Cat's and boxes?

Why do cat's love boxes? Whether they are in them, jumping out of them, or just sniffing around, cat's seem to be attracted to boxes of all shapes and sizes. I mean, just to prove this by example, my 9 month old tuxedo cat is fast asleep in the box sitting on my desk. But why? Is it the smell of the cardboard? The smooth feel beneath their paws? Or do they just feel safer with the four walls surrounding them?

If your cat was raised at birth by a domestic cat, then it makes perfect sense to me. Most female cats give birth in a box of some sort. This may mean that the kittens have always grown up remembering boxes as a place of warmth and security.

Now, if your cat is like mine, we rescued him from a parking lot at my younger brother's day care one morning. He was obviously raised outside, not indoors where a box is a regular object. I feel that the reason that cats that were born strays are attracted to boxes is because it's a small, nifty hiding place, much like the dens and duvets in the ground that they would have used as kittens in the wild.