Renewable Revolution

Environment => Wonders of Nature => Topic started by: AGelbert on April 07, 2015, 03:10:36 pm

Title: Intra and Inter species Compassion
Post by: AGelbert on April 07, 2015, 03:10:36 pm: Grieving Pack of Stray Dogs Pays Ultimate Tribute to Animal Lover
by Jessica Ramos
April 6, 2015

In Cuernavaca Morelos, Mexico, Margarita Suárez received a touching tribute at her funeral: A pack of stray dogs unexpectedly entered the funeral home to watch over her.

The send-off was especially fitting since Suárez spent many of her 71 years caring for the animals most people forget: stray cats and dogs. She made sure the stray dogs and cats in her neighborhood were always fed, according to her daughter.

A Beautiful Tribute to Margarita Suárez from the Animals
Suárez’s daughter, Patricia Urrutia, described the funeral event to ABC News:

[The dogs] stayed with my mother all day, and then at night they all stayed- but in the morning all the dogs vanished but one, but one hour before we brought my mom to be cremated the dogs came back and grouped around as if to say goodbye. I swear by God that it was beautiful, marvelous.

The funeral workers had never seen anything like it; they hadn’t even seen the pack around the funeral home. And adding mystery to the story, the funeral home was more than 830 miles from Suárez’s home.
The dogs weren’t the only animals who visited Suárez. Around 3 a.m., Urrutia says that she also saw a bird fly through the window, take a glance at Suárez’s coffin and then fly away, while singing.

While we might not ever logically understand how or why the pack of stray dogs showed up for Suárez, the gesture was meaningful for her family. Urrutia admitted to ABC News, “When I was in a moment of so much pain these dogs that came, they showed me that everything was going to be okay.”

Grief Shown in Dogs

Is it possible the stray dogs were “grieving”?

Frankly, researchers are still trying to understand dogs’ grief. But many experts (not to mention pet owners) agree that grief in pets is real. A 2012 HealthDay article suggests that dogs may experience grief as deeply as we do. They may also become depressed like us during those difficult times, and exhibit it in their behavior by sleeping more than normal, moving slower and spending less time eating or playing.

Whether or not the pack of dogs who showed up at Suárez’s funeral were grieving may remain a mystery. But if you know a pet who has similarly experienced loss, you may witness signs of grief.

5 Ways to Help a Grieving Dog
Here are a few tips from HealthDay and Cesar’s Way that you can use to lift your dogs’ spirits after a loss:

1. Keep them close to the person or other animal companion. It might help your animal understand and prepare if they experience the terminal illness, the body or the casket of whoever is passing/has passed away. (I have the sneaking suspicion that dogs have a much better grasp of death than we do.)

2. Stick to the routine. Your dog’s wild ancestors don’t have the luxury to stop everything to grieve, e.g. they still have to hunt, protect their territory, etc. Keep your dog moving forward by following their routine.

3. Engage them with their favorite activities. Before the depression or mourning, what activities did your dog enjoy? Do more of that.

4. Be patient with your dog. It can take anywhere from weeks to months for your dog to work through their grief, and every dog will work through it at their own pace.

5. Don’t rush out and get a new companion animal. Adding a new member to the family should be a happy time. You and your dog should be healed — not in a low vibrational, or weak, state. A new dog could mistake your dog’s grief for weakness, and it could be a bad recipe for dominance and aggression issues between them. Spare your
grieving dog the added stress.

Have you ever helped a grieving dog? Tell us your story and tips in the comments below.

http://www.care2.com/causes/grieving-pack-of-stray-dogs-pays-ultimate-tribute-to-animal-lover.html#ixzz3WeSPghrU
Title: Re: Intra and Inter species Compassion
Post by: AGelbert on June 15, 2015, 02:53:18 pm: 20 Stunning Photos of Google’s Underwater Street View (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pic4ever.com%2Fimages%2F128fs318181.gif&hash=eff6d5f3831782966c2ff2081f07bf7fc5b22a6b)

Cole Mellino | June 12, 2015 9:19 am

Google Street View just got a whole lot cooler. Arr, off to Davy Jones Locker with you. That’s right, now you can explore the depths of the ocean on Google. After perusing the site, I am convinced Sebastian from the Little Mermaid was absolutely right: everything is better under the sea. Google, ever the environmental champion, launched its latest eco project in conjunction with World Oceans Day on Monday.

In partnership with XL Catlin Seaview Survey, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the Chagos Conservation Trust,

Google has created new underwater street view images of more than 40 locations around the world, including the American Samoa and Chagos Islands and underwater dives in Bali, the Bahamas and the Great Barrier Reef.

https://youtu.be/4C5EGXqgx8s

Google hopes that the images will inspire marine preservation. “Home to the majority of life on Earth, the ocean acts as its life support system, controlling everything from our weather and rainfall to the oxygen we breathe,” says Google.

“Yet despite the ocean’s vital importance, the ocean is changing at a rapid rate due to climate change, pollution and overfishing, making it one of the most serious environmental issues we face today.”

