LSM1303 Animal Behaviour

Dogs are one of the most common animals kept as pets. Calling my entire family dog lovers is perhaps the greatest understatment of the century, not that I’m exaggerating of course. Ever since I was born two decades ago, at any point in time, there will always be at least a dog at home vying with me for the couch or for the adults’ attention.

Therefore, it was definitely no surprise when Jonus joined the family eight months ago. It was definitely a joy watching the little two month old golden retriever trot around the house, curious about everything that the world has to offer, sniff and attempt to lick anything along the way, and then fall into a deep slumber after acting cute and being cuddled by all.

Life is never so perfect ain’t it? Now, to the downside. Although my family has been keeping dogs for the longest time, this is indeed the first time what we are keeping a puppy this young. Most of the dogs that we have kept were usually given or strays. Horrors of horrors, we seemed to be blinded by the extremely cute, innocent face and it slipped our mind that this gold fuzzball actually answers nature calls. We woke up to find the entire house in a state of disarray, with the grandmother thinking that the house had been broken into while we were sleeping. However, we came to a conclusion that thieves dont have that much time to poo and pee anywhere in the house while carrying out a break in. OF course, the dog got an earful from all of us that day.

Astonishingly, from that day onwards, Jonus never urinate nor defaecate anywhere again, apart from the potty pen that he was given. At only three months, he was able to decipher the right from the wrong and followed instructions. Compare that to the same three month old infant boy who can ’shoot’ in mummy’s face.  Who says that language is always a barrier? Sometimes I really wonder if dogs are really smarter than humans. Operant learning I call it.

Jonus never fails to amuse us as he grows each day. One day, I was washing the dustpan with a hose in the garden. Jonus, was as usual, being his happy self basking in the sun. What happened the next day shocked us greatly. The moment I wanted to wash the same dustpan with the hose, Jonus ran over and peed in it, and it has never stopped since then. Till this day, he only pees and poos in the dustpan, in the garden. He probably saw the jet of water from the hose on that particular day and thought that it was right to do his business in the dustpan. Not like we are complaining of course. Having the entire house, including the kitchen smell like the zoo isn’t exactly very appetizing.

I’m so proud of this talent that is unique to my little one and watches in fascination and awe as he grows each day. Ok, now I sound like a mother.    

Jonus then and now…

References

- The domestic dog by James Serpell via Google book search 

-  American Kennel Club https://www.akc.org/breeds/golden_retriever/index.cfm

- www.thegoldenretrieverclub.co.uk/

Alright, so I was walking home the other day and suddenly I hear this weird clacking sound behind me. It was approximately 11.30pm and I was freaked. I’m not a ghost-believer but I am scared of meeting crazy, pervy humans in the middle of the night. Rather than turning around to locate the source of that sound, I hastened my leisurely walk to a brisk one. But, whaddya know, the sound seemed to follow me! I whirl around and lo and behold, it was a cat! But the little guy was crouched and looked as though it was ready to pounce! Now, I must admit, I am a cat lover but this cat seemed to come out of Steven Spielberg’s (awesome) film Jurassic Park. It kept making a sort of Velociraptor noise with its mouth. “What’s up little fella?” I asked it (yes I talk to cats). Suddenly, a rat streaked by me and the crazy cat, of course dashed madly after it.

Intrigued by this behaviour, I went online to see if there was some explanation for the cat’s weird sounds. Sure enough, there was. Youtube is a Godsend, seriously. Apparently, the term for that sound is called chatter and cats make that sound when they spot prey. Take a look at this video.

THOSE CATS ARE DINOSAURS!!

I don’t know about you guys, but that sound is sooo weird. It doesn’t sound like anything I would ever associate with cats. There hasn’t been a whole lot of research on why cats make certain vocalizations but there are a lot of pet-associated websites that do explain this chattering sound. Apparently, one of the reasons a cat chatters is because “this is [the] cat’s way of trying to get the prey to trust them” and also one website even said that cats make this sound when they deliver a “special” neck bite to their prey. This “special” bite, I found out, is called a Killbite where it’s basically a forceful bite to the jugular vein in the neck of the prey. These kinds of sounds are also mostly seen in feral cats and noted to be known as instinctive hunting sounds.

Interestingly, cats don’t only make this sound when it comes to prey but can be seen in instances when they are scolded or threatened by humans. An article from StarTribune.com states, “[Cats] will chatter back at their human when they are caught off guard or disagree with the human’s tone of voice toward them. If your cat gets in trouble, sometimes, he will chatter back at you, as if in defence of himself, saying, “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!””.

