localcatbehaviourguy - Tumblr blog

[localcatbehaviourguy]

getting a wolfdog for protection is so fucking dumb. ma'am you know wolves are naturally timid of humans, right? you could grab literally any shepherd or pit mix from your local shelter and it will guard your house better than a wolfdog and destroy your house slightly less

[localcatbehaviourguy]

No, you don't need a coydog as a pet. No, you don't need a wolfdog as a pet. No, you don't need a wild canid as a pet.

[localcatbehaviourguy]

had an interaction with a cat at my mother's friend's house (we dropped by to feed her while my mom's friend was out of town) and my mother said "i was surprised how much that cat liked you, she doesn't usually let people pet her but she followed you around and let you pet her a lot"

and in explaining to her my interaction with the cat i put into words a thing i'd never put into words before, having always automatically understood what i was doing. But once i put it into words my mother said she'd never thought of that and it felt like something worth sharing here.

This cat did a typical cat thing where she sniffed my fingers i was holding out, and then acted like she wanted me to pet her, but then when i started to move to pet her, moved her head away slightly to prevent it.

I instinctively understand this interaction, and stopped trying to pet her and moved back to a neutral position and waited to see if she would re-initiate an interaction.

Because this is basically a consent test. This is how a cat can assess "how closely are you paying attention to what i'm telling you" and "how respectful of my boundaries are you".

If i am responsive to her yes/no game, moving to pet her when she indicates i can, stopping immediately when she seems to change her mind, then she knows she can trust me to understand her, and also to respect her choices. That's what i did, so then she knew she could trust me and relax around me and enjoy my company. She was actually a very friendly and social little cat, who clearly wanted to make friends with me.

But if i had insisted on trying to pet her when she seemed to change her mind instead of simply understanding that she didn't want to be pet in that moment, she would have known she couldn't trust me to understand or respect her, and she would have treated me like she has to treat 90% of the people who visit that house, evidently.

I work mostly with dogs these days, but i grew up with cats too, and am generally good with animals. Many shy animals will also do this same "sniff sniff okay touch me nope just kidding" routine, especially if they've had experiences with people that make establishing that kind of communication and trust important to them.

And in fact, a lot of animals will do some version of this kind of consent test in a whole variety of situations. When well socialized dogs do that thing where they are rough housing and then they both stop suddenly for a moment until one of them play bows or makes a little pouncing motion and then they fly back into rough housing mode, that's what they are doing, they are doing a consent check-in, like "whoah this is getting wild, are you still in? are we still playing, is this still a good time for you?"

anyway, that's why this lovely little cat followed me around asking me to pet her the whole time we were visiting that house, because i showed her that i understood her signals and respected her boundaries, which is something i see a lot of both men and women not doing when interacting with cats and dogs.

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Me every time I see someone with a “pet” serval or high content savannah cat:

[localcatbehaviourguy]

[localcatbehaviourguy]

This is me♡♡

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Just a reminder if you decide to illegally take a wild animal from the wild for yourself, even if you have the best interests at heart, you could be killing it.

If you feed it the wrong diet you can cause it's bones to break or other diseases associated with mineral imbalances. If you feed it too much you could cause issues associated with obesity including excessive fat stores.

If you aren't a trained wildlife rehabilitator you won't understand the importance of preventing imprinting or humanising. So you'll cuddle it, play with it, and let your pets play with it. So it will think it can only get food from humans, and that humans and domestic pets are part of its family.

If you take it while it's still young it won't learn the necessary foraging and social skills from its parents to survive in the wild. You might joke you don't even need a cage for it, but it isn't able to go anywhere because you've made it dependant on you.

If you aren't a wildlife carer or in the animal health industry you might not realise it's injured and needs treatment. This could lead to broken bones setting in ways that the animal can't perform normal functions and suffering from a life of chronic pain. Or it could lead to it suffering a slow and agonising death.

You might also not be aware that wildlife can contain diseases that can make you sick or even kill you. You could put yourself and your loved ones at risk of serious zoonotic diseases by bringing it home.

And, if you are found to be illegally holding a wild animal without the intention of rehabilitating and releasing it, the authorities are stuck. They can't release the animal because it thinks humans and domestic pets are friends. It can't forage for itself. It can't socialise with its own kind. It could have injuries or diet associated diseases that mean it can't perform normal functions, or is suffering from chronic pain. If they released it, it would die.

