Baffling Optical Illusion With Two Hidden Animals Is Driving People Crazy

An optical illusion has divided social media users. The question is: which animal do you see?

Nothing brings people round a screen like a good optical illusion. There's the classics: the spinning discs; the three-pronged impossible trident; 'true cyan'; the sketch of a duck/rabbit; and my personal favourite, staring at four dots without blinking and then somehow seeing Jesus Christ.

Nobody is immune to the curiosity a good illusion sparks, and luckily for you, we've got a belter to show you today.

This particular illusion has been self-sustaining since December 2021, managing to go viral via a handful of accounts. On this occasion, we're looking at a tweet by @PamelaApostolo1, which appears to be the first.

"Depending on how your brain works (left brain, right brain) you see a cat or a moose in this pattern. Whatever animal you see isn’t part of the image, just an optical illusion created by your own brain. If you zoom in on any of the features you see, the illusion disappears," she wrote alongside the image.

The left/right brain test has been deployed across a series of illusions for years. It's based on the idea that left-brain thinkers are more analytical and methodical, while right-brain thinkers are more creative – there's no evidence to suggest this, so just take this is a bit of fun.

Now, the animal is in the eye of the beholder – but I'm struggling to grasp how anyone can see anything but a cat in that image. I've looked at my laptop from all sorts of angles – even upside down – and all I can see is a cat.

It would seem others agree. "There is no moose. This is some kind of weird sociological experiment to see how many people will spend half an hour of their lives trying to see a moose," one user replied.

"It's a cat. I don't have to focus on it. I seen it right away [sic]," another wrote. "I see the cat, but if you zoom in you can see shading in the details that would make those features of a cat's face show up," a third replied. "The more I see it, the more I think it's just bullsh*t," another wrote.

Yet, despite others calling 'bullsh*t', some people have managed to crack the moose. "With a big portion fantasy you might see this as the moose. But what do I know, I spend 30 minutes of my life trying to see the mouse," one user wrote alongside an illustration.

"I didn’t see either one, I must be brain dead, oh well. Lol," another wrote.

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]