Animal Behavior: Maternal Instincts
May. 22nd, 2013 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stThis is interesting. Not the adoption part, because maternal instincts have kicked in many times for cats and dogs and the most interesting example of that I ever saw was a lioness adopting a baby eland after killing the deer's mother.
No, what interests me here is that the squirrel learned to purr. Purring is a mystery to science. But, it could be a sign of satisfaction that mother cats might accept in order to stop their fussing. So, this baby squirrel has learned to adapt. Or, perhaps, purring is a learned communication for kittens, too. Something the mother cat teaches them, just as she will teach them to use a litter box if she is litter trained. Now, that would be interesting. But surely orphan cats purr, too. So this says something about squirrels, I think.
No, what interests me here is that the squirrel learned to purr. Purring is a mystery to science. But, it could be a sign of satisfaction that mother cats might accept in order to stop their fussing. So, this baby squirrel has learned to adapt. Or, perhaps, purring is a learned communication for kittens, too. Something the mother cat teaches them, just as she will teach them to use a litter box if she is litter trained. Now, that would be interesting. But surely orphan cats purr, too. So this says something about squirrels, I think.