Is it fair for that animal that your choices have led to it not being able to experience its life in the wild as it should?

If you take something from the wild and intend to keep it, I hope this makes you think twice.

These kinds of stories are all over social media now, but none of them tell this side. They normalise putting a wild animal though an incredibly stressful experience purely for likes and engagement.

If you want to be a hero, get accredited to be a wildlife rehabilitator. Join an amazing network of compassionate humans just like you who understand that wild things should be wild, and do everything they can to get them back there.

If you find a wild animal and you're not sure what to do, call your local veterinary clinic or wildlife rehabilitation group. Trust that we have the knowledge to make the best choices for that animal. And if you want to make those choices, join us.

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Amphibian migration season is coming this spring. Remember to drive slow!

[localcatbehaviourguy]

I can't tell with the two lighter ones, but the brownish one is a Burmese python, and they aren't known to attack humans. I'm willing to bet the other two are another type of python, or maybe Burmeses with a different morph. So, not dangerous to me so long as I don't step on them. They're more likely to try and get away from me than attack me.

So yeah, just gotta step around them. They're non-venomous, and their bites are painful but non-lethal, but that's assuming you aggravate them into biting. Just leave them be and you'll be fine and rich.

people who are afraid of snakes are fuckin’ WILD, like dude, just carefully step over these fat babies’ sausage bodies and gently move the burmese python chillin’ against the door, then you become unfathomably rich. i would do this for $10. i would do this for FREE. 

[localcatbehaviourguy]

No, no, no. Bettas for four bucks? GOLDFISH?! I know this goes without saying but do not buy fish online, especially not fish with certain needs like bettas or goldfish. That's asking for a dead or suffering fish.

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Twenty-nine exactly, last I checked. 29 in all of recorded history survived a disease that kills thousands every year for as long as it's been known, which was before 2000 BC.

That's pretty much a 100% death rate. And even if you survive, it's an absolute 100% chance you will never fully recover.

everyone who feeds foxes/smuggles animals into the uk should be forced to watch or read cujo at least once

I've only seen the film but that was probably where I first got my fear of rabies from.

Only thing is I think it's important for people to understand that rabies isn't just a crazed animal frothing at the mouth. Rabid animals can also be very calm and appear even friendly when approaching someone before attacking. Personally I think that's even more scary, especially with how many people will encourage foxes acting this way to get close to them.

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Foxes are not dogs but ok

[localcatbehaviourguy]

When I lived in California, we had a huge problem with people feeding and habituating coyotes, insisting it wouldn't do any harm.

Then, when they weren't fed, they started attacking and killing pets. There were even reports of them entering houses through dog doors to find food.

And then a coyote attacked a three-year-old girl at a graveyard with her mother. Tried to drag her off. And entire three-year-old. Obviously this had to be due to disease in part, what with her mother only a few feet away, but it opened everyone's eyes to how dangerous coyotes could be. The coyote also died for this because it needed to be tested for rabies. The girl was, thank the gods, fine.

Now they're reviled and treated as pests, even killed when not doing anything dangerous.

Feeding coyotes isn't only dangerous for you with the diseases and possible aggression, but it's also dangerous for them. They need to be naturally afraid of humans and feeding them destroys that instincts, which cannot possibly end well.

Heya! Yeah that’s basically it. You should never have a wild animal as a pet, so doing things like petting them or playing with them can be extremely harmful! Actions like this can get the animal habituated and next thing you know you’ve got a coyote walking up to strangers expecting food. Of course, people will blame the animal saying it’s aggressive or has rabies, when in reality it was the person who first initiated the contact (and any contact after) that’s to blame.

So yeah, only admire coyotes and any wild animal from a distance!

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Foxes are not dogs but ok

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Foxes are not dogs but ok

[localcatbehaviourguy]

You want your dog to be euthanized if it bites someone? Because that's how you get your dog euthanized if it bites someone.

please don't do this to my favourite breed

[localcatbehaviourguy]

Hi! Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if you know what protocol would be in a scenario where rabies showed up in a feral cat population in your area. What would happen to the colony/colonies in question?

The colony would have to be destroyed, due to the high risk to the community. Thankfully, we haven't had any cases of rabies where I live since 2015. We have a bigger issue with panleuk. This year has been especially bad.

I'm wondering, is this because of the incident in Fredricksburg?