Rayne Beau (“Rainbow”) got lost in Yellowstone National Park during a June camping trip. His human friends, Benny and Susanne Anguiano of Salinas, California, sadly returned home without him. But then

In August, the Anguianos received amazing news when a microchip company messaged them that their cat was at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Roseville, California, nearly 900 miles (1,448 kilometers) from Yellowstone. He was only about 200 miles (322 kilometers) away from his home in Salinas. Associated Press

Rayne Beau had “really beat up” paws and had lost 40% of his body weight, which suggeststhat he had been traveling on his own.

He’s not the only one. In 2013, Holly, a tortoiseshell female lost in southern Florida, traveled 190 miles (306 km) up the coast and was identified by her microchip near her home.

Scientists admit that they are unsure how exactly cats do this. The New York Times WellBlog admitted “There is, in fact, little scientific dogma on cat navigation. Migratory animals like birds, turtles and insects have been studied more closely, and use magnetic fields, olfactory cues, or orientation by the sun.”

Cats could be using any one of these methods. WellBlog suggests another possibility for Holly though: “Peter Borchelt, a New York animal behaviorist, wondered if Holly followed the Florida coast by sight or sound, tracking Interstate 95 and deciding to ‘keep that to the right and keep the ocean to the left.’” That would suggest that memory plays a role.

The role of microchip technology is worth noting here.

At one time, people who reported that a lost cat had traveled a considerable distance home were sometimes accused of wishful thinking — imagining that a local stray was their beloved lost cat. Now that they can prove that it really is the same cat, technology — far from demystifying the world — has made it a bit more mysterious. The folk song, The Cat Came Back seems to be based on reality. If only we know exactly what reality …