Cats also have a good sense of smell, but they use it to “message” each other more than to find prey. Cats communicate with scent glands on their bodies, particularly their heads and paws. When a cat rubs its head on something or scrapes it with its paw, it leaves a scent message to tell others it has visited. The same happens when a cat sprays scented urine. If another cat smells this it can probably tell several things. For example, it might know how long ago the scent was left, whether it came from a female or a male, or from a cat it knows or a stranger. It might even learn about the age and health of the cat.
These lions greeting each other are probably brothers. Head rubbingmay be a way of sharing scents and bonding between pridemembers.
32
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs