Just a quick question that I’ve always wondered: why do cats, dogs, and the like enjoy pets so much? My sister says that a pet is similar to a human hug, but I don’t buy it; it seems to me closer to sexual stimulation, as gross as that sounds. And how is that evolutionarily beneficial?
Have you ever had a really, really good back rub?
I rest my case.
[Nelson Muntz]You gotta pet him hard, so he can feel it[/Nelson Muntz]
Have you ever had your scalp massaged? I rest my case next to friedos.
I always thought it was more like they were being groomed by their mothers. Sometimes pets revert to a sort of puppy/kitten state when petted properly. The creatures that like being petted the most are the ones who are actively raised by parents - mainly mammals and sometimes birds (well, birds don’t necessarily like being petted, but some of them like it when you tease their feathers).
Why do people become so attached to their pets? What do they feel? It is a mutual thing.
Au contraire, Boris, many talking birds enjoy it when they are lightly stroked from the top of the head to the end of their tail. It’s encouraged as a bonding method with a new bird. Too bad my cat ate mine right as it started trusting me. I hate cats.
–Tim
Homer! Your cat ate your bird? How heartbreaking!
I always want to pet birds, but the only ones I know that are out of their cages always intimidate me with their huge beaks. The little ones are too jumpy to get your hands on. Still, I think a hand-raised bird would be a delight as a pet. I’ve always dreamed of having a big house with a covered atrium, so that the bird would have a huge semi-outdoor flying area. I don’t know what kind of bird(s) I would get though.
Yeah, my parents got me a bird for Christmas after I’d wanted one for years. A parakeet. Nice little grey and yellow bugger with red/orange tips. Had her for about four months or so. Clipped wings so she couldn’t fly, and we kept the top of the cage off. Bought alot of bars and shit for the cage so she could hop around and climb and stuff, toys and all that. The only problem is as she got older and her wings grew back out, she’d jump-fly kinda far. Whenever we left the house, I’d put the top on the cage so she wouldn’t get out.
One day when we got home from church, we saw Flower (our tomcat) slinking around, looking suspicious. He’s an outside cat, so we figured he had sneaked in as we left. I noticed my birdy (Kramer) was missing, so I started looking around. Mom finally found a small pile of feathers on the stairs.
I hate cats.
–Tim