Cats are one of the most flexible animals in the entire cat family. This is because they are smaller compared to larger cats, and their hearing is very keen, so you can It's easy to catch a dog with your bare hands, but it's much harder to catch a cat. However, some friends may have also discovered that there are far more cats killed or crushed to death by cars on the road than dogs. Why is this? Let’s briefly discuss this issue.

First of all, there are more cats than dogs

When it comes to more cats than dogs, many friends will have doubts. However, there is no need to doubt. A survey report in 2016 showed that China has The number of pet dogs in my country is about 28 million, while the number of pet cats is about 50 million. Of course, the above data does not include stray cats and dogs. If they were included, the numbers would be much more terrifying. However, in a living environment where strays are roaming at the same time, cats are stronger than dogs in terms of survival and reproduction capabilities. Therefore, it is estimated that the number of stray cats is greater than the number of stray dogs. This can be seen from the fact that stray cats are often seen in the community, and it is rare to see stray dogs.

The reason why people choose cats as their main The reason is that dogs are mainly used to look after homes and homes, but now fewer and fewer people need dogs. Secondly, dogs always like to bark, and if they are in cities, they will disturb people. In comparison, cats rarely meow (except during estrus, when male and female cats in estrus will make a sound similar to a child crying late at night). The key is that cats rarely "tear up the house". For poop scavengers, it is necessary to The effort required is much less.

Therefore, from the data point of view, the number of cats is nearly twice the number of dogs. This is one of the reasons why we often see more dead cats than dead dogs on the road.

The second is the habitat range

Although cats and dogs are both human pets, in essence, cats have greater freedom than dogs because dogs have too many uncertainties. They are relatively active and aggressive, while cats rarely attack people actively. Therefore, dogs are generally locked at home, but cats can come and go freely.

Therefore, the cat's freedom becomes one of the factors that makes it easy to be killed. Many friends said: Are all stray dogs and cats free? Why are dogs rarely killed? The reason is simple, the problem lies in the survivability of the two.

Dogs are the product of humans completely domesticating wolves. They are completely different from wolves. Apart from anything else, they are not on the same level in terms of their ability to survive in the wild. Therefore, stray dogs want to saveIt is obviously impossible to survive and hunt on their own, which forces stray dogs to stay in human living areas, especially near garbage dumps. However, cats are different. Although cats are also pets, cats are not completely domesticated. Their survival does not completely depend on humans. Even cats in many rural areas do not need to be fed alone at all. They only need to be kept in places with mice and birds. can survive.

Therefore, relatively speaking, cats' The habitat range is wider, which increases the frequency of crossing the road, while the dog's habitat range is relatively fixed. Therefore, more cats die on the road than dogs.

Third, the difference in habits

In addition to the above two factors, the difference in habits between the two is also the main reason why there are many dead cats on the road. First of all, under the domestication of humans, dogs have basically had a very similar schedule to humans and are less active at night. Cats are just the opposite. Although they have been domesticated, their nature of sleeping during the day and being active at night has not changed much. Then, here comes the problem. People’s vision is poor at night, especially now that roads are extending in all directions and every household has a car. It is difficult to spot these cats when crossing the road. In addition, the strong light of cars at night With so much exposure, the cat doesn’t even know that what is coming is a “magic thing”, and then nothing happens. At this time, dogs with owners are resting at home, and homeless stray dogs will also find a relatively warm place nearby to curl up (on the one hand, it is habits, on the other hand, there is insufficient food, reducing activities can reduce demand for food), naturally they are rarely hit by cars.

Fourth, learn

I don’t know if you have noticed that many dogs crossing the road seem to have been professionally trained. They rarely cross the road when there are cars, but only cross when they see that no vehicles are passing. However, cats are different. As long as they want to cross the road, they never need to look, they just need to strut across. What factors lead to this? That's right, just learnhabit.

Dogs are the product of complete domestication by humans. They have lived with humans for too long. When we walk our dogs, the process of crossing the road is the process of dogs learning. Gradually, dogs learn many things. Techniques for living in human society that are more conducive to one's own survival. However, cats are different. They are semi-domesticated animals with strong autonomy and will not make any changes to please their owners. Therefore, those cats that have never been outside the owner's house do not know the dangers outside, and those cats that often come in and out have no objects to learn from.

Therefore, lack of learning to get along with people is also one of the reasons why cats are easily killed on the road.

Summary

Although cats are indeed much more flexible than dogs, their flexibility is limited in front of a speeding car. They mainly rely on active risk avoidance, and cats are not fully domesticated. They lack the opportunity to learn from people, coupled with their large numbers and always being unrestrained, ultimately causing many more cats to die accidentally on the road than dogs.