This is also a problem rehabbers can face! Some patients just don’t want to go, they had the good life and absolutely refuse to wild back up. This is why minimizing direct handling and human socialization as much as possible is a key step.
It’s easy to see why people can think of wild animals like pets when you see them act like that. We all want the same basic thing, in the end. To be comfortable.
I have 3 cats, 1 used to be feral. She is the one that goes outside the least and is now a pillow kween. It took her years to be comfortable with me but now she hugs me back. :) She’s become quite mischievous and chatty too.
Everyone wants to be comfortable is a phrase people should remember more.
All I can think of is the flipside of that, when people take in a stray dog that turns out to be a coyote. Some wild animal, in fine health, was kidnapped off the side of the big black stripe in the middle of its territory, and found itself in an angular white cave that smelled like too many flowers and had meat piled in a little metal bowl. Then a different biped arrived, yapped at its kidnapper for a while, and reverse-kidnapped it to roughly the same area it got nabbed in.
If it spoke English it would describe an alien abduction.
while my logic knows it’s impossible, highly dangerous to the eco system, dangerous to humans, and dangerous to animals
can we just go and domesticate all the animals please? 🥺 i want to snuggle with squirrels and give hugs to red pandas, maybe even ride a bear a little, give them all pats and the best treats
I don’t want to domesticate the animals - it’s cruel because we can barely keep the ones we have mentally healthy
I just want animal friends. I don’t need to own them, they don’t need to live with me, but I want them to come visit for pets and the occasional treat
And I could do it too… I’m very good at getting the trust of animals. You just have to establish a common language and show yourself to be trustworthy over time. But that requires being able to live somewhere with a healthy ecosystem…
This is also a problem rehabbers can face! Some patients just don’t want to go, they had the good life and absolutely refuse to wild back up. This is why minimizing direct handling and human socialization as much as possible is a key step.
It’s easy to see why people can think of wild animals like pets when you see them act like that. We all want the same basic thing, in the end. To be comfortable.
I have 3 cats, 1 used to be feral. She is the one that goes outside the least and is now a pillow kween. It took her years to be comfortable with me but now she hugs me back. :) She’s become quite mischievous and chatty too.
Everyone wants to be comfortable is a phrase people should remember more.
I got really confused after you started talking about minimizing handling and human contact right after talking about people in rehab for a second lol
All I can think of is the flipside of that, when people take in a stray dog that turns out to be a coyote. Some wild animal, in fine health, was kidnapped off the side of the big black stripe in the middle of its territory, and found itself in an angular white cave that smelled like too many flowers and had meat piled in a little metal bowl. Then a different biped arrived, yapped at its kidnapper for a while, and reverse-kidnapped it to roughly the same area it got nabbed in.
If it spoke English it would describe an alien abduction.
while my logic knows it’s impossible, highly dangerous to the eco system, dangerous to humans, and dangerous to animals
can we just go and domesticate all the animals please? 🥺 i want to snuggle with squirrels and give hugs to red pandas, maybe even ride a bear a little, give them all pats and the best treats
I don’t want to domesticate the animals - it’s cruel because we can barely keep the ones we have mentally healthy
I just want animal friends. I don’t need to own them, they don’t need to live with me, but I want them to come visit for pets and the occasional treat
And I could do it too… I’m very good at getting the trust of animals. You just have to establish a common language and show yourself to be trustworthy over time. But that requires being able to live somewhere with a healthy ecosystem…
I’d like domesticated maned wolves, please.
Also, I don’t think it’s impossible, just time consuming. I think domesticating non-mammals is much harder.