> 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.)
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