The behavior of cats bending their ears to both sides or back during an ambush is called "airplane ears" by cat lovers. This name is very vivid, and the cat's ears look like drooping. It is a small plane, and when paired with the cat’s round little head, it looks particularly cute. No wonder it has become the most representative of the many cute features of cats.

So why do cats put on the shape of airplane ears? In fact, this behavior is still very particular. Let’s first count the times when cats will show their airplane ears! The first is what I just described. Cats will display airplane ears when they are secretly observing and preparing for an attack. In addition, when two cats are playing or fighting, they will put out their airplane ears during the confrontation stage. The situation at this time is that if the enemy does not move, I will not move, and if the enemy moves, I will move around.

When a cat is frightened, it will hide and huddle in a corner with its ears drooped down, looking timid and nervous. Sometimes cats sit on the window sill and look out at pedestrians, cars, birds, and bugs with a very focused expression. If you pay attention, you will find that cats at this time will occasionally swing out their airplane ears. In addition, when there is a sudden sound next to or outside the window, the cat’s airplane ears can also be seen. Furthermore, when a cat is sleepy and yawns with its mouth wide open, its ears will also fall down.

Basically it is under these circumstances that airplane ears appear. Depending on the situation, the causes and functions of aircraft ears are different, but they can basically be divided into two categories. The first type is relatively simple, that is, airplane ears appear when the cat's facial muscles and nerves undergo extensive activities and stretches, such as yawning and sneezing. The function of placing airplane ears at this time is to relax and stretch the muscles.

The second type of situation that occurs with airplane ears is related to functionality. We all know that the ears are used to listen to sound, and sound is a wave generated by the vibration of an object propagating in the air or other media. There are many long and short fluffs in the cat's external auditory canal. These fluffs are not decorations, but can help cats sense air vibrations in more subtle ways, thereby collecting and analyzing the source and intensity of sounds. So when a sound comes from behind or from the side, the cat will first turn its ears to collect the subsequent sounds. In fact, most animals with flexible ears do this.

When cats are nervous or highly focused, they will first lock the target with their eyes and will not easily shift their gaze, because if their eyes wander, they are likely to lose the opportunity and be escaped by the target, or lose in the confrontation. . The line of sight cannot be changed easily, but the surrounding disturbances are also very important, and you need to be 100% alert to pay attention. When the eyes can only see all the way, they can only rely on the ears to listen in all directions to collect information. Therefore, when cats are playing, fighting, or ambushing, they will put out their airplane ears to pay attention to the movements around them.

There is also a theory that cats put on their airplane ears when ambushing.It is to make the protruding ears lie down and flatten the head, so as to make one's actions more stealthy, but the authenticity of this statement is still open to question.