Other Animal Behaviour

[Kuremari]

Thanks everyone for wonderful videos!
This elk - no big difference if i watch him or my neighbour kids
and that "deadly predator", that was really surprising! WOW

[NancyM]

OH my gosh! That pig cam was until I figured out it was a pig .. but did you watch the "piggy in warm bath" ? talk about hog heaven!

The leopard seal clip was really astonishing ( felt sorry for all the penguins, though). Was this courting behavior, or did she think the photographer was a juvenile seal.

[macdoum]

Oh no, glad you did post Alice !! Thats a delightful story.
Thanks to Jo for the 'Animals playing' in the mud and etc;
We are learning all the time.

[Liis]

Two rather strange elk episodes made the Swedish newspapers recently:
One elk, rather near Stockholm,had to be shot because of aggressive behaviour (I think it even wanted to barge into a shop window). Turned out it was drunk - or possibly hangover - from fermented apples.
The other was more intricate: more than a year ago a woman was found dead near the family's house. Husband was arrested suspected of murder. Tales in the smallish community said he had driven over her with a tractor lawnmower. He was eventually set free but not really cleared of suspicion. Now, about a month ago, and one year after the death, police called a conference and said that hmm, well, elk (or anyway cervid) hairs and saliva had been found on the lady's clothes. So it is believed that her dog, a schnauzer, annoyed the elk, then rushed to its owner for protection, whereupon the elk kicked or gored the owner to death.
The strange thing is, I used always to look for good climbing trees in the berry and mushroom picking season when I was small and in the forest , to have somewhere to go. And every week there was some story in newspapers about berrypickers sitting for hours in trees with mad elks puffing below.
Then all the stories disappeared: change of elk behaviour? not newsworthy? less berrypickers?

[alice44]

When you visit the tetons they definitely warn you to be careful around the moose as the males especially (and I assume mothers with young) will charge, but I have not heard warnings of elk. However, when I was walking at a local refuge and an herd of elk ran by I was scared and very glad I was near a couple bushes which they were trying to avoid. Especially when the calf and its mom looked over toward me. But it was thrilling to hear them thunder by.

[Jo UK]

This is about a very smart dog in Austria - a dog that understands 340 words and associates those words with objects.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8441974.stm

[alice44]

I am not sure where this goes but...

“To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental, about both animals and us.”
- Frans de Waal

I think this quote addresses something we feel watching these cams. I know I don't know how to properly interpret what the animals mean but I can see them feeling emotions every day

[Jo UK]

I agree strongly. It is delightful and educational for me to be able recognise their behaviour and body language. It is recognisable to us because we already know a lot of it from our own family and social interactions.

[macdoum]

Amazingly its only recently scientists have worked out how cats drink;

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... o-cats-lap

Video here;
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-rev ... -cats.html

This video is far better;
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7053858n

[Liis]

Another aspect of animal behaviour - statistics and economics for diverse damage last year. And note, please, that it is all Euros now! Which of course makes the sums look very small.
But if they seem so - Estonia is a quite small country. Not even 1,4 million inhabitants to share it out on ...
Source: http://www.epl.ee/artikkel/591535
Wild creatures caused damage for several hundred thousand [euros]
Author: Ulvar Käärt
EPL, Eesti Päevaleht 25. jaanuar 2011 07:30
Losses due to damage done by protected animals and birds to property and enterprises were somewhat smaller last year than earlier.
[Nice pic of bear & fence in original: A wire fence doesn't always keep bears from robbing beehives. Photo: RAUNO VOLMAR]

According to fresh estimates protected birds, and wolves, lynxes, bears and seals last year caused economic losses to our farmers and fishers that the government must compensate, at around 197 000 Euro.
Environmental protection biologist Tõnu Talvi at the Environmental Board noted that as usual the largest part, or nearly half the sum, was damage caused by migrating birds on grain fields. Altogether the geese and cranes gorged themselves with grain for nearly 91000 Euro during their migration stop-overs. „Damage from birds occurs mostly in western Estonia and the Saaremaa and Jõgeva-Tartumaa regions, less in the other counties“, Talvi said, and added that damage by birds and reports of it are moving towards Central Estonia year by year. „Obviously the steadily increasing farming and probably also changes in the migration behaviour and numbers of birds lie behind this.“ The greatest loss was created by Branta geese who for instance with their feasting on sprouting grain managed to destroy crops for 8230 Euro for one Läänemaa farmer.

