Weird Little Things Animals Do

[Honest Tiefling]

I would never have thought pigeons would do that either. Corvids are too smart for those sort of sports.[/URL]

Crows regularly harass various species of bird of prey for their own amusement, including eagles. They might be smart, but they seem to possess the common sense of a human.

One thing I have noticed over the years is that sometimes larger birds such as Canada geese or turkeys will just stop in the middle of suburban streets and stand there and stare at the car. I think they know that the car will stop for them and find it amusing to just screw with the driver.

Another thing is when I went to the gun range with my father and we had to keep an eye out for turkeys. They had a habit of getting onto the range at which point everyone had to stop shooting because of game laws. The turkeys must know this as they're known to just amble nonchalantly onto the range and sit there without a care in the world.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

My cat used to bring us his toy (cloth) mice as food offerings - nothing special about that, plenty of cats feel that we humans are incompetent hunters and they must feed us/show off. Sweet and all.

Except eventually, he figured that food goes in the food bowl, so now every morning we have to fish out a toy mouse or two out of the cat bowl before refilling it. And fishing is the right word, because they are always strangely damp. So we finally caught the cat in the act of taking it to the food bowl. Except that wasn't the immediate destination. The first stop was the water bowl, when he would drop the toy, push it under the surface with his paw, release it, sniff it, and repeat. Several times. And only then, when he is satisfied, does he move it over to the food bowl.

In short, my cat waterboards his prey before placing it in the food receptacle.

Grey Wolf

[Kid Jake]

The other day my girlfriend jokingly hit me in front of my big, goofy pittbull Buddy. He absolutely loves her to death, and spends most of his time anymore in her lap, but immediately pushed himself between us growling, barking and snarling at her threateningly.

So I was like "Oh, that's cool. He's a protector!"

So we made sure he was watching and I smacked her back.

He immediately ran over and started barking and growling but then turned to HER again.

I realized then that he just doesn't want to be on the losing side of that fight.

[ArgentiAertheri]

Let's see…

The calico kitty is afraid of:

• People wearing shoes
• Plastic bags
• Exactly, and only, one of the fish tanks
• Bubbles

The tabby kitty hates the calico, the calico no longer cares... but will disappear if you crinkle a bag.

The fish she's afraid of? He begs at the front of his tank for food, even if his food is right there, stop begging and pay attention! The other tank she enjoys sitting on the back of a chair and watching (she hasn't figured out the third tank yet, probably because it houses the laziest creature in existence, an axolotl)

And the tortoise will occasionally decide his shell is a battering ram and he absolutely must escape, which is super loud so he gets put in "time out", aka a pile of hay that he'd rather sulk in than climb out of (don't worry, he can get out of it, he could even eat it, he's just a stubborn cranky reptile sometimes!)

My favorite though? The calico will groom anything. I woke up to her grooming my pillow; if it's not actively opposing her, she's gonna lick it.

[Glorthindel]

The other day my girlfriend jokingly hit me in front of my big, goofy pittbull Buddy. He absolutely loves her to death, and spends most of his time anymore in her lap, but immediately pushed himself between us growling, barking and snarling at her threateningly.

So I was like "Oh, that's cool. He's a protector!"

So we made sure he was watching and I smacked her back.

He immediately ran over and started barking and growling but then turned to HER again.

I realized then that he just doesn't want to be on the losing side of that fight.

My dad often tells a story about the dog (a little Norfolk Terrier) his sister had when he was in his late teens / early 20s. My Dad lived with his sister, and he was usually the one to walk it when he came back from school/work, and the dog adored him, but had a protective streak when it came to women. When girls visited my Dad, the dog would always go out of its way to impose itself between my Dad and the girl, even to the point of pushing himself between them if they were sitting together on the sofa. The first time my Mum came round to my Dad's place, the dog did its usual trick, but at one point my Mum said something sarcastic, and my Dad jokingly raised his hand, and without hesitation, the dog went for him. Even later on, when my parents were engaged, the dog would still growl at him when he put his arm around her or kissed her.

