Why do they do this? It strikes me that this behavior should have been weeded out of the feline species long ago. Surely the ones smart enough not to tree themselves would outbreed the kinds that get stuck and perish from starvation if not for the intervention of their human masters, right?
Or are they really not stuck at all? I don’t recall seeing many cat skeletons wedged in tree branches, so wouldn’t that mean that eventually they’ll save themselves? Is this something that only happens to domesticated cats?
Cats get stuck in trees for one of three reasons: they’re chasing something, e.g. a squirrel, they’re running away from something, e.g. a dog, or they just wanted to see what was up there.
Cat’s claws are designed for going up, not backing down. Cats, like most animals, greatly prefer to go forward. Some will figure out how to climb down a tree backward, but many housecats do not possess this skill.
The reason you don’t see cat skeletons in trees is pretty simple: it’s called gravity. Cat runs up into tree, won’t or can’t jump or climb down, becomes to weak to hold on, falls out of tree.
my initial thought is that cats go up in trees then stall out.
cats can climb. it’s a defense mechanism to run up there anyway (unless they are hunting. i’m saying most of the treed cats i see ran up in fear then stall out). given enough time, i suspect they’ll get hungry or thirsty enough to crawl down.
the issue arises because usually they are someone’s pet and no one wants to just wait to let the cat come down on it’s own eventually. when they stay up for what seems like too long, owners freak out and next thing you know you’re rescuing a “stuck” cat.
Their claws are designed for gripping the tree trunk with their heads pointed up climbing the tree, which they can do quite easily. Trouble is, they will initially try go down head first, also, and their claws don’t work that direction. Left to its own devices, the cat will probably figure out how to back down the tree, but they are likely to yowl and be unhappy until they do. Or they will eventually realize that they are close enough to the ground or an adjacent roof to jump safely.
My childhood tabby mix was declawed on the front, but not the back; as an inveterate tree-climber, she would often have a devil of a time getting back down, but managed to do so eventually.