Thread: What is your favourite animal?

my mom hate snakes but I love them. they are really cool to touch.

Originally Posted by Redsquire

I'd certainly believe the thing about foxes becoming more dog-like in appearance the longer they are kept - the same is true forwardly - AND in the reverse, for pigs. If you capture a boar, it eventually, will take on more of a pinky tinge and will get fatter, its entire SKULL formation changes from a shovel-like formation to a fatter, fuller one. But if you put that SAME pig back out in the wild, and leave it to fend for itself, its skull will totally CHANGE again, and become more shovel-like again, for snuffling through the undergrowth looking for the crap that generally all wild piggies will look for to eat. In the wild, "pet" pigs will also become hairier. They basically become wild boars, and people think this is how hunters sometimes end up shooting wild game boars that are, put simply, HUGE. (You can find a plethora of HUGE boar examples on Google, and through spam mail.)

They think these might be escaped domestic piggies that have turned wild, and become more boar-like again.

And yes, I think all animals are like that - needing an amount of time to play and stuff. We have a group of tortoises, and we have plastic balls that tinkle when they roll, and we put them in for the tortoises, and, believe it or not, even though they are reptiles, you'd be AMAZED how happy the lil' torts are with a little glittery ball to play with. They bump it with their feet and smell it, and headbutt it and try to climb over it and stuff. They love their little balls. xD The tinkle sound seems to get their attention, because the rest turn round when one rolls a ball. I dont know why.

I always thought tortoises were more... sensory to vibrations. I didn't think they had very good overall hearing. I've clapped numerous times. Not a single reaction. I've even been sad enough to creep up to the box and jump up and "BOOO!!!" at them. And they just sleep.

Having kept reptiles for a long time now, I can say their quite confusing. One minute you watch them walk straight off tables (ie; Aquatic turtles) because they have no depth perception from living in water, and not really knowing gravity too well, but at the same time, they show weird glimmers of intelligence, moreso than you'd expect.

You look them in the eye, and they just look right back. You can tell their figuring you out.

^_^ I've seen those boars/pig stories/pics/&vids!
I wonder why is that... sometimes I wonder if we "tamed" more creatures into family pets and bred them over time... would they look "gentler" as well?
Not all the changes benefit their household surroundings, but still happen.
So I often wonder if we humans have a duty to take care of these animals... whether it be for us being the superior intellect (at least, SHOULD BE more superior than that... but you know... some people), or maybe a balance? Maybe we balance them out? The balance this Earth needs if we just worked together? I dunno. I get too philosophical at times.

Anyways... maybe the tortoises were reacting to the vibration in the ball? O_o
The tinkling must bring out an odd vibration around the ball which makes them curious.
^_^ I love reptiles, but they're a lot easier to piss off than most mammals. ...and have deadlier consequences most times. ... ^^;
... I wish the Komodo Dragon were easy to tame, they're so cute to me~.

Humans underestimate the intelligence of creatures. Scientists always tell us how dumb animals can get, measuring their memory and such...
But the thing is, we humans got our intelligence through survival.
Since our bodies weren't being helped by instincts (our bodies weren't as strong as most mammals... but could be used effectively), we had to figure out different ways to survive.
Our natural curiosity grew, and the longer we survived with ease, the more we exploited the use of our brains.
...in the same way, animals can easily become more intelligent when taken out of the wild. Most creatures depend on instincts to get them through life while in the wild, never really needing to use their brain.
But once taken out of it, most creatures can use their brain much more often than they were in the wild. With instincts being useless in a safe environment, they start becoming more "aware". No need to follow the chemicals going crazily inside you since nothing's setting it off, so now they have time to think.
...some creatures are too... unchallenged and "lazy" to use their brain.
Take fish for example, many species of fish still don't use their brain after being taken out of the wild.
However, they do this because their brain isn't needed (most animals will use their brain despite being needed or unneeded). What's needed when you're stuck in an aquarium swimming back and forth and gobbling food that rains from the sky? ...it's almost like their life back in the ocean, just with no predators.
...but, if you were to test fish, and constantly test them... studies have shown that their intelligence is much higher than previously thought. The old tale of "goldfish only have a memory of 5 minutes" was debunked a few years back.

^_^ Animals can become very intelligent over time, as long as they want to, and as long as they're challenged enough to.

Originally Posted by Soshi Kitai

^_^ I've seen those boars/pig stories/pics/&vids!
I wonder why is that... sometimes I wonder if we "tamed" more creatures into family pets and bred them over time... would they look "gentler" as well?
Not all the changes benefit their household surroundings, but still happen.
So I often wonder if we humans have a duty to take care of these animals... whether it be for us being the superior intellect (at least, SHOULD BE more superior than that... but you know... some people), or maybe a balance? Maybe we balance them out? The balance this Earth needs if we just worked together? I dunno. I get too philosophical at times.

Anyways... maybe the tortoises were reacting to the vibration in the ball? O_o
The tinkling must bring out an odd vibration around the ball which makes them curious.
^_^ I love reptiles, but they're a lot easier to piss off than most mammals. ...and have deadlier consequences most times. ... ^^;
... I wish the Komodo Dragon were easy to tame, they're so cute to me~.