[The Patterner]

In Stockholm we have the famous Farsta pigeons, a flock of piegions who have learned to take the subway to get to better feeding grounds.


Other then that, one of my cats tried to teach our younger cat how to hunt. So there was a bumblebee inside and Rasputin was showing Napoleon what to do.

Then all of a sudden the bumblebee flies towards the open balcony door, Rasputin realise that the bug is getting away so he rushes past it, jumps in the air and volleyballs the bumblebee back inside so that he can continue showing Napoleon how it's done.

[Honest Tiefling]

Another thing I remembered is that my grandparent's cat used to steal kittens. They used to live in a small town just outside a larger city, so it wasn't exactly rural but many people had horses/large yards. I like to think that he just took in strays, but it was hard for my grandparents to figure out where exactly he got the kittens.

He was apparently convinced they were his kittens (he always stole ones with a similar coloring) so he'd protect them, groom them, and even teach them to hunt. So at least he took good care of them.

[Mith]

We had a cat that apparently brought a friend home one time. The door was open and our cat walked in followed by this strange cat. They toured around a bit before walking back out. Never saw the white cat again. Must not have been interested in the time sharing offer.

[Algeh]

I had a cat come up on my back patio and sit right outside the glass door, clearly expecting me to open the door and let them in today. It is not my cat and I have never seen this cat before. (I do not have a cat, but apparently I could have at least a part-time cat if I were more willing to open doors for volunteer neighborhood cats.) It stared at me hopefully for quite a while before wandering off.

[farothel]

I had a cat come up on my back patio and sit right outside the glass door, clearly expecting me to open the door and let them in today. It is not my cat and I have never seen this cat before. (I do not have a cat, but apparently I could have at least a part-time cat if I were more willing to open doors for volunteer neighborhood cats.) It stared at me hopefully for quite a while before wandering off.

If your cat often dissapears for a couple of days and then comes back, ask around in the neighbourhood if there is a family who owns a cat with a very similar colouring. Terry Pratchett, the Unadulterated Cat (a must read for cat owners).

[Artemis97]

My dog, well my parent's dog now, since I've moved out, Oreo, a very fat shi-tzu, does not much like my now husband Destro Yersul. Our dogs never really trust other people, since we rarely get visitors. Anyways, once Destro was visiting me in Florida, and we were in the back room on the pull out bed watching TV and snuggling, when I hear Oreo begging to be let into the room. So I hop up and let her in, before laying back down again. She jumps up onto the bed and just stares at us like "What are you two doing?" Then, as Destro continued to snuggle me, she would growl at him from the end of the bed. Wouldn't get near him, but wanted to let him know she was watching him.

Later in the relationship, Destro and I were asleep in my bed, and my parent's dog, Louis, a Havanese, wanted into the room to say good morning. So my dad lets him in and he leaps up onto the bed to say hi to me, but then he spotted Destro. Louis did a literal double take, between us, before running away again.

I bet they're really going to hate him the next time we go back to Florida, since the last time he was there, I left with him and haven't been back since.

[anhuangdi]

My dog will run across the room, up to a wall.. . then bounce off of it as he slides gently into it.. then run to the other wall.. and repeat back and forth. It is what he does when he wants attention. If we ignore him he starts to cry, and even howls. He is a needy Cocker Spaniel.

[Algeh]

One other dog thing: I've now dealt with two different dogs that will ask to be let out in the backyard by standing right by the door, go right on out, then stay on the deck and stare at you from the other side of the glass door expectantly, seeming to say "aren't you coming too?"

The current basset hound will usually get off of the deck and go wander the (fenced) yard by herself after she realizes I'm not coming, but I used to dog sit for a lab that would just sit there and wait to be let back in if I didn't come out along with him in the morning. (I'd generally relent and spend an hour or two reading in the backyard with him once my coffee was done brewing unless the weather was really awful. He loved to be outside in his yard, he just didn't like to be alone out there.)

