark out a square on the floor in tape, string, or whatever you have on hand, chances are your cat will go sit in it. It’s true! It seems like every few years the internet “re-discovers” this phenomenon, and every time it does it pulls in a few more incredulous cat owners.
This time we have to thank Uproxx’s own Danielle Matheson — or Matheson’s mother, anyway — who texted her daughter earlier this week to inform her that she learned of the trick on Pinterest. And after testing out the experiment with Matheson’s 10-year-old brother on their cat Finn (who may recognize from his bold anti-Duke stance back in March), as you can see, they can confirm that it does, indeed, work.
There are a few different possible scientific explanations behind the sensation, not unlike why your cat likes to plant itself in boxes. It’s not just squares cats are attracted to, but circles or any small enclosed, space, really. My own cat even prefers to sit inside the lotus design on my yoga mat, as you can see below.
Various theories include cats feeling security inside of an enclosed shape or possessing a subconscious need to conserve their body heat, while others theories involve territorial behavior as a cat may think the space is an area they need to defend.
Regardless of why cats like to sit in circles and squares, there’s no doubt that they do — as Matheson’s tweet led to hundreds of people trying the trick for themselves, and tweeting back the evidence.
True pic.twitter.com/7F93tt7sP6
— erin bahrenfuss (@ErinBahrenfuss7) April 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/HotYoungBriley/status/852031891045621760
https://twitter.com/stephseifert1/status/851593798094376960
Sorry! Old Lady+this Twitter thing=??? One got it. The other two not so much. pic.twitter.com/cW6zUGkTNt
— Tami Jayne (@TamiJayne19) April 12, 2017
it works pic.twitter.com/GSMIpq4wfR
— becca🌵🌞 (@beccastsko) April 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/istalklouis/status/851901369015558144
— ur local mail enby (@Lizzy_Hampton) April 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/Marc_Normandin/status/851782314006851584
I turned around to get my phone and *poof* instant cat! pic.twitter.com/bkGDMFgtFN
— trev 🌻 (@MarlyDee1) April 11, 2017
can confirm. cats find enclosed shapes on the ground irresistible. pic.twitter.com/mjvqzA4D2R
— krhainos🔜MCFC,VCF,AO (@krhainos) April 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/Jyngerbread/status/851610863303884801
https://twitter.com/Tonio_vibes/status/851869882073444353
One person learned that the trick even works on human boys:
https://twitter.com/bbrumfiel13/status/851958794682814464
Update: it works pic.twitter.com/ecR7kHBgtK
— B🐝 (@brumfiel13) April 12, 2017
While another learned that it definitely does not work on dogs:
wanted to see how a dog feels about this and Cooper refuses to even cross over the square. I'm dying. pic.twitter.com/zhQGyyDsYx
— Kasia A. (@fibula_rasa) April 11, 2017