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Love cats on the internet? Why they're really killer kitties

 

Laura Davis
Wednesday 30 January 2013 13:17 GMT
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Even before they start school, children rate puppies, kittens and babies as "cuter" than their adult counterparts.
Even before they start school, children rate puppies, kittens and babies as "cuter" than their adult counterparts.

Before the internet, who knew that cats were really so popular?

Many unknown kitties have become superstars, just by doing everyday things like saying "Oh My God", playing the piano, or a spot of boxing.

Cat videos are among the most popular on YouTube, and the psychology behind our interest in the furry creatures has been discussed at length. Forbes said:

"Cat memes can be understood as modern icons that celebrate and worship the symbolic cat. They seem to emphasize how cats are like humans. But the unconscious message might be more profound. They might be about the way humans are like cats."

Now a new cat revelation has come forth - that cats are a lot deadlier than we think. It positions the domestic cat as one of the single greatest human-linked threats to wildlife in the US.

A recent report said more birds and mammals die at the mouths of cats than from vehicles, pesticides, poisons other so-called anthropogenic causes (such as man-made structures). It also said "Scientifically sound conservation and policy intervention is needed to reduce this impact."

So perhaps the real reason we love them is because we're terrified of them...

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