Animal->Human Similarities?

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BadgerLandHunter

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What things have raising animals taught you about humans or made you realize the similarities?

I am not talking about appearance wise but more personality wise....

For instance with raising rabbits you can breed them real young but waiting a bit is safer for the young female and there natural instincts kick in on how to care for youngins.

Young doe's can have kits outside the nest, accidentally stomp on them, and not feed them.

For me I was thinking about the young teens who have kids in high school and aren't mentally ready for it, a few freakout and do the unthinkable/totally ignore them or give up to adoption.

It doesn't need to be this dark but what breed of animal have you seen do things that are similar to what a human would do or a response similar to what yours would have been?
 
I don't know, Badger. That's pretty dark.
Lolol not trying to be dark! I guess I was thinking deep for a change and was like wow....
It can be funny here is a funny example- when I was working on a farm with alpacas the mom with her newer baby was in pasture the few month old was having fun exploring the pasture and running and kicking (think mule kick) but when it started to get to far away the mom grunted quick. The young one ignored it....then the mother looked at it and gunted louder and more aggressive. The young one quick ran over by the mom and the mom lost her annoyed look and went back to eating.
Just like the mom saying come here NOW! XD
 
We have 2 dogs. They are genetic sisters but not litter mates. In fact they are 18 months apart in age. From the moment Winter, the older one, meet her baby sister, Summer, she just KNEW that was her sister and it was her job to take care of her. Winter never did this with any other puppy before Summer came to live with us. In fact she has never been protective of any other dog besides her little sister.

When Juju was born Roo seemed to have the same instinct. THAT was her sister and she had to take care of her!
 
We have 2 dogs. They are genetic sisters but not litter mates. In fact they are 18 months apart in age. From the moment Winter, the older one, meet her baby sister, Summer, she just KNEW that was her sister and it was her job to take care of her. Winter never did this with any other puppy before Summer came to live with us. In fact she has never been protective of any other dog besides her little sister.

When Juju was born Roo seemed to have the same instinct. THAT was her sister and she had to take care of her!
With animals I would wonder if they could smell something with there siblings but in people too it must be more than that.

Thanks for sharing that is really interesting! Over a year apart and yet she knew Hahaha that's cool. I wonder if that's something people are born with (protect family) or something we learn as we go.
 
With animals I would wonder if they could smell something with there siblings but in people too it must be more than that.

Thanks for sharing that is really interesting! Over a year apart and yet she knew Hahaha that's cool. I wonder if that's something people are born with (protect family) or something we learn as we go.

We knew Winter wanted a canine playmate because she loved when we visited the dog parks and my folks who always have 2 dogs. She moped for days after. We tried a rescue puppy and it seemed like her spirit was crushed. On a whim I contacted the breeder we got her from and they had a final litter from her dam and sire. K said no boys because Pembroke Corgi males are stubborn and we had a pair before that drove us up the walls! So we picked Summer out and when we went to pick her up at 9 weeks we took Winter. Winter was all over Summer and even seemed to remember her brother and littermate whom the breeder kept. She loved seeing her parents too. It was sweet and really insightful seeing how she recognized them all after almost a year and a half.

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We knew Winter wanted a canine playmate because she loved when we visited the dog parks and my folks who always have 2 dogs. She moped for days after. We tried a rescue puppy and it seemed like her spirit was crushed. On a whim I contacted the breeder we got her from and they had a final litter from her dam and sire. K said no boys because Pembroke Corgi males are stubborn and we had a pair before that drove us up the walls! So we picked Summer out and when we went to pick her up at 9 weeks we took Winter. Winter was all over Summer and even seemed to remember her brother and littermate whom the breeder kept. She loved seeing her parents too. It was sweet and really insightful seeing how she recognized them all after almost a year and a half.

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Oh wow! Well good now if you are ever gone for a few days she has a friend. Growing up my dog seemed to remember her owner who gave her up to us. He visited and was all like hi girl. Our dog recognized him and clearly wasn't happy to see him. She was happier with us. Lol. They have a pretty good memory.
 
I had a border collie that love to go get fed Cordon Blue and the like by a neighbor lady that worked at a restaurant. If he came from her place when I called him I would scold him. If he came from the opposite direction I would praise him. After a couple of days I would see him cutting across a big field and circling around to make sure he came from the right direction. He was so proud of himself. I felt a little dumb. 😂😂
 
I don't know. Sometimes he pees in his water bucket, too. Then he drinks it. Maybe he doesn't see too well.
He is going senile. Has decided he hates the other dog, and they've been friends for more than 10 years. Now he wants to take his face off. Our pets are all old at the moment...the dogs, the old man cat. The parrot may be old, or may not be, we've had him for a number of years.
OK, here's a similarity....our parrot (African Gray...named Bibi after you know who) has been coughing and sneezing. He's a great imitator. He started those noises when husband and I had covid. Now he won't stop.
 
That's funny about the parrot. But good luck with the other older critters. I know how they feel;)
I don't know. Sometimes he pees in his water bucket, too. Then he drinks it. Maybe he doesn't see too well.
He is going senile. Has decided he hates the other dog, and they've been friends for more than 10 years. Now he wants to take his face off. Our pets are all old at the moment...the dogs, the old man cat. The parrot may be old, or may not be, we've had him for a number of years.
OK, here's a similarity....our parrot (African Gray...named Bibi after you know who) has been coughing and sneezing. He's a great imitator. He started those noises when husband and I had covid. Now he won't stop.
 
