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Zinkovich · Mar 13, 2007, 11:41 pm

I thought some of you might find these three stories I found of special interest. Basically they revolve around two very different species cooperating and befriending one another to live.

The first story involves a kitten with a rather distressing past and a crow. The bird took care of the kitten even to the point of feeding it and making sure it didn't come to harms way. You can find a(realy adorable) video of the two here: YouTube - Cat And Crow strange friendship

The other involves two involves a dog and a monkey. The first friendshop was discovered by locals in mozembique(sp?) after a recent flood, and many claim they befriended each other in order to survive. The dog, according to numerous articles on the topic, actually goes as far as proctecting the monkey from other dogs who wished to have it for a little snack.

Here's both an article/video of the two:
Videos, News Videos, Top Story Videos, Headline News Videos & More | Reuters.com

The third one is fairly popular, and that's whiplash the cowboy monkey, who tours with his trusty canine steed at numerous locales. You can find his website here: index

Feel free to pontificate on the instincticual basis of this behavior, or post your own stories and videos, if you like.

Eclipse · Mar 14, 2007, 01:29 am

Great links Zinkovich. Those are some hard to find stories and really neat.

I've found a few more.
Squirrel & dog
Tortoise Adopts Baby Hippo, One Year Later: Update on the Tortoise and the Baby Hippo
cityrag: My kitty
Tiger, orangutan babies bond as inseparable playmates - CNN.com

YouTube - strange friends - a kitten plays and sleeps with a chicken.

Technosoul · Mar 15, 2007, 03:13 am

Yesterday this big dog that lives next door killed our cat, That is somewhat normal as the dog comes from Japan is is used their for hunting bears. But the odd thing about this gaint dog is it loves the wild rabbits that live on our street, and the dog will romp and play with them. The owner also once had a hampster and the big dog made friends with it also and they had a frendly relationship. I am not sure why it hates cats so much, one bite and that is all she wrote for the cat.

I was once told that the first thing a baby duck sees it calls "mother". Once evening I was going for a stroll around the lake and some ducks started to follow me "in a line". I felt kind of odd. When I got into the car they wondered off.

As we know many animals can develope friendships with humans, and humans have had all kinds of animals for pets, from kittens to alligators.
And so it would go to reason that animals can also be friendly with animals that are not of their own spiecies. A dog might protect a human friend from other dogs so why not a monkey?

But I am not sure why animals can bond with other creatures that are so unlike their own kind. "bonding" is sort of a mystery and it might not just have to do with survival or something purely scientific, in other words, something more on to do with phycholoigcal or emotional security? My other cat bonded with a toy. People bond with machines, like cars for example. I knew one factory worker that called his machine "old Betty",
and he would talk to it and sometimes it seemed the machine would understand and "fire up" upon demand. That would certainly have no scientific reasoning behind it. But it is perhaps the instinct of social animals to bond together like "brids of a feather" and sometimes they might establish that social gathering together with what ever other social animal happens to be in the right place at the right time. And then they adapt to the behavor and that nature of that other kind of social animal, and visa versa. Also the nursing instict of a female animal might nurse a animal of another spiecies without taking notice that she did not give birth to it, or that it looks different then other animals of her own spiecies. It is just the motivation to nurse that comes out. Adaptation to an animal of another spiecies to fullfill a natural motivation. Which might happen due to a odd situation or the timing of two needs being fullfilled by such a crossover.

Just some of my opinons ... no back up facts.

sevendogs · Mar 22, 2007, 06:48 am

Yes, sometimes animals display unusual behavior looking like a peculiar form of friendship or even affection to other species. My own hunting dog is a brave and quick predator in woods and I always keep an eye on her, when she is free on the yard with other farm animals. She became very excited each time, when goat kids were born. She was jumping, squealing and barking, trying to reach them. I was always sure, she wanted to eat them. One day, she got out of her pen on her own. When I discovered it, it was too late to catch her up; she was already with goat kids. However, the kids were OK, she was laying near them, licking them and wagging her tail in the most friendly manner. Since that moment, I did not lock her up. When I was looking for her, I always knew, where she was, and she was always with goat kids. When goats grow up a little, her interest to them weakened. However, when we have kids again, she is excited again and more then eager to be with them and lick and watch their frolics. This dog had raised a few litters of her own puppies and was never deprived of motherhood experience. It is hard to explain her unusual affection towards goat kids.