Whether or not, these facts are true on cats chatter, I don’t know. Maybe those of you who own cats might try a hand in explaining this phenomenon. Lol. All I know is that, the next time I’m walking home, I don’t have to worry about being stalked by dinosaurs!

P.s. Didn’t you think the squirrel was cute? Looked like it was doing sign language with its tail! Oh well, that’s for someone else to research. Taarah!

Petplace.com. “Why Do Cats Make a Chattering Sound”. Understanding your cat. Virginia Wells. 2009.         <http://www.petplace.com/cats/why-do-cats-make-a-chattering-sound/page1.aspx>

StarTribune.com. “Sounds your cats make have different meanings”. The sounds cats make. 2009. Star Tribune.<http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/pets/11253316.html>

Hall, Sarah, John, Bradshaw and Ian Robinson. Object play in adult domestic cats: the roles of habituation and disinhibition. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 79.3. (2002) 263-271.

When I think hippopotamus, I think of huge hairless mammals with stubby legs and an enormous mouth. And yes, hippopotamuses are one of the largest mammals on Earth in terms of their weight. They do have a big mouth. And, even with stubby legs, hippopotamuses are able to outrun humans. Amazing! And if you watch them closely, they do provide nice resting zones for birds.

pretty-scratched up hippo

Jokes aside, these animals may seem mild and clumsy, spending most of the time submerged in the water. But they can become very aggressive when it comes to competition, territoriality or protecting the young. The first video narrated by David Attenborough highlights how gruesome fights between two hippopotamuses can get. However, it is the second video that I find hard to digest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUer8Dv2HW8

Animals have different ways of marking their territories. Some of them engage in physical aggression while others use psychological intimidation. The hippopotamus, believe it or not, flings a mixture of poo and urine to mark its territory. The alpha male will wags its tail as it defecates to ensure that the excrement spreads over the greatest possible area. The hippopotamus does this both on land (bushes and shrubs) and in water. This area that is scented with the animal’s droppings is, therefore, its territory. Animal Planet ranks this act eighth on the list of Top 10 Animal Gross-Outs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIZSb8uiuck

Do not be anywhere near a hippopotamus. Do not drink from any river if you are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sources:

The Ultimate Guide to African Wildlife 2007 Tthe Large Mammals of Africa Retrieved 14th April 2009 from http://www.africanwildlifeguide.com/species-guide/mammals/large-mammals/hippopotamus

Animal Planet 2009 Top Ten Animal Gross-Outs: Hippo Retrieved on 14^th April 2009 from http://animal.discovery.com/tv/a-list/creature-countdowns/gross-outs/gross-outs-08.html

Hippopotamus Retrieved 14^th April 2009 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/25961625@N08/3011651583/

Hippopotamus 2008 Retrieved 14^th April 2009 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/25961625@N08/3012487648/

A typical clown anemonefish swimming between the tantacles of the sea anemone coral

So you think you have found ‘Nemo’ and know all about it after watching the animation by Walt Disney Pictures - Finding Nemo? Not just yet! There are more to this fish than meets the eye.

More commonly known as clown fish, it is actually called the clown anemonefish, that is where the name ‘Nemo’ came from. There are several interesting facts about this fish which makes them so different from other fishes:

• The ‘Nemo’ in the movie belongs to the group called the false anemonefish. The other group called the true anemonefish, lives mainly within the stinging tantacles of the sea anemone coral (which is also an animal), which can paralyse any intruders upon contact.
• The clownfish, together with the anemone coral, forms a formidable partnership, attacking and consuming every intruder.
• The anemonefish have a layer of mucus around their body protecting them from the stings of the coral they lived in.
• They live in groups of up to 6, led by a dominant female
• They are all born as males, but when the need arises, they can change into female.

Surprisingly, all clownfish are born male. They have the ability to switch their sex, but will do so only to become the dominant female of a group. The change is irreversible.

Behaviour Analysis:

Territorial: In the case of this Clown Anemonefish, we can see the sea anemone coral as its ‘territory’.  With this partnership between the fish and the coral, both benefits greatly from each other’s presence. From the fish point of view, it aquire food, as well as shelter or protection from the stinging and poisonous tantacles of the coral. This belongs to the type of territory: Mating, nesting and feeding.

