>From:    Dave withheld <[log in to unmask]>
>
>A very good way to practice animal communication is not always to try
>and make animals have human abilities and feelings but instead to
>understand how an animals brain and instincts work.  Really it's acting
>more animal-like than making your cat, dog, or fert human.  This takes
>time, and research.
 
I could not agree with you more, Dave!  For me, "animal communication" is
just a fancy way of saying "figuring out what's going on in that weasel's
head" and then acting on it.  IMO that's one of the most vital parts of
responsible pet ownership--learning how the particular species you are
living with thinks and how that animal acts on what it thinks.  I'm just
as guilty as anyone else of anthropomorphizing my animals on occasion,
but when it comes down to it, recognizing that they are different from
you on some fundamental levels makes for a much more rewarding life for
everyone.  Ferrets don't think like people; they think like ferrets and
in some ways that's very alien to how people think.
 
(of course they are similar to us on some fundamental levels as well,
that's why we are drawn to them :)
 
>Mustelids use their mouths, (like dogs) I've found that acting like a
>ferret makes my fert think I'm one of him.  I use my mouth, just like
>mom did.  He thinks he's getting groomed,he's getting socialised and no
>longer nips at all at anything thing above the shoulders.
 
I think my ferrets trained me to communicate with them that way, I've
somehow over the years developed a habit of nibbling on their ears and
rubbing their heads with my nose.  They seem to appreciate it, and I've
never had trouble with face-nipping either :)   Anyway, I thought you
wrote an excellent post, Dave.
 
Regina
 
Regina Harrison  [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
http://www.channel1.com/users/regina/
blog: http://www.channel1.com/users/regina/zblog.html
 
Is that my business?  Well, what is my business?  Do I know?  Did I ever
know?  Let s not go into that.  You re not human tonight, Marlowe.  Maybe
I never was or ever will be... Maybe we all get like this in the cold
half-lit world where always the wrong thing happens and never the right.
--Raymond Chandler, The Little Sister
[Posted in FML issue 4080]