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This is a very street-wise cat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVRi0nDzRPI
Amazing! I suspect that he was waiting for the traffic to stop rather than watching for the green light, but he certainly knew when it was safe to cross. No doubt it is not the first time that he has done this.
Yes it looks as if he's done this many times! What made me wonderif he WAS watching the light, is that there was a long lull in traffic at one point yet he didn't cross until the light came on.
That is amazing. He was also crossing at a proper intersection. I think he must have learned where and when it is safe to cross. 
Now if only we could get human pedestrians to be as cautious. 

I agree, he does seem to wait for the light to change to green.

adammcen

Wonderful behaviour Big Grin

Whenever I witness something like this ( walking pets intelligently crossing the road or pigeons avoiding being hit by a speeding car ... ) I always think to myself : what made those animals act like that ? Is it a bright moment of illumination or could it be something more than that... ? I believe that is a very strong talking example of natural selection.

For a single cat to be able to safely cross the road, I imagine that thousands were crushed by a vehicle... Cats that knew or learnt how to cross a road are the ones that survive longer... That is why the incredible behaviour in the video seems incredible to us.

What do you think ?
I think individual city cats have learned to watch for traffic. Natural selection takes place over a long period of time and traffic is a relatively new thing. So it is unlikely to be direct natural selection for traffic safety. Also there haven't been thousands of cats killed by cars, unless you are talking about the whole world over many years. A cat killed in Canada would have no effect on the traffic safety smarts of a cat in England.

Natural selection over many generations has favoured animals that learn quickly to avoid the dangers in their environment.
Those that learn to avoid dangers are more likely to have kittens and pass on skills and genetic material.