"F. Scott Giarrocco" <[log in to unmask]> writes,
>As far as walking through urine - well, you and the ferret see urine in
>two completely different ways.  To animals, especially animals with a
>highly developed sense of smell, urine can be like a calling card or
>marker.  It says "I was here," or "This space is MINE."  Any other animals
>coming around and smelling those tracks will immediately get the message
>and also know a little something about the ferret as well.  As a human,
>you see urine simply as a liquid waste product with absolutely no good use
>once it is eliminated from the body.
 
List,
I haven't followed this thread until now so forgive me if this has
already been said by somebody else.  If stepping in urine were a sign of
a not-very-intelligent animal, then foxes would be extremely dumb because
they roll in it and, in fact, sometimes pee on their food (to mark it as
'theirs').
 
And if cleanliness (by our standards) were a sign of intelligence, then
pigs would be extremely dumb.  But pigs are smarter than dogs and cats.
 
I don't think you can use human expectations of hygiene to gauge ferret
intelligence any more than you could with foxes, pigs, or the myriad other
animals who are 'dirty' by our standards.
 
Susann
[Posted in FML issue 3062]