Marion says:
>Dave says,
>
>>In what appears to be animal play, what we are seeing is not play as we
>>know it, but instinctive behavior that originally had survival value,
>
>I sure wouldn't take issue on a matter such as this with someone who works
>for Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources,
Um, I don't want to take credit where it isn't due. My academic
background is in political science and organizational behavior - I haven't
had a single class hour since high school related to anything biological.
And I work in the management and budget area, far removed from our
wildlife folks. However, it does at times seem like a circus with wild
animals and I often feel like a "tamer".
The only credit I can take for knowing anything about non-human animal
behavior is a little bit of reading, a lot of successful training, and
quite a few mistakes.
So I can only smile and wonder at the behavior exhibited by Archie and
Tom:
> but the statement leaves
>me newly mystified about the behavior of a pet raccoon (Archie) and a big
>mongrel dog (Tom) that I had years ago on a farm in Ohio.
>
>My front porch was about 4 feet above ground level. Tom would lope by the
>porch at a slow trot, and Archie would jump down spraddle-legged on his
>back and ride around the yard. Having no stirrups, he'd eventually slide
>off, whereupon the whole procedure would be repeated.
I can't figure how either of them was displaying anything related to
survival or socialization behavior. I guess if animals don't play,
there's just no explanation for this.
Dave
-- David E. Birren Phone: (608)267-2442 Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources Fax: (608)267-3579 Bureau of Management & Budget E-mail: birred@dnr.state.wi.us"Our future is to be food - Wisdom's gift - for what comes after us." -- Saadi (Neil Douglas-Klotz)