The true part is that cats sometimes get stuck in trees because they are built for climbing up, but not so much for climbing down. Their retractable claws are curved and their hind legs are stronger than their front, which makes them agile climbers going up, but that same physiology makes it difficult to maneuver down.
Mother cats teach their young a lot of things, but they don’t teach them about climbing trees. That’s because most of the time, there’s no need to worry about it. Usually, a cat won’t climb very high and can safely jump from limb to limb to the ground.
A cat’s instinct, however, is to go through life face forward, always knowing what lies ahead of it. Cats don’t have a natural inclination to turn around and back into the unknown, so to speak. It takes them a while to both figure it out and then to pluck up courage to back down the tree, but some cats are so traumatized, they stay in the tree waiting for the world to bend to their will and release them from the tree.
Young cats are more likely to have this happen to them, but that’s only because they don’t have the experience other cats might have. Even experienced climbers, however, can be reluctant to give it a go.
Credit : The Mercury News
Picture Credit : Google