Living in groups: The clown anemonefishes live in groups that resemble a herem, except that it is the opposite. Led by a large dominant female with her chosen mate, the rest of the (up to) 4 ’subordinates’ are all male (because all anemonefishes are born as males). When the dominant female dies, a smaller subordinate male fish will put on a growth spurt and change of sex to take its place as the ‘herem’ leader.

Links:

• National Geographic Website article: Clown Anemonefish
• Article published on Nature, 25th August 1934: Partnership between Fish and Anemone
• Article on Nature website, 10th July 2002: Clownfish know their place

References:

• “Clown Anemonefish” on National Geographic Website: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/clown-anemonefish.html
• “Partnership between Fish and Anemone” by H.A.F. Gohar. Nature, 25th August 1934.
• “Clownfish Know their Place” by John Whitfield. Nature Online, 10th July 2002.
• Picture from photine’s Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laanba/3235778429/sizes/m/

Extracted from Cambridge University Press

Being the third largest land animal after the elephant and rhino, a hippo (Hippopotamus amphibious) can grow from 12-15 feet weighing 5-8 tons! So with a clumsy cuddly appearance, coupled with their cute eyes, small round ears, short fat legs and tummy bulges, ain’t hippopotamus cute? A perfect fit for Disney’s winning formula of a ‘Cute Character’. No wonder we have tons of hippo fluffys in stores, ranging from nameless cutesies to Gloria the Hippo in Madagascar.

But well, the eyes, ears and nostrils are located extremely high on the roof of their skull so that they can spend hot days with a majority of their body below the surface of the water. The hippopotamus needs to stay cool in the waters of tropical rivers and prevent himself from getting a sunburn and dehydration. So Mummy can i hug hippo?

What The Hippo!?

Hippos run up to 30mph. The experienced ranger must have clocked 31mph. Potential Nike Ad!

In relation to what has happened in the picture, I have some questions for everyone to think about on Human Animal Behaviour (HAC). So what led to this incident? Is it the ranger’s fault or the hippos? Could he send a wrong signal to the hippo or misread a signal from the hippo? And what can we do to prevent such incidents from happening? We might be cursing the “intruder” animal involved, and sided the human “victim”. But i bet that if animals can speak, they would swear back at us “intruders” equally if not more.

Just to cite some points from Mary Martin to answer this questions:

• ‘When you see reports of elephants running into crops or attacking people, they’re highly stressed’ [says Dr. Gay Bradshaw, a world authority on elephants]. ‘And there are multiple stressors – violence, lack of food, lack of water; their families are being broken up; their society is collapsing. All of these things are human-derived.’
• Habituation (”familiarity breeds contempt”)
• “Animals learn to fear humans under certain circumstances.  This means they’re coming closer to humans, but are prepared to defend themselves. When they’re primed by this arousal, they can have lowered thresholds for aggression and produce hair-trigger responses.’ When a wild animal is just about not-scared-enough to approach a human, but still has enough fear heating its blood to unleash a frenzy at the slightest provocation, it’s in a uniquely dangerous state.”

I think a good way to manage such Human Animal Conflicts would be to better understand the animals in our environment so as to avoid any misunderstanding, and compromised on terriorities instead of just selfish deforestation & hunting. A good way that we Singaporeans can practise HAC Management could be as simple as understanding the stray dogs & cats in our neighbourhood, to the Bukit Timah Macaques. Together, we can make this world a place for everyone.

To read more on Human Animal Conflicts:

• “Mad Cows (and Livid Lambs),” by Will Storr, Telegraph.co.uk, 8 August 2008.
• “Human Animal Conflicts,” by WWF

References

1. “Hippopotamus” National Geographic
   http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/hippopotamus.html
2. “Gamekeeper flees for his life from angry hippo,” by Claire Bates, Mail Online, 7 June 2007
3. “On HAC – Human Animal Conflicts” by Mary Martin, Animal Person, 13 August 2008

An interesting article I will highlight: Sapolsky, R. M., 2005. The influence of social hierarchy on primate health. Science, 308 (5722): 648 – 652.

Duke University (11 Jul 2007). Songbirds Prefer The Latest Music: Golden Oldies Just Don’t Cut It With The Chicks. [Link]

Two easily readable references:

• “Bird Squawk: What is the dawn chorus?” BBC Science & Nature homepage. [link]
• “Bird Songs,” by Gareth Huw Davies. PBS: The Life of Birds by [BBC/]David Attenborough. [link]