Here are 20 stunning photos of Google’s underwater Street View: (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.createaforum.com%2Fgallery%2Frenewablerevolution%2F3-080515182559.png&hash=d4dfa952fa0f817bf30a8059a4c88d6fb05ee1bf)

http://ecowatch.com/2015/06/12/google-underwater-street-view/
(https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pic4ever.com%2Fimages%2Fearthhug.gif&hash=3abcf70466f34337f2d702ebd9e02c650d5c4c20)
Title: Re: Intra and Inter species Compassion
Post by: AGelbert on June 17, 2015, 01:48:34 am: https://youtu.be/1jtfjWj9R6M
Meet Gaga. ;D
Title: Re: Intra and Inter species Compassion
Post by: AGelbert on July 09, 2015, 02:48:51 pm: Raccoon mom teaches Tree Climbing 101 (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.createaforum.com%2Fgallery%2Frenewablerevolution%2F3-200714191258.bmp&hash=e4ed21caaca822f7445ccafd39f49a9f84be90ca)

https://youtu.be/V6ukn8aoUBY
Title: Re: Intra and Inter species Compassion
Post by: AGelbert on March 29, 2017, 02:52:55 pm: Quote from: RE on March 28, 2017, 10:11:50 pm
http://www.livescience.com/58438-cats-like-people-more-than-food.html (http://www.livescience.com/58438-cats-like-people-more-than-food.html)

Friendly Felines: Cats Like People (Really!), Study Says
By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | March 28, 2017 04:39pm ET

(https://img.purch.com/w/660/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzA5MC83NDIvb3JpZ2luYWwvY2F0cy1saWtlLXBlb3BsZS1tb3JlLXRoYW4tZm9vZC5qcGc=)

Partner Series
Friendly Felines: Cats Like People (Really!), Study Says
Cats really do like people. Science says so.
Credit: Dora Zett/Shutterstock

Do cats like being around people, or are they only using humans to open doors and operate can openers? A new study suggests that human contact is more important to cats than previously suspected (though, arguably, cat owners knew that all along).

While it is commonly accepted that dogs enjoy and seek the company and attention of people, there is less of a consensus about felines. Cats — which typically need more sleep and less daily maintenance than dogs — have earned a reputation (particularly among dog lovers) for being standoffish and nonchalant, and less interested in the affection and approval of people than canine pets are.

However, when researchers investigated cats' preferences for food, toys and social interaction with people, most of the cats sought human attention over everything else — even food. In other words, cats like us! They really like us! [6 Secrets to Unlocking Your Cat's Personality]

The study originated at Oregon State University's Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) lab. Prior research had explored cats' preferences for food, visual stimuli and scents, evaluating the impact these could have on the animals' behavior. But this new study was the first to also investigate cats' interactions with humans as a behavior that could affect the felines' quality of life, the authors said.

Scientists tested groups of adult cats between the ages of 1 and 20, gathering results from 19 cats that were living in shelters and 19 cats living with owners. For 2 hours and 30 minutes prior to the tests, the cats were isolated from social attention and food. They were then introduced one at a time to different stimuli, provided in separate sessions.

In one session, a person offered the cats vocal calls, petting and a chance to play. In another, the cats had free access to food, a toy mouse with a shaker inside, or cloths marked with the scents of catnip, another cat and a gerbil.

During the sessions, the researchers noted how engaged the cats were and how much time the animals devoted to the different activities. However, the final test offered the cats all of these diversions at the same time, to see which offering the animals liked best.

Overall, there was no significant behavior difference between the shelter and nonshelter cats. The scented cloths fascinated one cat. Four cats went for the toys first, and 14 cats were most attracted to food.

But 19 of the cats, 50 percent, chose people over all else, spending 65 percent of the final session time enjoying the company of humans.

"Although it is often thought [that] cats prefer solitude to social interaction, the data of this study indicate otherwise," the authors wrote. The researchers noted that even when the cats showed similar preferences for human affection as for other activities, the animals still exhibited a range of individual behaviors. This suggests that factors such as life experiences and biological predispositions could influence the cats' social interactions, the authors wrote.

"It is therefore possible [that] some populations of cats may display greater preference for social interaction than others," the authors concluded.

The findings were published online March 24 in the journal Behavioral Processes.

(https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.desismileys.com%2Fsmileys%2Fdesismileys_0293.gif&hash=b1af4868ed8f18c30e637f8cbcb79002f6f71039) Kitties love human company! (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pic4ever.com%2Fimages%2F128fs318181.gif&hash=eff6d5f3831782966c2ff2081f07bf7fc5b22a6b) (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.createaforum.com%2Fgallery%2Frenewablerevolution%2F3-301014183108.gif&hash=e29c13cde8477be56da109828bf1bdb079a7313b) (https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.createaforum.com%2Fgallery%2Frenewablerevolution%2F3-301014183407.gif&hash=425cb31cfde8268bbecb69823bb4fc55ec82c4c9)