Many sheep killed
Somewhat less damage than by migrating birds – altogether nearly 82 000 Euro – was caused by wolves and lynxes who took their toll from sheep flocks, and by bears robbing beehives. The dominating sinners among predators were wolves. For lynx damage compensation claims for only 204 Euro were submitted, and for the sins of the honey-poohs a little more than 15 000 Euro was claimed, but the wolves killed sheep for more than 47 000 Euro. The largest predator damage claim in one single compensation case was the killing of 67 sheep in Võrumaa – estimated at 5 541 Euro, Tõnu Talvi told us, adding that apart from that event there hadn’t been any single large-scale damage cases.
„Seeing to individual cases the killings and the damage to beehives were on a smaller scale than earlier – this would suggest that farmers are better at taking precautions and guarding measures“, he pointed out. Similarly to the decrease last year in predator-caused losses, damage caused by gray and ringed seals has decreased. The seals destroyed fishing nets for Hiiumaa, Läänemaa and Harjumaa fishermen for some 8 220 Euro. Eagles however – white-tailed eagles and ospreys – gorging themselves on fish in fish culture enterprises caused as much loss as in the previous year or 16 000 Euro worth.

Paying claims takes time
•• Tõnu Talvi noted that the claims and compensation commission hasn’t still taken decisions on about 300 claims. „For some claims a formal decision has been taken and the compensation has already been paid; for the remainder the decisions will be made in January and February, and following this also compensation paid“, Tõnu Talvi explained, „For paying we actually have a 6 months limit after the decision has been taken, but we try to accommodate the claimants and pay as soon as the cases have been formally processed“.
•• He also added that since the migrating birds last year damaged much winter grains (winter wheat, rye, rape) the damage can be calculated only after this year’s crop has been harvested. The claimants can’t expect compensation before that.
•• Legally crop farmers and animal farmers can get compensation for bird and animal damage for up to 3195,6 euro during one year, but not above 7500 euro over the last three years. For the misdeeds of wolves, bears and lynxes the owner of the killed animals carries a 63,9–127,8-Euro own responsibility

[macdoum]

It is not done to drink and drive,er fly. .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbXJunKCq60&NR=1

[Jo UK]

Stranded whales - an event that puzzles us.
Here is a BBC report of about 100 whales about to strand in Scotland, on the Western Isles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13466462

Rescuers are preparing to deal with it.

[macdoum]

Stranded whales - an event that puzzles us.
Here is a BBC report of about 100 whales about to strand in Scotland, on the Western Isles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13466462

Rescuers are preparing to deal with it.

From what I heard tonight Jo,they weren't very successful,the general opinion is that they will strand tonight. Its very sad.
I wonder how they were injured..

[maertha]

If you are interested in the behaviour of great apes, you may like this documentary videos about Bonobos and the work of the primatologist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh. The videos were filmed by NHK television, Japan´s government-owned television network.

Here a brief wikipedia information about Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and about Kanzi, who is probably the most famous Bonobo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Savage-Rumbaugh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzi

And here the link to the website where you can find the videos. Scroll down the page to find “Kanzi 1” and “Kanzi 2”.
http://kanzi.bvu.edu/Kanzivideos2.html
(Copyright Sue Savage-Rumbaugh)

[macdoum]

Well,it takes all sorts to make up this world but this lady has a 'special' intrest...sharks;
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=WK ... &vq=medium

[macdoum]

More stranded whales die in Scotland,some are saved.

http://news.aol.co.uk/main-news/story/w ... ng/1885904

[Katinka]

Mäger või kährikkoer??
Adressing to all ESTONIAN forumists:

During my advanced internet search for any source contenting the “badger/mäger” (for Germany is a poor country for badger-interested people), I also came across some useful results in Eesti and Läti.
As this following Estonian video is perhaps of some interest, any answer from you is welcome!
The reason why we see it here like a pet animal is the question – therefore I’d be also interested what there is said about this animal…
Don’t hesitate: video only lasts 1 minute.
ehmunud mäger

Aitäh!

[okaskera]

Mäger või kährikkoer??
Adressing to all ESTONIAN forumists:

During my advanced internet search for any source contenting the “badger/mäger” (for Germany is a poor country for badger-interested people), I also came across some useful results in Eesti and Läti.
As this following Estonian video is perhaps of some interest, any answer from you is welcome!
The reason why we see it here like a pet animal is the question – therefore I’d be also interested what there is said about this animal…
Don’t hesitate: video only lasts 1 minute.
ehmunud mäger

Aitäh!

It isnt mäger/badger in that video, its young kährik/raccoon dog in summer skin. In that video that animal is wounded in some accident.
http://www.okaskera.ee/?search=m%E4ger here in first page is mäger
If you need any video clips about real mäger, ask from me :P

[Katinka]

Aitäh, okaskera !
I was pretty sure that this couldn't have been a badger, for they do have a different fur and not this shaggy-like.
But your photo-webpresentation is nice!
I'm always interested in Estonian names...like them...

What about your forum name??

[macdoum]

Strange friends since 'childhood'. Baloo the bear,Leo the lion and Shere Khan the tiger.

http://tigertailfoods.com/wp/?p=3331

Nice story..