Three animal related articles

[conuly]

One on a dog who jumped between his owner* and her abusive boyfriend. They both got tossed out a window. The women's shelter didn't accept pets, but when she said she couldn't go without her dog, they not only made an exception but decided to add a whole new wing for pet owners, on the grounds that many women stay in abusive relationships rather than leave their beloved pets with their abuser.

*I've noticed, when buying cat food and watching the occasional TV episode live, that more and more companies are referring to people as "pet parents". If it helps them sell their product, more power to them, but I, for one, refuse. I think it just sounds silly, and the alliteration doesn't help in this case. Are people really that averse to saying they own a cat or dog or ferret or hamster or fish?

Here's an article about the tiniest frog - nay, the tiniest vertebrate - yet discovered. I'm sure it's a good article, but I didn't read it. I was too busy cooing over the picture of the frog perched on a dime, with ample room to spare.

And here's an article with a video of a sledding crow. In the comments are links to more videos of corvids playing around.

One of the comments just bugs me. The guy says that obviously the crow was trying to get food, and obviously, since crows are crows, it's not sledding, and obviously anybody saying it IS doing such a thing is anthropomorphizing with no good reason.

Now, it's possible that the crow is trying to get food. It's also possible that the crow started out trying to get food, and then through serendipity realized that this was a lot of fun. Whee! I don't know, I'm not a crow and I'm certainly not this crow.

No, what bugs me is not the accusation that we're foolishly putting a human perspective on animal's actions, but the assumption that since anthropomorphizing can lead to stunningly wrong conclusions, this means that animals are unlikely to have the same motivations as humans once you move past the basics.

Clearly, saying "Well, if I did that for this reason, it's likely that this random cat/crow/cricket is doing a similar thing for the same reason" is flawed and illogical reasoning, but can "If I did that, it would be for fun, but this is a cat/crow/cricket and obviously it must have another, less human reason for its actions" truly be any better? I don't know why crows do what they do. All I know about them is that they are clever animals and can mimic speech. But it's not that far-fetched to believe that once in a while they might do things for the same reasons we do, is it? (Which isn't to say that the crow was necessarily doing this for fun. I really don't know much about crows and am not about to hazard a guess as to this one's motivations here. But I doubt these guys know either. Yes, that includes Mr. "I've kept pet crows". A pet crow, near as I can tell, is like a human raised by wolves. They may still be clever and friendly, they may be able to survive, but I wouldn't look to them as a guideline for normal behavior.)

Comments

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Yes. It's odd that people who believe strongly in evolution resist the idea that we are animals ourselves.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

I don't. I think it's obvious that we all are, because I believe in evolution. And that crow is wonderful.

I've seen "pet parents" a lot, and people asking me if I have a "baby". I don't talk that way myself, but I am in favor of anything that gets people to see animals as fellow creatures who think and feel, and not just accessories like you'd get a new iPod. Well, then again the way people talk about babies nowadays. It's like it's some kind of status symbol. Like when people say a "baby bump" for pregnancy, I feel like they're acting like the kid is just an incident.

[legendary-zelda.livejournal.com]

I refer to myself as a "catmom" sometimes. But then, I also say that Lupin owns the apartment, and just generously allows me to live there.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I am not my cat's Mom. I guarantee, I have given birth to no kittens. He wasn't even a kitten when I got him, and appears to regard me more or less as his girlfriend, but regardless of his view of things, yes, he is my pet - my beloved, spoiled-rotten pet - and I am his owner.

Odd to think, a man can call himself his dog's master, and people are cool with that, but a woman can't call herself her cat's mistress anymore. Heh, regardless of her cat's view of things. My kitty-boy is an Egyption Mao, and as fas as he's concerned, obviously it's Himself who is Master: "When someone asks if you're a God, you say Yes." (And when someone asks why a God had to wear the Cone of Shame to keep him from biting his stitches out, you say Oh look, a bird outside.)

I have watched a family of crows play with the wind. It was a very blustery day, and this one edge of roof funneled the wind in such a way that it was apparently making a standing wave, the way a rock will make one in a river. The reason I couls see this invisible wave of the wind was because these crows were surfing over it, over and over - they'd flap hard up into the wind, then SAIL down the other side of the wave, practically taking turns.

There was no food to be sought there; no reason to keep flying into the same updraft besides sheer playfulness. They'd found something fun, and it held their mercurial interest for a good ten minutes before they flapped off to find something else to do. Crows are very smart and very mischievious, and it's long been known that ravens will slide down snowdrifts for fun, so it isn't surprising that crows do it too.

This.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Most scientists who actually study in order to learn rather than to confirm some pre-existing prejudice admit that many species "play"--engaging in nonproductive behavior with apparent pleasure. Otters make slides, crows and other birds 'surf the wind', etc.

Some clunkheads try to link it to some kind of productive behavior, but while a cat batting around a snowball (happened yesterday and was OMGsoCUTE!) can plausibly be explained away as "sharpening prey skills" (although a ball of snow rolled down the bike ramp behaves quite differently from a vole), many play episodes simply cannot.

Oh, and the guy "obviously the crow was trying to get food"?

If that's based on the pecking it was doing, he's clearly forgotten that the crow's beak is everything--it's the finger, the fist, the hand, the comb, EVERYTHING. If you would hit something with your fist, the crow would peck it.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

I often say I'm the cats' Meowmie, not because I gave birth to them, but because I adopted them. Chaya and Calli both tried to nurse on me when they were kittens, and they knead on me, and those are things that kittens do their mothers. I also sometimes say that the cats own me, rather than the other way around. I dislike the idea of owning a living being, but legally, the cats are my possessions.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

The news story about the dog had me in tears. Thankyou.