Animal behavior?

[Duna]

While non-human animal behaviour can shed a lot of light onto human animal behavior, there are still many things that are specific to certain species. Those behaviors have a lot to do with perception, and the ecological niche the species lives in. You can't say that species A is below species B only because of what you see, or their position within the food chain.
We humans aren't better than any other species, and over time I think we have evolved into a plague that is certainly going to destroy not only ourselves, but all that's around us as well.

 

[Fino]

When you write "deal with them" - that sounds like dealing with a problem, or an unwanted situation. As many others here stated, we ourselves are animals. And certainly not the best species that has evolved. So from Nature's point of view the question should be "How can Nature deal with us.
And knowing about "animal behavior", it's mostly the instinctive part that is helpful. All the little things you do and feel subconsciously, the basic workings of your thinking that influences your behavior are not so different from that of animals.

The things that made us humans "top of the food chain" is the ability to constantly stand on two feet, and our thumbs. And humans are hunters and collectors.
Predator's behavior is based on things like need and supply. A lion who fed enough won't kill again until it feels the need to. They help keep balance because if there isn't enough food, they move on, and they even stop breeding until there is enough food again.
Hunters kill for many reasons, satisfaction and gain amongst them. They kill and will do so without regard to the consequences.
Humans aren't predators, they are hunters.

I wasn't thinking of it as being problematic. We have to deal with each other, our environments, our jobs, our feelings, nature, and so on and on. We're constantly dealing with things. Would you prefer "handling them"?

 

[Duna]

Would you prefer "handling them"?

No, it's okay now that you explained

 

[Forest Cat]

When you write "deal with them" - that sounds like dealing with a problem, or an unwanted situation. As many others here stated, we ourselves are animals. And certainly not the best species that has evolved.

When you look at this planet as a whole and all the species here, we are probably the craziest and most messed up species there is. We stand out like a sore thumb. One big thing is that we no longer live with nature, nature is in our way. And we kill everything, often for fun or entertainment. People, other species, it's mayhem.

 

[Duna]

And we kill everything, often for fun or entertainment.

Or to make room for more houses, condos, human-mainyained parks... and it's not going to stop because there's profit in it and of course, more more humans every year.

 

[Foggy]

Hi everyone, thanks for all your wonderful replies! Sorry for my delay in answering, I didn't honestly realize how many replies this post would get and when I saw how many there were I got a tad bit overwhelmed I am very interested by everyone's stories! Thank you to everyone who provided articles and books, I appreciate it and will add them to my reading list!

Right now I am reading Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed by Marc Bekoff. He is a professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology and he has written many books on animal behavior. It's been really interesting so far and I'm learning a lot. I also just finished an edx class on "Intro to Animal Behavior" that I highly recommend! It is free to audit, but if you pay a fee or apply for financial assistance you can get a certificate in the course.

 

[Shevek]

My friend the tree surgeon noticed that the beaver pond on his land was dry one rainless fall. This meant great danger for them, as their main defense is to just dive out of trouble. So, when he had some suitable branches left over from a job, he would drop them off at the beaver lodge.
The next spring, as he was out walking with his wife, a beaver waddled right up to them, dropped a green branch an their feet, and waddled off.
I am also fascinated that many mammals adopt orphans from other species, even their natural enemies. I'm sure that the domestication of animals began with girls adopting orphans after a hunt, not from early cowboys learning to round up wild adults.

 

[Foggy]

My friend the tree surgeon noticed that the beaver pond on his land was dry one rainless fall. This meant great danger for them, as their main defense is to just dive out of trouble. So, when he had some suitable branches left over from a job, he would drop them off at the beaver lodge.
The next spring, as he was out walking with his wife, a beaver waddled right up to them, dropped a green branch an their feet, and waddled off.
I am also fascinated that many mammals adopt orphans from other species, even their natural enemies. I'm sure that the domestication of animals began with girls adopting orphans after a hunt, not from early cowboys learning to round up wild adults.

That's so interesting about the beavers! Animals have been shown to be altruistic and to show gratitude. That must've been amazing!

It is so interesting how animals adopt orphans from other species. I do agree that the domestication of animals probably began with people adopting orphans. Wild adults would be much harder to socialize and therefore domesticate.