3: Mysterious Cats

Published: Feb. 3, 2020, 5 a.m.

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Why do cats like boxes? Why do they wiggle their butts before they pounce and does cat nip really make cats high? All these questions (and a whole lot more) are answered by our intrepid science reporters, Jeanna and Mindy.
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Below you can find links to further reading on the topics discussed in this episode.
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  • A 2014 study in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science with shelter cats with and without hiding boxes to see if boxes could reduce stress
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  • When cats are just lying around not expending energy, their ideal temperature is 86 to 100 degrees F (30 to 38 degrees C), according to a study published in 2016 in the Scientific World Journal\\n
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  • Its scientific name is Nepeta cataria. And it belongs to the mint family Lamiaceae\\n
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  • Most cats \\u2014 or maybe even all \\u2014 are affected by catnip to some degree
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Don\\u2019t forget to subscribe! You can find more answers to life\\u2019s little mysteries at the Live Science website and you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook too. Tell us what your life\\u2019s little mysteries are at forums.livescience.com.
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\\nMusic by Chad Crouch - Algorithms
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