Yup, must have some domestic cat genes. They’ve been working on that plan for 9500 years.
I was witness to what had the appearance of a well organized “scam” on the part of some black bears.
When I was a kid, my family camped a lot at a campground in the Great Smoky Mountains. This was before the Park Service actively discouraged human/bear interactions. One time, I was walking around when the word went out that “There’s a bear cub up a tree” in one of the campsites. Sure enough, there was. Being aware, even at that age, that where Junior was, Momma wasn’t far away, I kept my eyes open ALL around. I am firmly convinced I was the only person to notice Momma Bear (at rather close range :eek: ) walk behind the crowd to go raid campsites while Junior entertained the crowd. If anyone else had seen, I’m sure they would have reacted, unless, like me, they kept their own counsel so as not to stir things up :rolleyes:.
Yup. I used to live in Flagstaff, AZ. As far as I know, there weren’t really any raccoons there; skunks and crows filled the ecological niche reserved for things that fought loudly while digging through your garbage can. Neither species were especially wary of humans. They weren’t friendly, but if they were on the sidewalk when you came walking up, they felt no particular need to move. The skunks especially were of the opinion that they had been there a lot longer than you, and it was their sidewalk you were on, thankyouverymuch. A lot of the freshmen students at NAU were from Phoenix, where the suburban pests were rabbits, roadrunners and quail, and had no idea how far skunks could spray.
The squirrels on Boston Common are the exact opposite of afraid of humans. You can just hand them crackers or french fries, if you are so inclined. If I’m eating lunch in the park, inevitably one of them will clamber right up on the bench and eyeball me from about six inches away, waiting impatiently for his tithe. The ducks and swans in the Public Garden next door are much the same, and the geese are even more forward.
Well if you were pecking at the ground they probably mistook you for one of them.
Oh, man, how could I forget the ducks. When they’re passing through, they just don’t care about people most of the time, and actively beg for food the rest of the time. I have literally tripped over a wild duck while walking around on campus without looking down.
If I didn’t know that these ducks were basically living off of the leavings of teenagers, I’d be inclined to just pick one up for dinner.
it asked about animals that wouldn’t run from us or want to eat us
as far as i am concerned, bed bugs, biting us to suck our blood is eating us
lady bugs land on us and don’t bite, scratch, or in any other way bother us
so there is the first one i have seen that fits the bill
flies, grasshoppers, rolly pollys, all will avoid us or try to get away if we catch them, but lady bugs just sit back and relax
canada geese will attack you at times too
Skunks are a good example of a wild animal which doesn’t need to be habituated to seeing humans as a food source to be easy to get close to, because of their natural behaviors. They are not friendly, they are simply well aware that they aren’t in danger. Nothing commonly eats skunks except owls, and I doubt the skunks see them coming.
Hmmm, what about sweat bees? They drink our sweat for salt, would that count as eating us? Where do we draw the line? I’m not sure myself. But I’d agree with you that bedbugs count as wanting to eat us.