Mother cats can tell which kittens belong to them ─ when litters are mixed up they use their kittens' scent to distinguish them from offspring of other mothers. Despite this, when faced with a selection of kittens who have wandered from the nest, her own and others that aren't hers, a mother cat doesn't appear to favor her own offspring when retrieving them. The reason for this is uncertain, although distress vocalizations from kittens that are lost from their nest are known to be very powerful, so it may just be hard for the mother to resist retrieving them, regardless of whether they are hers. In the wild, a squeaking kitten out in the open is likely to attract predators, which is bad news for any other kittens around it. A rapid rescue of any crying kitten would be a good strategy to prevent them from drawing unwanted attention. Although mother cats can identify their own offspring, they are likely to collect any lost crying kittens, possibly to reduce the chances of being detected by predators.