spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.church
Oct 20, 2026, 11:47 PMdear everyone who has a cat, please create a polygon of colorful tape on your floor and see what happens
(@mr.milothechonk)
![Milo the tabby and Poppy the black cat are sitting a little ways away from each other on a kitchen counter. "They say if you tape a square to the ground, your cat will come and sit in it," their owner writes. "I tried it out the other day and Poppy came and sat in it. She stayed there for a while...not blinking, of course [laugh-cry emoji]. Milo's turn next: He immediately went to the square. Wasn't sure if he was going to sit in it...and then he sat right down [laugh-cry emoji]. Over twenty minutes later, and Poppy came back over. I think she was ready for her turn again [laugh-cry emoji]. So I knew I was going to have to tape two squares to the ground [laugh-cry emoji]. I did that today, and Milo immediately went and sat in one. Shortly after, Poppy came and sat in the other [laugh-cry emoji], which for some reason, upset Milo. So he waited for her to leave, and then claimed her square. Poppy came and sat in the other [laugh-cry emoji]. They are currently both sitting in their squares and it's been over an hour [laugh-cry emoji]. Is this how they communicate with their mothership? [laugh-cry emoji]"](https://dmvcommunitymedia.b-cdn.net/cache/media_attachments/files/117/475/940/071/603/964/small/4d496c8a3f71e229.png)
Replies
- spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 20, 2026, 11:49 PM
@sinituulia would be very curious to see how your cats react to a single square
- spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 12:05 AM
- spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 12:17 AM
Milo the tabby and Poppy the black cat are sitting a little ways away from each other on a kitchen counter. "They say if you tape a square to the ground, your cat will come and sit in it," their owner writes. "I tried it out the other day and Poppy came and sat in it. She stayed there for a while...not blinking, of course [laugh-cry emoji]. Milo's turn next: He immediately went to the square. Wasn't sure if he was going to sit in it...and then he sat right down [laugh-cry emoji]. Over twenty minutes later, and Poppy came back over. I think she was ready for her turn again [laugh-cry emoji]. So I knew I was going to have to tape two squares to the ground [laugh-cry emoji]. I did that today, and Milo immediately went and sat in one. Shortly after, Poppy came and sat in the other [laugh-cry emoji], which for some reason, upset Milo. So he waited for her to leave, and then claimed her square. Poppy came and sat in the other [laugh-cry emoji]. They are currently both sitting in their squares and it's been over an hour [laugh-cry emoji]. Is this how they communicate with their mothership? [laugh-cry emoji]"
Medea Vanamonde 🏳️⚧️MedeaVanamonde@beige.partyOct 21, 2026, 12:38 AMTaco Body
Taco Body
Taco Body- spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 12:38 AM
@MedeaVanamonde @kimlockhartga this is the first hearty laugh ive had all day, thanks
Oct 21, 2026, 1:38 AM@pastelexuvia sadly mine is old and blind. No chance he's seeing a square when he can't avoid the walls.
- spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 1:39 AM
@sj awww its ok. sweet floof!
apriloq 💀👻🎃🍂🍁apriloq@connectop.usOct 21, 2026, 2:02 AM@pastelexuvia I want to try this with triangles.
tanavit 🇨🇵tanavit@pouet.chapril.orgOct 21, 2026, 8:18 AM
sentientspongesentientsponge@mastodon.socialOct 21, 2026, 2:25 AM@pastelexuvia holy shit, it works!
- spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 2:26 AM
@sentientsponge omg!!!
CJSlangC5326@mastodon.socialOct 21, 2026, 2:29 AM
Steggysteggy@sunny.gardenOct 21, 2026, 2:52 AM@pastelexuvia I’m going to try this tomorrow
AO Smithaosmith16@hachyderm.ioOct 21, 2026, 3:24 AM@pastelexuvia
From many years ago. The cat trap was extremely effective.
WhichOne'sPink 🇫🇮NickSchwanck@aus.socialOct 21, 2026, 7:44 AM@aosmith16 @pastelexuvia No luck here yet.
Patrick Georgipatrick@retro.socialOct 21, 2026, 6:12 AM@pastelexuvia Also works with negative space: https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/cats-sit-squares
Oct 21, 2026, 7:09 AM@pastelexuvia demon summoning 101
bees and natureFlorapis@toot.walesOct 21, 2026, 7:27 AM@pastelexuvia that is very weird!
Cronefootmtechman@mastodon.ieOct 21, 2026, 11:35 AM@pastelexuvia I'm doing to do this to introduce my cats to our son at Christmas..."and in this square, meet Oscar."
Helen Claytonhelenclayton@mas.toOct 21, 2026, 11:56 AM@pastelexuvia @purplepadma tried this with my last cat (also a tabby chonk). He was having none of it. I think I do have a photo of my husband sitting in the square but he won’t thank me for sharing 😂).
