Cats making "ek-ek" sounds compilation.

April 7, 2020 5:19 PM

Cats making "ek-ek" sounds compilation. SLYT. That is all.
posted by ZenMasterThis (44 comments total)

My favorite is the cat 8 seconds in whose eyes dilate.

Who am I kidding, I love them all.
posted by vespabelle at 5:33 PM on April 7, 2020 [17 favorites]

My cats found that highly upsetting, but ran to the screen door to look for outside cats instead of coming towards the laptop.
posted by buildmyworld at 5:37 PM on April 7, 2020 [5 favorites]

is there a better translation of this sound than my general assumption of "i see prey i can't get to"?
posted by Clowder of bats at 5:40 PM on April 7, 2020 [8 favorites]

"ERMAGERD BIRBS!"
posted by some loser at 5:41 PM on April 7, 2020 [49 favorites]

It’s the cutest way to say “I will murder you” ever.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:46 PM on April 7, 2020 [10 favorites]

What the cats are making is called the killing bite: they are moving their jaws in practice so as to snap the necks of the birds they see if they get the chance to pounce upon them. The sounds made voice their desire to accomplish this mission.
posted by y2karl at 5:48 PM on April 7, 2020 [14 favorites]

This is the most darling “get in mah belly” compilation. Very good, cheezburgers for all.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 5:50 PM on April 7, 2020 [5 favorites]

Catz are wierd...

Team Dog here
posted by Windopaene at 5:54 PM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

While there are lots of theories, we don’t really know why cats make this noise. Some behaviorists believe it’s a biting motion, some frustration or anticipation, and some recent evidence suggests that it may be mimicking behavior to try to trick brides into not perceiving than as a threat.
posted by KGMoney at 5:56 PM on April 7, 2020 [14 favorites]

My favorite was the one that yawned in the middle and kept it going. I can relate.
posted by waving at 6:07 PM on April 7, 2020 [13 favorites]

and some recent evidence suggests that it may be mimicking behavior to try to trick brides into not perceiving than as a threat.

so what you're saying is that it's a nice-guy^TM move?
posted by bitteroldman at 6:08 PM on April 7, 2020 [12 favorites]

...try to trick brides into not perceiving than as a threat.

I get kicked out of weddings when I try this.
posted by JohnFromGR at 6:09 PM on April 7, 2020 [35 favorites]

It sounds and appears to be more of an expression of frustration to me. An imitation of bird sounds is a bit of a stretch.
posted by y2karl at 6:17 PM on April 7, 2020

“Gracking” is the verb.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:18 PM on April 7, 2020 [4 favorites]

and some recent evidence suggests that it may be mimicking behavior to try to trick brides into not perceiving than as a threat.

"you're alright mate, you're alright, I'm not gonna ava go atchya"
posted by some loser at 6:36 PM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

ek-ek? I always knew it as 'chattering'. (Always = after a quick google search when my then-kitty first saw a sparrow out the window)

I'm all for simplifying science, but chattering --> ek-ek wouldn't be my first choice for streamlining biology terminology.
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 6:49 PM on April 7, 2020 [9 favorites]

This is my ASMR
posted by Going To Maine at 7:02 PM on April 7, 2020 [8 favorites]

At least two of those were creaky kitty meows. Ernest Borgnine aka Ernesto Borgnino aka Dudebutt was intrigued by the sounds but not alarmed.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:46 PM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

I think the ek-ekking broke “Related Posts”
posted by roger ackroyd at 7:49 PM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

That sure got Bergamot’s attention! Now she is looking around frantically trying to find the bug that probably is in here somewhere
posted by aubilenon at 8:08 PM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

wait hold on a second
posted by aubilenon at 8:11 PM on April 7, 2020 [8 favorites]

I was finally having my day of caving in completely to the abject despair of the world, and then this. Thank you.
posted by mykescipark at 8:15 PM on April 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

> ek-ek? I always knew it as 'chattering'.

"In Philippine mythology, Ekek (or Ek Ek) are bird-like human creatures. They are winged-humans who search for victims at night. They hunger for flesh and blood."

I think it checks out!

