Bolinha, my aunt's cat (Photo by Me)
For the past month, me, my mother and my sister have been babysitting my aunt's Persian cat Bolinha. We've had some hard times in the past because it can be very aggressive with strangers. After some days and a lot of positive reinforcement conditioning (thank you Ethology lessons!), Bolinha is now really sweet with me and my mother (I don't think it'll ever like my sister), and purrs a lot when we cuddle and pet it. That's got me wondering: how do cars purr?
It all begins with an stimulus (petting the cat, for example), which triggers the animal's Nervous System. The NS then sends a stimulus to the larynx muscles, which begin to contract and relax every 40 millionths of a second - approximately the speed of a hummingbird's wing-beat -, creating a vibration in the cat's throat and that particular sound of a little engine we all love so much.
It is also known that cats can use that sound to manipulate us humans to get food, attention and affection but, come on, did you really think that cats could be selfless?
It all begins with an stimulus (petting the cat, for example), which triggers the animal's Nervous System. The NS then sends a stimulus to the larynx muscles, which begin to contract and relax every 40 millionths of a second - approximately the speed of a hummingbird's wing-beat -, creating a vibration in the cat's throat and that particular sound of a little engine we all love so much.
It is also known that cats can use that sound to manipulate us humans to get food, attention and affection but, come on, did you really think that cats could be selfless?
~Ally
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