Charlotte Walkerpurplepadma@beige.partyOct 21, 2026, 12:20 PM@helenclayton @pastelexuvia Haha man trap
Dave Fischerdavefischer@hachyderm.ioOct 21, 2026, 2:24 PMMy cat sitting in a box:
dataramadatarama@hachyderm.ioOct 21, 2026, 4:35 PM@pastelexuvia I can report that my pet lizard (a Northern blue-tongue skink) wandered over to investigate the thing I had made on the floor, and then just walked away again. He was interested in it, but not drawn to sitting in it.
- dataramadatarama@hachyderm.ioOct 21, 2026, 4:39 PM
@pastelexuvia (footnote: A thing he does have in common with cats is that he also likes to sit (or, well, "plop down" is probably a more accurate description of what a blue-tongue does) in boxes - though apparently a taped square doesn't look sufficiently box-like to him!
Cats and blue-tongue skinks both exhibit positive thigmotaxis - eg. feeling calm and safe when they can feel something all around them, like if they're squeezed into a box or a little cave.)
- spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 7:16 PM
@datarama amazing. thank you for your contribution 🫡
- dataramadatarama@hachyderm.ioOct 21, 2026, 7:25 PM
@pastelexuvia I suspect there's a little bit of cat in him. He has solved a cat puzzle feeder, he will chase some kinds of cat toys, and he likes to eat wet cat food. (But he isn't scared of cucumbers. In fact he'll eat them.)
- dataramadatarama@hachyderm.ioOct 21, 2026, 7:32 PM
@pastelexuvia This is him. My phone was dead when I did the tape experiment so I didn't capture it.
- spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 7:33 PM
@datarama !!!! calm baby!!
- dataramadatarama@hachyderm.ioOct 21, 2026, 7:36 PM
@pastelexuvia He's 18, so not really a baby anymore. :-)
But yes, very calm. He's absolutely fearless about humans; he will wander into my arm on his own, and likes to lick people's noses.
Here, have a blue blep!
Shaula EvansShaulaEvans@zirk.usOct 22, 2026, 5:48 AM@datarama @pastelexuvia I'm excited to learn a word for this because apparently I too exhibit positive thigmotaxis.
- dataramadatarama@hachyderm.ioOct 22, 2026, 7:34 PM
@ShaulaEvans @pastelexuvia It's actually quite common for creatures who aren't either apex predators or extremely large.
Some animals also seem to experience active fear of being in open spaces (geckos, for example, or most snakes). But even in those who don't (or who somehow overcome that fear), many simply seem to find comfort in feeling squeezed in.
Igor here doesn't fear open spaces at all - he'll happily wander around and explore everything from the apartment floor to a grassy park. But he also prefers the smallest sleeping cave he can get, and always sleeps with as much of his body as he can pressed up against the walls.
- dataramadatarama@hachyderm.ioOct 22, 2026, 7:37 PM
@ShaulaEvans @pastelexuvia (Footnote: On one of his summer park excursions, he *has* done something a bit like the cats sitting in taped squares: He spotted some humans with a picnic blanket, and he resolutely beelined over and plopped himself down on their blanket. It was *very* clear that something in his brain simply *demanded* that he go sit on that blanket.
(fortunately, the humans were friendly. One of them even got to scritch his neck a bit.)
- Shaula EvansShaulaEvans@zirk.usOct 22, 2026, 9:30 PM
@datarama @pastelexuvia Aw. ❤️
- Shaula EvansShaulaEvans@zirk.usOct 22, 2026, 9:30 PM
@datarama @pastelexuvia As I am very much not an apex predator nor extremely large, this still tracks. 😂
I have genuinely always loved being in tiny spaces and now, in my isolation life, it's one of the few things that helps with the skin hunger.
Tell Igor I'm sending him thigmotaxic solidarity.
Amandineeco_amandine@mastodon.crOct 21, 2026, 11:01 PM@pastelexuvia it didn't work here. Charrito wasn't impressed and Orejas sniffed around it but didn't enter the square.
- spoopy maddox 🦇👻🎃pastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 11:02 PM
@eco_amandine they know it is a trick
- Amandineeco_amandine@mastodon.crOct 21, 2026, 11:56 PM
@pastelexuvia probably 🤣
Oct 22, 2026, 4:22 PM@eco_amandine A little confusing given the tiles already make lots of squares, I think.
- Amandineeco_amandine@mastodon.crOct 22, 2026, 4:41 PM
@ml they noticed it perfectly and Orejas came to see the new thing. He wasn't interesting in coming in, tough. Maybe I could use a wider tape next time 🤣
- Oct 22, 2026, 4:43 PM
@eco_amandine Oh, it's not that I thought they couldn't see it. My hypothesis is that when there are that many squares, they may not see a 2D square as the kind of "protection" that cats normally do. The square doesn't stand out against the background, psychologically speaking.
I assume they still sit in boxes if you put them down, though.
- Amandineeco_amandine@mastodon.crOct 22, 2026, 4:48 PM
@ml yes they love boxes.
