Why do cats' ears turn at will?
Like other mammals, a cat's ear consists of an outer ear, a middle ear, and an inner ear. The contour of the outer ear functions to collect sound waves and transport them along the ear canal to the middle ear. The middle ear contains the eardrum and ossicular bones, which respond to vibrations of sound waves and transmit those vibrations to the inner ear. In the inner ear, sensory cells respond to vibrations, and through auditory cells, electrical signals are sent to the brain for processing, and the cat then responds to different sounds. But when he hears dangerous noises, he will rush away, and he will not be alert if it is just the cat toy in the house.
However, in the real environment, because the sound is complex and changeable, or often accompanied by interfering sounds, not only the sound should be heard by the structure of the ear itself, but also the range of the sound should be expanded, which requires the use of muscles and bones on the cat's ear. The muscles and bones on the cat's ears are particularly numerous. These muscles and bones on the cat's ears can better help him control his ears. They can turn the ears to the sound source like a radar, and improve the hearing sensitivity by 15% to 20%.
In addition to the above two functions, the cat's ears have another function to locate the sound. When you and your cat hear a cat toy at the same time, you may misjudge the sound you hear, such as explaining The sound in the front left may be heard in the front right, but the cat will not make this mistake. His ears can help him capture the sound position well, which is actually very beneficial to their predation.
The cat's ears also have a self-cleaning function, you don't need to use any cleaning cat supplies to clean the cat's ears at all, but it is easy to damage the cat's ears and reduce their hearing.
The ears of cats can be turned at will. In addition to hunting, they will prick up their ears when they are frightened or when they feel danger. When they put their ears up, their hearing becomes especially good, and everything around them can be "mastered".