[EeksGames]

My dog was laying on the bed facing the wall and out of the blue he sort of pushed off the well and did a flip around to face me, lol. Never seen that before.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Algeh
I had a cat come up on my back patio and sit right outside the glass door, clearly expecting me to open the door and let them in today.

We had a stray do this once, several years ago. He'd been hanging around the house and yard, so we decided to let him in.

He walked very deliberately through the garage, through the laundry room, up the steps, into the family room and to the sliding glass door onto the deck, where he clearly expected to be let out. He had never been inside our house before, but he knew exactly where to go to reach the deck.

[Bohandas]

We had a stray do this once, several years ago. He'd been hanging around the house and yard, so we decided to let him in.

He walked very deliberately through the garage, through the laundry room, up the steps, into the family room and to the sliding glass door onto the deck, where he clearly expected to be let out. He had never been inside our house before, but he knew exactly where to go to reach the deck.

Are a lot of the houses in your area built to the same design? Because that could be the explanation

[Telonius]

Our pet hamster is apparently a pyromaniac. Just turned on the fireplace for the first time this year, and the hamster (being held by my daughter at the time) was absolutely fascinated by it. Sat still in her hand and stared for a good thirty seconds, which is about forever in hamster-time.

[veti]

Just turned on the fireplace for the first time this year

One does not simply "turn on" a fireplace. It's an involved process including stacking fuel, placing kindling and fanning or blowing gently on the flames until one is satisfied that they have caught properly.

Assuming you're starting with a clean fireplace and an open chimney, of course. If not, there are other, much messier steps required first.

This has been a public pedantry announcement brought to you from the generation that remembers real fires.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

One does not simply "turn on" a fireplace. It's an involved process including stacking fuel, placing kindling and fanning or blowing gently on the flames until one is satisfied that they have caught properly.

Assuming you're starting with a clean fireplace and an open chimney, of course. If not, there are other, much messier steps required first.

Sure, but do you stack logs bark side up, or bark side down?

This has been a public pedantry announcement brought to you from the generation that remembers real fires.

O...K...? But you seem to be telling us this with some kind of futuristic technology called "computer", instead of, like, semaphore or carrier pigeon. So clearly you can move on with the times, maybe do so with fire as well?

Grey Wolf

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Bohandas
Are a lot of the houses in your area built to the same design?

Not remotely. Every house is different.

Better explanation is that Clark Gable (as we named him) was casing the joint from the outside, for quite some time beforehand.

[Kid Jake]

One does not simply "turn on" a fireplace. It's an involved process including stacking fuel, placing kindling and fanning or blowing gently on the flames until one is satisfied that they have caught properly.

Assuming you're starting with a clean fireplace and an open chimney, of course. If not, there are other, much messier steps required first.

This has been a public pedantry announcement brought to you from the generation that remembers real fires.

So you're 200 years old? Because gas fires have been around for an awful long time.

You're also making traditional fireplaces out to be way more complicated than they are. Not counting the time taken to bust/haul the wood, if it takes you more than five minutes to get a roaring fire then you probably shouldn't be messing with it to begin with.

Source: A 30 year old that still has to rely on gathered wood to stay warm at night.

[halfeye]

So you're 200 years old? Because gas fires have been around for an awful long time.

You're also making traditional fireplaces out to be way more complicated than they are. Not counting the time taken to bust/haul the wood, if it takes you more than five minutes to get a roaring fire then you probably shouldn't be messing with it to begin with.

Source: A 30 year old that still has to rely on gathered wood to stay warm at night.

Traditional fireplaces were terrible, romantic inglenooks are smokey and drafty.

Then in 1790 the Rumsford fireplace was invented, which was a huge improvement.

