Quote:

---

Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:

True enough, I was going to do so but ya beat me to the punch.
Given that I more or less "learned" empathy from animals, and damned sure don't have much for other humans, I am well aware of how cooperation and empathy is what makes for a superiour species.
It's also why I don't consider us one... yet.

The squirrels and raccons here have their own bizarre form of cooperation.
They share a lair space, you see, and during the day the squirrels leave one behind as a sentry to defend the lair and protect the sleeping raccons, and during the night the raccoons leave one behind to defend the lair and protect the sleeping squirrels.

Almost four years they've done this, through multiple generations, and despite the fact that the raccoon lair has sometimes been empty as raccoons expire or migrate, which makes me wonder just how the hell the "new" raccons which come to replace them in our little cycle of life figure this the hell out so quickly.

-Frem

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by PIRATENEWS:
We had a deer herd with a pet fox or coyote as its guard dog.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by PIRATENEWS:
We had a deer herd with a pet fox or coyote as its guard dog.

---

Almost certainly a fox, John - outside of mating season they tend to wander, and I can see potential for a symbiosis there as foxes are kinda paranoid and the skittish deer would make good sentries while also not competing for the same food resources.
Coyotes on the other hand are more opportunists and could present a threat to deer, where a fox would not.

We do get the occasional fox and on a rare occasion a coyote around here, but they're VERY sneaky and skittish around humans, even I hardly spot them and when they realize they've been seen they haul ass - I prefer the foxes cause they eat the damn groundhogs which drive the maintanence guys up the wall by tearing up lawns and chewing up flowerbeds/gardens.

-F

---