Bunting (animal behavior)

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Bunting is a form of animal behavior, often found in felids, in which the animal butts or rubs its head against other things, including people. Bunting is generally considered to be a form of territorial scent-marking behaviour, where the cat rubs the scent glands on its cheeks and forehead on the object being marked. After a display of aggression, a cat will begin bunting nearby objects as a form of territorial display toward a rival cat. Bunting and allorubbing (using touch to communicate closeness) are also part of feral cat behavior within colonies. An elaborate ritual which can take several minutes, two cats will rub along the side and tail of the other cat. This behaviour in domestic cats involves a system of hierarchy and may have evolved as a way to channel aggression where the cost of a conflict is too high. Cats also use bunting as a way to familiarize themselves with their environment, and the pheromones released through this work to ease the cat's anxieties about an unfamiliar...

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