How Noah Hurt the Cat: An Interesting Legend Explains Why Cats Are Afraid of Water
There is one peculiarity in the behavior of cats that many find strange. We are talking about the fear that these animals experience of water.
There is an interesting legend that explains cats' hydrophobia.
According to legend, during the biblical Great Flood, Noah decided to build a huge ark, where he placed pairs of all earthly creatures in order to preserve them for a new life after the waters subsided.
Before setting off in search of dry land, the old man asked all the birds and animals not to quarrel with each other for the sake of preserving the species.
However, the devil could not allow people and animals to be saved: he turned into a toothy rat and began to gnaw a hole in the bottom in order to sink the ark.
The cat saw this and bit the rat, and Noah threw it overboard as punishment.
True, later, when he saw a hole in the ship, he realized what had happened and returned the cat back, but, as they say, the aftertaste remained, which is why cats have such a negative attitude towards water.
Of course, all of the above is nothing more than a fascinating fairy tale.
Another theory seems much more logical, according to which modern domestic cats descend from wild African cats that lived in the desert and avoided the proximity of water bodies. This is the reason why they are traditionally not accustomed to water.
