There is a new viral video trend that has cats terrified across the land. Yes, it's funny to us - mainly because the cats' reactions seem out of proportion to us. It's obviously not out of proportion to the cat, and experts are warning that scaring cats is (surprise!) not very good for them.
Apparently cats are easily scared by cucumbers. The trick is to set the cucumber on the ground beside the cat when the cat isn't looking. The cat turns around, sees the cucumber, and freaks out, usually jumping several feet straight up in the air.
Cucumbers are snake-like enough to trigger a cat's instinctive fear of snakes. The cat's reaction - leaping up into the air - is designed to avoid a potential snake bite.
To make it worse, a lot of people are doing this while their cats are eating. Talk about destroying a cat's sense of security! Poor kitties.