Photos of the Day: North American river otters meet a golden retriever
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Gwyn has gotten much more confident about the Big Doggies, but she's still not quite ready for those huge heads to snuffle her.
The Big Doggies are being very respectful and waiting for her to come to them... oh, but look at Serenity's tightly pointed nose, she wants so badly to reach down and snuzzle that baby.
Introducing March Mammal Madness: an annual tournament created by Dr. Katie Hinde of Arizona State University. MMM is virtual battle of simulated combat competition among mammals. Participants are educated about inter-species interactions, the importance of ecological context, how natural selection has shaped adaptations, and conservation management of endangered species. To help you fill out a winning bracket, we’ve put together a special collection of journal articles from Journal of Mammalogy and Mammalian Species. Happy simulated combating!
The orphaned calf even learned to act like a bottlenose dolphin, gaining acceptance into the community.
Adoption is uncommon among wild mammals, with most occurring between related members of the same species. The only other scientifically documented case involving an adopted orphan of a different species and genus was in 2006, when University of São Paulo primatologist Patrícia Izar observed a group of capuchins caring for a baby marmoset. “At the time, we were really, really astonished,” she says.
Female bottlenose dolphins have been known to “steal” babies of other species for brief periods during conflicts, but the adoptee’s enthusiasm and the mom’s dedication show this was no kidnapping.
The ever-persistent orphan was not only intent on integrating himself into the family unit; he also figured out how to fit into the broader group of dolphins. For instance, he regularly socialized with other youngsters and would even join in on their favorite pastime of surfing and leaping into the waves.
But a big question remains: Why would a bottlenose dolphin bother to invest in an infant to which she has no genetic ties?
One possibility is that the recent birth of her calf triggered her maternal instincts. “Most likely, it was just a perfect moment for this calf to come along, when [the mother] was at a very receptive period to forming those bonds with her own offspring,” says MacLeod, “and it led to this slightly wacky situation.”
Hello! Ive been researching and going through your posts on how bad dogs/cats are to birds. I was wondering if this could also be true in reverse? Could a large parrot (macaw, cockatoo, ectect) do a lot of damage to a small cat/dog if provoked?
Certainly, beaks can do a lot of damage and birds can be pretty unpredictable when placed in stressful situations around other animals. If a macaw was with a cat and decided to present a common bird behaviour it could end poorly. As an example a common thing for birds to do is peck one another in the face to solve disputes or lunge at one another to get personal space, this is usually directed towards the other bird’s beak and doesn’t cause any harm. Try to peck or nab at a cat however at it would likely hurt quite a bit. Macaws can produce around 2000psi with their beaks, it takes around 1700psi to break a human humerus, wouldn’t take much to break some bones in a cat or dog if the bird decided to.
SO THIS IS SO COOL I USED TO HAVE BUDGIES AND I HAD THIS OLD CALICO WHO LOVED BIRDS AND SHE'D SIT WITH ONE ON TOP OF THE CAGE AND THEY'D EAT SNACKS TOGETHER. THEY WERE BEST FRIENDS.
I’m glad to hear that your birds lived healthy lives but I would advise against these interactions! The bacteria in cat saliva is all over their fur and claws which means that whenever a bird is sitting on them or touching something they’ve touched they can end up contaminated with this bacteria and get very sick! Predator-prey relationships are also very risky business which we don’t want to be playing with. Even the calmest of pets can be unpredictable and for the sake of a ‘cute’ interaction it’s not worth risking the health of the animals involved! Again, I’m very happy that your birds were fine but I would not recommend this in the future!