(The wikipedia article was the #1 result on google, and this thread was #3)
posted by I-Write-Essays at 8:16 PM on April 7, 2020 [4 favorites]

I was never around cats before I adopted mine a couple of years ago, a lot of quirky cat vocalizations came as an adorable surprise. The first time I heard this sound in the dead of night I thought I was about to fucking die.
posted by jameaterblues at 9:51 PM on April 7, 2020 [18 favorites]

Unrelatedly, Reddit has r/ cats who yell.
posted by tychotesla at 10:25 PM on April 7, 2020 [4 favorites]

My cat loves attention, but if you pick her up or put her on your lap, she'll howl just like those cats on r/catswhoyell.
posted by I-Write-Essays at 10:52 PM on April 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

Those cats have good noises, but lion cub has best noises.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:58 PM on April 7, 2020 [12 favorites]

Ow!
posted by I-Write-Essays at 11:07 PM on April 7, 2020

I liked the ones lying down, not putting a lot of effort into their fierceness.
posted by paduasoy at 11:36 PM on April 7, 2020 [5 favorites]

i see your lion cub and raise you caracal.
posted by Clowder of bats at 12:50 AM on April 8, 2020 [15 favorites]

This sparks joy.
posted by um at 1:22 AM on April 8, 2020 [4 favorites]

It certainly does. That means we get to keep it, right?

Our cats don't get along very well. One is big and bossy; the other is smaller and peaceful, and for that reason he is the undercat, but he's learned how to be assertive enough to claim his own space. Now and then, when bossy cat comes too close, peaceful cat tells him 'No closer; this is a warning.'
He does this by saying, very clearly and just once, 'Ek mek'.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:52 AM on April 8, 2020 [7 favorites]

I... Have never head my cats doing this. But then their murdering instincts are very dull, they used to just sit and watch our rats out of curiosity, they never had their murder faces on.
posted by stillnocturnal at 3:02 AM on April 8, 2020 [4 favorites]

and some recent evidence suggests that it may be mimicking behavior to try to trick brides into not perceiving than as a threat.

Dangit! There's, yet, another trending meme I know nothing about....
posted by mightshould at 3:42 AM on April 8, 2020

French cat dealing with lockdown
posted by BWA at 6:05 AM on April 8, 2020 [14 favorites]

i see your lion cub and raise you caracal.

BuzzFeed quiz: Caracal or fax machine - only a genius can pass this test.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:31 AM on April 8, 2020 [7 favorites]

I love it when cats make that noise. My current personnel (who is pretty quiet in general) does not, but I've certainly had some who were champions at it. Once I lived in an apartment where the bathroom window looked out on the gutter of the house next door, and a bird had a nest there. My cat used to sit on the hamper and chatter at it, and if the window was open, it would chatter back.
posted by dlugoczaj at 6:47 AM on April 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

High quality family friendly content
posted by sunset in snow country at 7:30 AM on April 8, 2020

is there a better translation of this sound than my general assumption of "i see prey i can't get to"?
posted by Clowder of bats at 5:40 PM on April 7 [5 favorites +] [!]


"ERMAGERD BIRBS!"
posted by some loser at 5:41 PM on April 7 [35 favorites +] [!] flawless

lion cub has *literally* killed me

baby caracal is a modem, apparently
posted by supermedusa at 9:37 AM on April 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

Cats being total dicks to kids. [Twitter thread]
posted by mark k at 9:57 AM on April 8, 2020 [4 favorites]

"Here's a bike. Here's a shoe. Let's move on kids."
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:52 AM on April 8, 2020 [8 favorites]

My blind cat has made this noise precisely once, when he was lying on the bed in the bear-trap pose, and a sparrow landed on a high, open window - straight from bear-trap to pounce pose, and some ek-ek-ekking. I've seen him aware of birds since, but never making the noise
posted by sarahdal at 1:11 PM on April 8, 2020 [3 favorites]

The first time I heard this sound in the dead of night I thought I was about to fucking die.

See also: insistent THE MIGHTY HUNTER CAUGHT A STUFFED MOUSE AND SHALL BRING IT TO YOU howls. Cute during the day but oh-my-god-is-he-in-pain alarming in the middle of the night.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:43 PM on April 8, 2020 [5 favorites]

what's really going on (sound required)
posted by sebastienbailard at 2:30 AM on April 14, 2020 [1 favorite]