The Cat Who Came Back
Curious Cases
BBC
4.8 • 4.1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 May 2017
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"How on earth do cats find their way back to their previous home when they move house?" asks Vicky Cole from Nairobi in Kenya.
Our enduring love for our feline friends began when Egyptian pharaohs began to welcome domesticated moggies into their homes. Pictured reclining in baskets at the feet of royalty, pet cats soon became fashionable throughout society in Egypt.
Today they are the most popular pet in the world, and home is definitely where their hearts lie.
"Whereas dogs are bonded to people, cats are bonded to place," explains zoologist Dr John Bradshaw. "It's very typical for them to try and find their way back to their old house when you move."
But how do they do it? And if their navigational skills are so good, why do they get lost?
Plus, Prof Matthew Cobb reveals the super-senses that cats possess, which humans don't, and how to spot when your cat is deploying them.
You can send your Curious Cases for the team to investigate to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk
Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford Producer: Michelle Martin.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'd just like to tell you about a podcast that I've been doing with my friend Brian Cox. |
| 0:04.8 | I'm Robinins. Welcome to The Infinite Monkey Cage. |
| 0:07.2 | What we're doing in this new series, Sharks, fungi, bees versus wasps. |
| 0:11.8 | We're going to explain how bees explode, why wasps don't explode, |
| 0:15.0 | before we then climb into a Supervolcano metaphorically. |
| 0:18.2 | So, if you'd like to hear about the magnificence and strangeness of the universe |
| 0:22.4 | and all the wonders that lie within, listen to The Infinite Monkey Cage. |
| 0:25.2 | And you can listen to the whole series before anyone else |
| 0:27.8 | when you listen on BBC Sound. |
| 0:30.2 | I'm Dr Adam Rutherford. And I'm Dr Hannah Fry. |
| 0:38.6 | And you are going to send us your everyday mysteries. |
| 0:41.6 | And we are going to investigate them using the power of science. |
| 0:45.6 | Science. I like it. |
| 0:51.6 | Hello and welcome to Series 6 of the curious cases of Fry and Rutherford. |
| 0:58.0 | And this time round for you, for the dear podcast faithful, |
| 1:01.4 | the people who choose to listen to us. |
| 1:03.6 | To download us and have us in their ear. |
| 1:06.0 | Listen to us rambling on. |
| 1:08.2 | We're doing something slightly different because we wanted you to have access |
| 1:13.2 | to the episodes long before they go out on Radio 4. |
| 1:17.0 | And so we are going to be releasing a new podcast every Friday for the next five weeks. |
| 1:23.6 | So not all in one big dump. |
... |
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