Why does our old heeler pee in his food dish? I have to wash it out before I feed him. So gross.

Captive raised foxes do this too. The girls love watching the Saveafox youtube channel and they are a fox rescue. The group rescues fur foxes that would be culled for not being the right color and pet foxes bought from breeders that are too much for their owners to handle. The rescue's permanent fox pees in his dishes and any dish he finds both in his run or in the kennels. It seems to be a common behavior they see in the foxes.

The Saveafox videos are a fun watch. They are neat creatures when they aren't trying to get your livestock for dinner.
 
What I find most interesting when observing animals is that their logic is so pure. In contrast, human logic seems so diluted by cultural influences.
That is so true.
Ok but....

Riddle me this Batman;

Why do dogs either urinate on me or bite me?

Mind you not the ones I owned but others.

Do they see me as a threat or a tree?

dancing chicken

Ben
Hahaha they are marking you as there property. Side note: If a dog jumps you it means it is calling you it's "hump toy" ....to put it nice.
 
I don't know. Sometimes he pees in his water bucket, too. Then he drinks it. Maybe he doesn't see too well.
He is going senile. Has decided he hates the other dog, and they've been friends for more than 10 years. Now he wants to take his face off. Our pets are all old at the moment...the dogs, the old man cat. The parrot may be old, or may not be, we've had him for a number of years.
OK, here's a similarity....our parrot (African Gray...named Bibi after you know who) has been coughing and sneezing. He's a great imitator. He started those noises when husband and I had covid. Now he won't stop.
My rabbits will sometimes poop in there water and drink it but usually it's just the young ones. Weird though.

No clue with the parrots but that's intrested
 
Animals seem much more instinctive than humans. Or maybe we're more instinctive than we like to admit, so we cover it with culture. Either way...if we really look into ourselves, and admit the darker things we might be capable of, we might find we're more like animals than we think. Male critters will kill each other over mating rights. Sound familiar? Females in a herd will band together to put down other females that threaten their status in the herd heirarchy. Again...pretty similar to humans. We do many of the same things as critters do. We just cover it up with the veneer of civilization...
 
Animals are never evil - only people are evil.
 
Animals are never evil - only people are evil.
I get what you're saying, but I've seen too many herd animals that were bullies to agree with it. I've seen an old she-cat pick out a younger female and harass her over a period of weeks until it broke her. I've seen a mare pick a small goat up by the neck and shake it til it snapped. Animals are mean as hell sometimes, without provocation. And those that are, tend to raise offspring that are mean as well. I've seen that with cattle. Don't know how much of that is nature or nurture, but I know it exists...
 
I guess the best way to say it is;
evil exists only in the mind of man.
Animals do what they do out of some instinct - we humans think about it before we do it so we are being controlled by evil... besides the devil can't trick animals into hell - only people. :rolleyes:
 
I guess the best way to say it is;
evil exists only in the mind of man.
Animals do what they do out of some instinct - we humans think about it before we do it so we are being controlled by evil... besides the devil can't trick animals into hell - only people. :rolleyes:
Ok, your last point is well taken...
 
I guess the best way to say it is;
evil exists only in the mind of man.
Animals do what they do out of some instinct - we humans think about it before we do it so we are being controlled by evil... besides the devil can't trick animals into hell - only people. :rolleyes:
This is a wonderful thought invoking idea.

While other animals may be agresively destructive as man kind is is capable of vidictive abuse.

What other of God's creation holds a grudge?

Ben
 
Wolves, crows, and elephants are known to remember who did bad things to them for generations. Dogs too but to a lesser degree.
 
Animals seem much more instinctive than humans. Or maybe we're more instinctive than we like to admit, so we cover it with culture. Either way...if we really look into ourselves, and admit the darker things we might be capable of, we might find we're more like animals than we think. Male critters will kill each other over mating rights. Sound familiar? Females in a herd will band together to put down other females that threaten their status in the herd heirarchy. Again...pretty similar to humans. We do many of the same things as critters do. We just cover it up with the veneer of civilization...
Yeah exactly. I think we typically think farther ahead which helps us behave also. Then again animals do to a point also.
 
Wolves, crows, and elephants are known to remember who did bad things to them for generations. Dogs too but to a lesser degree.
Hahaha. Cool I knew elephants but didn't know crows and wolves also could.
 
The thing about generational memory is that it means the adults teach the young and then they pass that information to the next generation.
It is not well defined if these animals have a sense of time but the fact that generational teaching occurs is a new concept for us to learn about animals. It means they are capable of forming cultures that might someday become rudimentary civilizations.
Now, if we could only teach them physics... ;)
 
The thing about generational memory is that it means the adults teach the young and then they pass that information to the next generation.
It is not well defined if these animals have a sense of time but the fact that generational teaching occurs is a new concept for us to learn about animals. It means they are capable of forming cultures that might someday become rudimentary civilizations.
Now, if we could only teach them physics... ;)
I have seen slow motion videos of cats being dropped upside down to show how they always manage to land on their feet. They can ace a quiz on the conservation of angular momentum.

I don't know how an elephant would do.

Ben
 

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