Humans underestimate the intelligence of creatures. Scientists always tell us how dumb animals can get, measuring their memory and such...
But the thing is, we humans got our intelligence through survival.
Since our bodies weren't being helped by instincts (our bodies weren't as strong as most mammals... but could be used effectively), we had to figure out different ways to survive.
Our natural curiosity grew, and the longer we survived with ease, the more we exploited the use of our brains.
...in the same way, animals can easily become more intelligent when taken out of the wild. Most creatures depend on instincts to get them through life while in the wild, never really needing to use their brain.
But once taken out of it, most creatures can use their brain much more often than they were in the wild. With instincts being useless in a safe environment, they start becoming more "aware". No need to follow the chemicals going crazily inside you since nothing's setting it off, so now they have time to think.
...some creatures are too... unchallenged and "lazy" to use their brain.
Take fish for example, many species of fish still don't use their brain after being taken out of the wild.
However, they do this because their brain isn't needed (most animals will use their brain despite being needed or unneeded). What's needed when you're stuck in an aquarium swimming back and forth and gobbling food that rains from the sky? ...it's almost like their life back in the ocean, just with no predators.
...but, if you were to test fish, and constantly test them... studies have shown that their intelligence is much higher than previously thought. The old tale of "goldfish only have a memory of 5 minutes" was debunked a few years back.

^_^ Animals can become very intelligent over time, as long as they want to, and as long as they're challenged enough to.

... Makes me wonder what a human would look like if you threw them back in the wild, naked as the day they were born. A question of ethics, maybe, but it's a curious thought. x3 They had that show lately where the little girls had been brought up by the dogs, and they basically (mentally) became dogs. Weird, because it doesnt work in reverse. You can't put a chimp in a human environment as a newborn and make it act increasingly human as it gets older. Their still incredibly unpredictable.

Philosophically, humans can wipe this entire world down to the barest bone, to the point where there might be nothing but cockroaches, water bears and some forms of fungus or something. Humans are still evolving too - the average size of womens feet, for example, has drastically reduced in only the last 50 to 100 years. Women are looking younger for their age. Humans in general are living longer. Many people have machines attached to them that help with hearing, or sight, or memory. I'll wager 100 or 200 years from now, you won't recognise this as the same world. Or species.

The only problem I see with human evolution is specialization. Depending on machines too much is going to specialize people too much, I suspect. Take it away in some drastic worldly event, and, if humans are dependant enough on their technology and not adaptive enough, the entire species will simply fizzle out. As for fish, I can see that, yes. An octopus after all, isnt even a fish. It's more closely related to say, shellfish or bugs. The bloody thing doesnt even have a rudimentary backbone, for god sake.

What it DOES have, is like, three brains and eight hearts, or something.

I remember they said statistically, if the world was left to its own devices, and humans/mammals disappeared, octopi had enough statistic-wise to take over as the next dominant species, intelligent wise, perhaps. I think the third age of evolution will prove adaptability to be the over-riding factor of how successful a species is. An animal cant evolve quickly enough now that it will become more advanced than us. One can evolve, however, that it could out-maneouvre us adaptation-ally. First age of evoltion in the Dinosaurs was strongest was best. Biggest was best. Fastest was best. Humans and mammals came next - smartest is best. Highest emotions kept the species together as a whole. The third stage, I suspect, will be a species that can adapt at will, to any obstacle.

Be it ANY given habitat, temperature, light source, food source, humidity, air pressure, or gas in the air.

I think thats the only type of evolutionary factor that could ever threaten humans, nowadays. Even then, Intelligence and Adaptability might be on par. Far as further evolution than intelligence/adaptability goes, I dont think we really have the means to suggest what that might be.

Arent Komodo Dragons just dangerous in the wild? Because the carrion they eat mean they have so much poison in their mouths? I recognise that they could still give you a pretty bad tear with those teeth or front feet, but overall, I couldn't see you getting KILLED by one of them, unless your like, a little small child or your stupid enough to show your necks jugular vein to the thing.

And its just like they say about mammals, mammals are called mammals because they care for their young and have a mammary gland to produce milk. Freaks. This isn't true. Caecillians and Bullfrogs take care of their babies. FISH take care of their babies. Spiders take care of their babies and yet, you get hampsters that EAT their own babies. DURRRRRR.

To quote something I heard once;
"Humans have the capacity to be the bringers, and takers of life on Earth. Given time, we will cross the stars. And in the whole universe, if the fact of things is simply that there is no other life in the universe, then this might be even more of an amazing discovery than finding life on other worlds. Maybe, the truth of the matter is, that life will be Earth's gift, to the universe."

xD If you seen my room, you'd be well aware I'm one of those "explorer" or "collector" types that has all the weirdest plants and animals, dangerous or otherwise. Rare or otherwise. I'd like a really "feral" animal like a Komodo simply for the aesthetic of trying to tame an animal that could so easily mess you up VERY badly. However, I dont think it'd be a Komodo I'd keep, and yet it'd probably be easier than what I had planned. (The only thing I'd say you REALLY have to watch out for with Komodos are the teeth and foreclaws, but most serious Herpetologists have the appropriate gloves anyway. The sheer strength in them might require two unafraid men to deal with one, and I dont give thumbs up for owning one in private collections unless your well versed in keeping them. WELL versed. That said...

I had planned to own a Gharial someday.

(... Wow, that was a BIG post. o.o)