12 Scientific Explanations For The Weird Things Cats Do

Perfectly black cats are something of a rarity these days. Most "black cats" will actually have one or two spots of white or grey in their coat and a pure black cat is difficult to come by.

This is actually thought to be down to the superstition that black cats are unlucky or evil.

In the Middle Ages, it was thought that black cats were associates of the devil and, in response, the church and frightened civilians killed so many black cats that they actually mimicked natural selection.

They were often rounded up, put in a sack and either burnt or thrown off the top of church towers. Owning a black cat was seen as evidence to suggest that you were a witch, so people avoided keeping and breeding them. This went on for centuries and greatly depleted their number.

If a black cat had a lighter spot on it, this was taken as a pardon or saving grace from god and the cat was spared.

They didn't even get a break when the religious terror settled down, as the potent magical associations with black cats opened them up to different dangers. Body parts of the poor creatures were used in medicines and potions, designed to cure everything from blindness to madness, and it was even thought that the tail of a black cat buried under the threshold of a house would ward off evil spirits.

Nowadays, black cats are prized for their rarity and many breeders actively seek them out. So it may be that we will see an increase in their numbers in the future, now that we've stopped flinging them off the tops of churches.