DailyDirt: Learning About Our Pets
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
People love their pets, but sometimes pet behavior is hard to understand. Sure, there are technologies like Bowlingual and Meowlingual to help us understand cats and dogs, but automated translations are notoriously imperfect. So here are just a few interesting links on studying domesticated animals.- A study from the University of Georgia tracked the behavior of 60 outdoor cats with video cameras. Over 2,000 hours of video show how cats
eat lasagna and make snide remarks about their ownershunt for neighborhood rodents and birds. [url] - An expert on canine genetics discusses how the dog genome has affected research since its first publication 6 years ago. Researchers can compare different dog breeds on a genetic level and show that man's best friends are all descendants of grey wolves. [url]
- Domestication is usually a human-lead process of taming wild animals, but some animals seem to be getting kinder and gentler all on their own. Aggression is somewhat costly behavior in nature, and under certain conditions, more peaceful species can evolve. [url]
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Filed Under: animal, behavior, biology, bowlingual, cats, dogs, domestication, meowlingual, pets
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Must link to Pixar's Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQb84PNxu5A
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbcwDXhugjw
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Tame Foxes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L58NPPQ5eI
Rat Experiment: http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/08/beyond-room-101-the-hyperaggre.html
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Re:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah_(cat)
Savannah cat is the name given to the offspring of a domestic cat and a serval—a medium-sized, large-eared wild African cat. The unusual cross became popular among breeders at the end of the 20th century, and in 2001 the International Cat Association accepted it as a new registered breed. Savannahs are much more social than typical domestic cats, and they are often compared to dogs in their loyalty. They can be trained to walk on a leash and even taught to play fetch.
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Re: Re:
Although my cat Lady Boo (Kentucky Parlor Panther/Bombay) could jump 6 feet on a stand still at 4 weeks.
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nathandog04@yahoo.com
"I had this cat named Putty. My room mate and I had an appartment off campus and were living next to a corn field. For the first few months I kept coming home to these pink worms on my kitchen floor in front of my stove. Couldn't figure it out for months until one day I came home with a half eaten field mouse at my door."
Needless to say, cats love bringing home trophies to those they care about :-)
On the subject of trophies, my wife and I frequently throw a toy mouse out for my cat and she brings it back for more. Of course, she plays with it until it's "dead" and then saunters back with it in her mouth and tail up.
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Re: Needless to say, cats love bringing home trophies to those they care about :-)
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Re: Re: Needless to say, cats love bringing home trophies to those they care about :-)
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For instance, my cat wants to kill all jews and my dog is a pimp with 324524 bitches working for him.
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