When I think of fires, I think of coal fires, and they don't start easily, you need paper then tinder (wood) then coal on top of that, once it was lit the thing that would usually put it out was lack of fuel. Gas used to be poisonous, it's only since the 1970s or so that it's been natural gas.

[Telonius]

Apparently the hamster can also cause disagreements on a message board just by mentioning her. I will be taking a much closer look at any chaos surrounding her activities now.

[farothel]

As long as it's not the hamster threading in the wheel powering the forums, we should be fine.

[Tyndmyr]

Well, I didn't see anything like this on the forums, so I decided to make this thread. If there's already something like it, or if this can't be here for any reason, my bad.

I could be blasting dubstep/heavy metal/rap as loud as I can handle, and my 3 cats will just sleep. They don't seem to be disturbed by it at all, even though cats have very sensitive ears. It could be that they're used to how loud I play that stuff

Any other forum-goers have strange things that they've seen animals do?

I presume they're just used to it. Animals are often very good at adapting to the routines of their humans

One of the buns I've got has gotten extremely clever at getting into/around things. Her favorite use of barrier climbing/circumvention is to knock down the child-gate, climb the stairs, sneak quietly into our bedroom, and then flop on the foot of our bed, where she's convinced she ought to sleep.

The hedgehog will find any reason possible to steal chocolate cake. Hedgehogs are insectivores, and are not supposed to be able to taste or care about sweets. This little guy will turn up his nose at a mealworm, but one whiff of chocolate, and he starts scheming to face-plant in it. He has also learned the word "bath", and will go into a huffing ball of rage at the mere mention of it.

[Xania]

My dad often tells a story about the dog (a little Norfolk Terrier) his sister had when he was in his late teens / early 20s. My Dad lived with his sister, and he was usually the one to walk it when he came back from school/work, and the dog adored him, but had a protective streak when it came to women. When girls visited my Dad, the dog would always go out of its way to impose itself between my Dad and the girl, even to the point of pushing himself between them if they were sitting together on the sofa. The first time my Mum came round to my Dad's place, the dog did its usual trick, but at one point my Mum said something sarcastic, and my Dad jokingly raised his hand, and without hesitation, the dog went for him. Even later on, when my parents were engaged, the dog would still growl at him when he put his arm around her or kissed her.

My female dog on the other hand dislikes women she doesn't know more than anything else.

To the OP, the cats just like that music, mine chases me meowing until I turn off the radio when a song sounds awful to him.

[ThreadNecro5]

I've a leopard gecko that a couple weeks ago decided to bite his own tail. He is... a bit stupid.

I was feeding him and watched him chase a locust (leopard geckos require live prey) and wound up in a 'U' shape. Well he looks at the locust, then looks to the tip of his tail. The locust, his tail, back again and so on. After a good half-minute of this with the locust sitting patiently he decides to pounce (more like charge at it mouth open and eyes closed but I digress) and gets his tail...

Then he decides to move the 'food' around a bit, basically giving it a chew in the process as I got ready to intervene. A couple seconds later a stray thought finally make it's way though him and he realises something isn't right and lets go to chase the locust again.

He also decided to fill his water dish full of sand a couple times. Not a little either but made a ramp out of the terrarium he could use if I had it open.

Another thing amount his is supposedly leopard geckos stop eating when full. Hahaha. No. I first realised something was wrong when he ate a week of food in under an hour (he was also still young at this time so that is a lot found into one smallish gecko). Whenever I put a cricket in front of him he snapped it up so I kept something so thinking he will be full eventfully. He just doesn't stop eating. Shortly after this this he decided he doesn't like crickets anymore and stopped eating no matter how long he went until I decided to try locusts.

I'll have to come back when I've more time to share the full legend of my infamous hamster from when I was a kid that once broke into the house next door. It then went on to chew up their daughters new gift wrapped designer slippers the day before her birthday, go to sleep in one, and was found the day after the gift was unwrapped.