> Ronn!Blankenship <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > At 08:14 PM Monday 4/17/2006, Deborah Harrell wrote:
<snip> > >Animals suitable to be domesticated must, in general, > >have a native hierarchy, which humans can then utilize > >to their own advantage... in carnivores, a relatively stable > >pack or strong family structure is required. Humans > >usurp the alpha position of the herd leader(s) or > >mother/father. > So how do you explain cats? Ronn, Ronn, Ronn...cats are inherently inexplicable. I suspect Midnight has his paws over his eyes at your obtuseness... ;-} Damon opined: "Intelligence and inherent laziness obviously selected itself in cat evolution. In some circles, cats taking on us as their "masters" can be seen as a stoke of genius that outstrips the greatest of human achievements!" Your cat(s) have obviously brainwashed - er, _trained_ - you well, but your understanding of the feline purpose underlying exploitation of humanity is a bit flawed. *Laziness* has little to do with it; rather, they desire leisure time to contemplate Big Ideas: the Good, the True, the Real, the Invisible, the Ineffable...and what Truth bits of string twitched across floors represent. ;-) Pat noted: "We never domesticated them. They just took advantage of free food and shelter, in true predator style. Or, why doesn't your cat obey you? Pat, human servant to Dufus Claudius Felis and Spot Optimus Maximus" Another human who clearly understands her place in the Great Food Chain. Your rulers have been a little harsh, perhaps, if they have never deigned to allow you the illusion of miniscule control; most felids find the antics of humans trained with the 'diminishing rewards'** system absolutely hysterical. `:-) **The "diminishing rewards" method involves initially frequent responses to human 'orders,' such as coming-when-called; then response should be lowered until it is entirely sporadic -- it drives many humans to massive expenditure of effort. While most cats see this as harmless fun, others feel it is unnecessarily humiliating for their thralls -- a rare few think that humans are too dangerously arrogant to be allowed even the illusion of having a measurable effect upon the universe. Rob stated: "I'm not by nature a cat person. But our cats love me to death and will obey any imperative command I give (Get Down!...Get Back In The House!) especially if accompanied by a single clap. <G> They also know what the phrases "Malt" and "Canned Cat Food" mean and will come immediately if you ask them if they want some. ("Malt" is a malt or salmon flavored hairball gel........apparently quite yummy)" See?!?! A well-conditioned human, providing not only nourishment of Their Imperiousnesses' Mortal Frames, but delighting Their Incomparable Sense Of Whimsy as well! A miracle of felicitous cohabitation to behold! ;-) Getting back to a serious and scientific approach- Bob Z wrote: > Cats are a perfect example of non-domestication. We have certainly > bred > them to be smaller and tamer but they are not domesticated in the > way > that dogs are domesticated. They do not connect with humans in the > same way. It is true that cats must be 'imprinted' at an earlier age than dogs to truly attach to humans; it's ~ 8 weeks of age for kittens, while the figures I recall for dogs is more like 6-8 months of age. Feral cats can be tamed/trained, but having missed that early kittenhood experience, they will almost never accept a human as mother-figure. I have heard of adult feral dogs becoming family members, but this can still be dangerous - think of dingos. Cats relate to us as mother-figures: they call to us as they did to their dam, answer our calls as they would hers, greet us with tail-in-the-air as they did her, and learn from us as they would from her. Adult cats rarely call to each other except in mating heat, and greet by touching muzzles instead of kittenish begging (the raised tail). [Of course, some adult cats are very social with other adult cats, while others avoid or are openly hostile toward them. There was a fascinating British study of farm cats in which lion-pride-like behavior occurred: queens caring for and nursing kittens not their own, a creche-type kitten-sitting service, and friendly or at least mostly peaceful cohabitation with a large number of other queens and their kits. Toms are driven away from the creche, as they tend to kill kittens, much as invading male lions will destroy the cubs of a pride they conquer.] Dogs, OTOH, are pack animals, and therefore are more social than cats; there is a much higher degree of interdependence among wolves and their descendants, as a lone wolf will have a very difficult time raising any pups to adulthood, while a feral queen has a good chance of bringing at least one kitten per litter to independence. So for a dog, being a member of a pack is more a matter of life, while for a cat, being a member of the family is more a matter of pleasure or convenience. A very enjoyable book on cats and their behavior is _The Tribe of Tiger_; I don't recall the author. Debbi who taught young Bashir to hunt for food, but never expected him to stalk turkey or deer as prey! (Lihleete, adopted as an adult, still just plays with her catch, unless it's grasshoppers or such-like, which she does eat.) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l