This Ingenious Way Of Messing With Your Cat Is Captivating The Internet

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.

https://twitter.com/HotYoungBriley/status/852031891045621760

https://twitter.com/stephseifert1/status/851593798094376960

https://twitter.com/istalklouis/status/851901369015558144

https://twitter.com/Marc_Normandin/status/851782314006851584

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

While another learned that it definitely does not work on dogs: