A video of a cat walking while dangerously balanced on the edge of an elevated handrail has gone viral on TikTok, where it received over 415,000 views.
A caption shared with the clip from user @tiger_thee_tabby read: "Scarlet is a widdle kitty daredevil, it scares me [crying floods of tears emoji]."
A message overlaid on the video said: "When your cat is being so dangerous even your other cat is in shock." The footage showed the feline walking along the banister of a stairwell.
The video then showed another cat looking up at Scarlet from below, appearing transfixed on what might happen next.
In later comments, the poster said Scarlet "does this frequently" and that they always stand under her and place pillows around at the bottom to ensure her safety.
"She has not ever fallen but I'll always be prepared in case she does," the poster said.
While the cat in the latest video might seem like a daredevil, it's not surprising to see it at such heights because our feline friends love to hang out in high places.
Vicki Jo Harrison, the president of The International Cat Association (TICA), previously told Newsweek that cats like to be in elevated spots as it helps satisfy some of their natural instincts, which is to climb and jump.
"Cats climb trees and leap long distances to move through their territory, avoid danger, and find food," Harrison said. So many cats attempt to maintain these instincts, even when they've been domesticated.
Pam Johnson-Bennett, an author of several books on cat behavior and training, is the former vice president of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. She previously told Newsweek that "being in an elevated location is natural for cats because it gives them more ability to see around them and it prevents being ambushed from behind."
As nail-biting as it might seem for those watching a cat along the edges of high places, there's no need to worry as cats always seem to somehow land on their feet—a phenomenon known as "cat turning."
The mystery behind this phenomenon has been studied for centuries. In a December 2019 article for Ars Technica, physicist Greg Gbur, the author of Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics, said there are various elements to a cat's movement when you watch a video of it falling.
"But the most important is a bend and twist motion. The cat bends at the waist and counter rotates the upper and lower halves of its body in order to cancel those motions out," he explained.
The author said: "If you watch videos of falling cats, you will see that a lot of them use their tails to turn over. But we also know that cats without tails can turn over just fine. So from a physics point of view, the problem has reached a level where the details depend on the specific cat."
Depending on how heavy or light they are, each cat "may twist and bend and tuck and turn just a little bit differently," he said.
The latest viral video has left TikTokers in stitches, with many amused by the reaction of the "orange cat" looking up from below.
Ezairil Jones said the other "orange cat" must have been thinking, "Oh here we go again, is he gonna do it this time?" to which the original poster replied, "It really is like that [crying laughing emoji]."
User Theee_Magma said: "He was like, 'don't do it, bro, don't do it'," to which the original poster replied, "For real [crying laughing emojis] it was hilarious when I looked over and saw him."
Kiy said the cat was "trying to do a sneak attack [crying laughing emojis]."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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