Click to play embedded YouTube video.
But that's not all. The cat knows that it is scary when it barks. But it knows, too, that if somebody finds out that the scary dog sounds emanate from a puny cat, the effect will be lost.
The cat knows, too, that humans are hard to fool. Well, sometimes. (Here, Findus, my best friend's cat, ahhhh, I love you! C'mere, boy! Yes, that' right, rub yourself against me. And purr. Purr some more! Yes! And bump your little head against my face as if you wanted to kiss me! Ahhh! Now Findus, would you like your favorite cat food? Slow-cooked beef in a tomato and spinach sauce? For which I have to pay two dollars to get a ridiculously small package of cat food? You want that, do you boy, eh?)
Okay. Sometimes cats know that humans can be fooled. But this cat has got its timing wrong. It knows that humans don't expect it to bark, and it doesn't want to be found out barking (and thus ruining the effects of its bark), but it thinks that humans have really short memories, so that they will forget that the cat ever barked if the cat only starts meowing as soon as it realizes that a human is present!
Ann
