Inspired by this article, what other animals (besides the most obvious, dogs) out there have chosen to ally with us for the long haul?
excluding mitochondria as well
Do horses, sheep, and cattle fit in with this topic? I think horses fit the topic even if the other two do not, myself.
Am really interested in animals that have voluntarily chosen to align themselves with us.
Cats seems obvious as vermin killers.
Some birds of prey I think would qualify as hunting birds.
Rats. While there always were and will be some wild rats living lives untouched by human civilization, they fare much better in proximity to dumpsters, garbage cans, restaurants, abandoned lots, etc.
Even creepier was a study conducted by a rat expert to determine rat feeding preferences. Top of the rat culinary taste tests were the same fatty, high-calorie comfort foods that we favor – stuff like macaroni-'n-cheese. Not only that, but rat’s tastes are conditioned by their exposure to food sources. Rats growing up near, say, Chinese restaurants will come to crave those scraps, and rats near an Indian restaurant will favor that, when given a choice. A rat can get so used to the good life that when placed in an experimental situation where he gets nothing but, say, raw carrots and cabbage to eat, it’ll practically starve before eating the healthy stuff. Rats not only like to live near us, in some ways they live like us.
As recalled from Robert Sullivan’s book on the rats of NYC, Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants. Good read, BTW.
Dolphins have been known to rescue shipwrecked or drowning humans by dragging them to safety, and there have been cases of them fighting off sharks (like you’d see in the old flipper TV show).
Although that’s already been described in the article in the OP to some extent, as killer whales are actually dolphins.
Pigeons, seagulls, house sparrows, starlings, crows.
That’d be the Cafeteria Diet
That’s true, but it’s not the whole story. There are also numerous reports of gangs of dolphins harrassing and attacking helpless swimmers.
Dolphins and their relatives are very intelligent, and capable of complex thoughts and emotions. But they’re also capable of casual brutality and deliberate cruelty, to each other and to other species.
Killer whales and dolphins may like to play around with humans for fun or out of curiosity, but it would be a mistake to regard them as friends and kindred spirits. When we think of large predators as our big cuddly pals (like that poor guy who was devoured by an Alaskan bear he regarded as his friend), we’re asking for trouble.
I have heard rumors that they ‘rape’ such swimmers, actually penatrating them - any truth to this, and if so can we get rid of the dolphin free tuna and go back to the old type, which included them and tasted a little bit better?
Wow, never heard of such a thing, have heard of them becoming aroused and frisky, but not going all the way. Anyone got a cite?
link :eek:
The Miami-based columnist-turned-satirical novelist Carl Hiassen will probably go down in literary history as the first to include a dolphin-on-human rape scene in a novel. I certainly hope his was the first. In any event, Hiassen’s will likely stand as the definitive gold standard of such scenes, being duly researched and sensitively drawn… :eek: 
Native Tongue, pages 302-305, 322, and 324. The dolphin in question was the aptly named “Dicky,” oddly enough!
…and then I realized that I misspelled the name of our Dostoevsky of dolphin rape. It’s Hiaasen. :smack: :o
Intestinal bacteria, and those microscopic critters that live in/on our skin.
please see op
Mitochondria ain’t Staph (some strains), nor gut bacteria.
I think Hal and certain sheep got each other’s backs. Just what I hear, ya’ know?
OP said nothing about microbes. Closest thing mentioned was mitochrondria, which, IIRC, are organelles inside of animal cells which deal with energy production for the cell. Roughly equivilant to asking who your son hangs out with at school, not counting any feet.