Rescue cat Sancho, who lives with the editor of this newspaper, has recently discovered the delights of snuggling. After demonstrating stereotypical feline aloofness for the past ten years and rarely deigning to allow physical contact with his human house-mates, in more recent times he has begun to warm to the idea of cuddling.
"Warming" being the operative word. As the temperatures have plunged this makuru his desire for thermal comfort has overcome his reservations about human contact. Initially he allowed himself to sit in close proximity before gradually discovering the joy of lying up against a warm body in bed. As the nights became decidedly more glacial this eventually gave way to unabashed attempts to lodge himself in the warmest of hollows that a sleeping human can present.
His current practice is to force his way between the legs so that maximum heat transfer can occur. This has the additional benefit, to him, of being out of reach of human hands so that he need not endure the indignities of pats or scritches. He will then emerge from this position when food is provided but will quickly return. When his house-mates are no longer in bed he has come to appreciate the residual heat left by their imprint and can spend many hours absorbing whatever remains, before seeking out a sunny spot on a window sill elsewhere.