Mar 13, 2007, 11:41 pm	#1 (permalink) (top)
Zinkovich Absolutely Superb Posts: 774	Strange Friendships in Nature I thought some of you might find these three stories I found of special interest. Basically they revolve around two very different species cooperating and befriending one another to live. The first story involves a kitten with a rather distressing past and a crow. The bird took care of the kitten even to the point of feeding it and making sure it didn't come to harms way. You can find a(realy adorable) video of the two here: YouTube - Cat And Crow strange friendship The other involves two involves a dog and a monkey. The first friendshop was discovered by locals in mozembique(sp?) after a recent flood, and many claim they befriended each other in order to survive. The dog, according to numerous articles on the topic, actually goes as far as proctecting the monkey from other dogs who wished to have it for a little snack. Here's both an article/video of the two: Videos, News Videos, Top Story Videos, Headline News Videos & More \| Reuters.com The third one is fairly popular, and that's whiplash the cowboy monkey, who tours with his trusty canine steed at numerous locales. You can find his website here: index Feel free to pontificate on the instincticual basis of this behavior, or post your own stories and videos, if you like.

Mar 14, 2007, 01:29 am	#2 (permalink) (top)
Eclipse Igneous Magma Posts: 248	Great links Zinkovich. Those are some hard to find stories and really neat. I've found a few more. Squirrel & dog Tortoise Adopts Baby Hippo, One Year Later: Update on the Tortoise and the Baby Hippo cityrag: My kitty Tiger, orangutan babies bond as inseparable playmates - CNN.com YouTube - strange friends - a kitten plays and sleeps with a chicken. Last edited by Eclipse; Mar 14, 2007 at 01:34 am. Reason: Forgot the cat and chicken.

Mar 15, 2007, 03:13 am	#3 (permalink) (top)
Technosoul Volcanic Erupter Posts: 8,663	Yesterday this big dog that lives next door killed our cat, That is somewhat normal as the dog comes from Japan is is used their for hunting bears. But the odd thing about this gaint dog is it loves the wild rabbits that live on our street, and the dog will romp and play with them. The owner also once had a hampster and the big dog made friends with it also and they had a frendly relationship. I am not sure why it hates cats so much, one bite and that is all she wrote for the cat. I was once told that the first thing a baby duck sees it calls "mother". Once evening I was going for a stroll around the lake and some ducks started to follow me "in a line". I felt kind of odd. When I got into the car they wondered off. As we know many animals can develope friendships with humans, and humans have had all kinds of animals for pets, from kittens to alligators. And so it would go to reason that animals can also be friendly with animals that are not of their own spiecies. A dog might protect a human friend from other dogs so why not a monkey? But I am not sure why animals can bond with other creatures that are so unlike their own kind. "bonding" is sort of a mystery and it might not just have to do with survival or something purely scientific, in other words, something more on to do with phycholoigcal or emotional security? My other cat bonded with a toy. People bond with machines, like cars for example. I knew one factory worker that called his machine "old Betty", and he would talk to it and sometimes it seemed the machine would understand and "fire up" upon demand. That would certainly have no scientific reasoning behind it. But it is perhaps the instinct of social animals to bond together like "brids of a feather" and sometimes they might establish that social gathering together with what ever other social animal happens to be in the right place at the right time. And then they adapt to the behavor and that nature of that other kind of social animal, and visa versa. Also the nursing instict of a female animal might nurse a animal of another spiecies without taking notice that she did not give birth to it, or that it looks different then other animals of her own spiecies. It is just the motivation to nurse that comes out. Adaptation to an animal of another spiecies to fullfill a natural motivation. Which might happen due to a odd situation or the timing of two needs being fullfilled by such a crossover. Just some of my opinons ... no back up facts.

Mar 22, 2007, 06:48 am	#4 (permalink) (top)
sevendogs Igneous Magma Location: Virgnia, USA Posts: 425	Yes, sometimes animals display unusual behavior looking like a peculiar form of friendship or even affection to other species. My own hunting dog is a brave and quick predator in woods and I always keep an eye on her, when she is free on the yard with other farm animals. She became very excited each time, when goat kids were born. She was jumping, squealing and barking, trying to reach them. I was always sure, she wanted to eat them. One day, she got out of her pen on her own. When I discovered it, it was too late to catch her up; she was already with goat kids. However, the kids were OK, she was laying near them, licking them and wagging her tail in the most friendly manner. Since that moment, I did not lock her up. When I was looking for her, I always knew, where she was, and she was always with goat kids. When goats grow up a little, her interest to them weakened. However, when we have kids again, she is excited again and more then eager to be with them and lick and watch their frolics. This dog had raised a few litters of her own puppies and was never deprived of motherhood experience. It is hard to explain her unusual affection towards goat kids.