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If you have a cat, or have ever spent much time on the Internet,
如果你家里有只猫咪 或者经常上网 你就会知道
you know that cats like to sit in boxes, or any other small container.
猫咪喜欢卧在箱子里 或者其它小的容器里
Adorable, no? If it fits, they sits. But have you ever wondered why they do this?
很可爱 是吧 只要合适 它们就躺进去 但你有没有好奇过 它们为什么喜欢这样
Well, for one, it helps their anxiety.
呃 其中一个原因是这样可以减轻它们的焦虑
I know, considering that they sleep 12 hours a day, they don't really seem like anxious animals.
我知道 考虑到猫咪一天能睡12个小时 它们看起来不像是会焦虑的动物
But cats experience stress like any other mammal.
但是 猫和其他哺乳动物一样 都在承受着压力
And when they're sitting in a box, cats feel like they're in a protected place
当猫窝在箱子里的时候 它们会觉得呆在了一个受保护的地方
where they can observe and hunt without worrying about being attacked.
它们可以不用担心被攻击 放心大胆地观察和捕猎
This makes sense, since cats are ambush predators, meaning they're always looking to surprise their next target.
这也说得通 因为猫是伏击型捕食者 自然意味着它们一直想要让它的下一个猎物 措手不及
To better understand how boxes help cats calm down, one study published in the General Applied Animal Behaviour Science
为了更好地理解箱子是怎么让猫冷静下来的 一项发表在《通用动物行为科学》杂志的研究
observed a group of cats that had just arrived at a new animal shelter.
观察了一组刚刚搬到到新窝的猫
New environments can be difficult for cats, so stress levels were pretty high.
对猫来说 新环境有时难以事宜 所以它们的压力很大
And scientists were able to rank the cat's anxiety by looking at factors
科学家们可以通过观察它们的行为 耳朵和尾巴的位置等因素
like their activity levels, and their ear and tail positions.
来对它们的焦虑程度进行排队
This system is known as the Kessler and Turner Cat-Stress-Score.
这个系统就是著名的 凯斯勒-特纳猫压力评估系统
Now, when some of the cats were given boxes to hide in,
现在 给其中的一些猫箱子 它们躲进去后
their stress levels went way down in only three days, and the effect was observed in nearly all of the animals with boxes.
压力水平在三天内就会 显著降低 这种效果几乎在所有被给了箱子的动物身上都可以观察到
For comparison, the cats who didn't get boxes eventually reached the same low level of stress,
而在对照组 那些没有箱子的猫的压力水平最终也到达了同样低的水平
but it took them two weeks. So, especially in high-stress situations,
但是用了整整两周 所以 尤其是对那些处于高压状况下的猫
it's important for cats to have an enclosed space to retreat to and feel protected.
有一个封闭的 安全的空间来休息 是非常重要的
This is also true of large cats like tigers and jaguars, except,
这对于大型猫科动物 比如老虎和美洲虎 也是同样适用
instead of hiding in your latest Amazon box, they'll hide in trees, caves, or other concealed spaces.
但它们不是躲在 你最近的亚马逊快递盒里 它们躲在树林 山洞或者其他隐蔽的地方
But there's another reason cats like boxes so much: Apparently, our houses are too cold.
然而 猫这么喜欢箱子还有一个原因 显然是我们家里太冷了
While you might enjoy a comfortable 24 degrees Celsius, cats prefer much warmer temperatures,
你可能觉得24摄氏度很舒坦 然而 美国国家研究委员会的一项研究表明 猫喜欢更暖和的温度
between 30 and 36 degrees, according to a study by the National Research Council.
大概30到36摄氏度
By curling up in a cardboard box, cats can trap some of their body heat to make up a few of those degrees.
通过窝在纸箱里 猫可以留住一定的体热 来达到这个温度（30到36摄氏度）
That's also why cats like basking in sunlight or curling up on top of your heating vent.
这也就是为什么猫喜欢晒太阳或者窝在采暖的通风口上了
So if you have a kitty at home, and you want to keep cat-stress at bay,
所以 如果你家里有只猫 而你想让它尽量放松 那么只要保证
just make sure they have a nice cozy box to sits in.
它有个可以躺进去的舒适的箱子就行
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow, and a special thank-you to all of our patrons on Patreon.
谢谢观看这期的科学秀 并且特别感谢所有在Patreon上支持我们的人
If you want to help us keep making this show possible, you can go to patreon.com/scishow.
如果你想帮我们继续制作这样的视频 请到patreon.com/scishow
And for more episodes like this, go to youtube.com/scishow and subscribe.
想看更多类似视频 请到youtube.com/scishow 然后关注我们
