AnimalBehaviorist.us

25/09/2025

"Across 15 green spaces in urban areas of Oulu, Finland, the team from the University of Chester and the University of Oulu, monitored the effects of human intensity and activity on the proportion of Eurasian red squirrels who could solve a novel problem—extracting hazelnuts from a puzzle box by pushing and pulling levers. Solving the puzzle also required them to change from their typical foraging pattern in trees, to the ground.

The team measured solving success at the site level, individual level, as well as how fast individuals were in releasing the hazelnuts.

The findings, published in the journal Behavioral Ecology, showed that overall, greater human presence significantly reduced the number of squirrels that solved the task, both at the site and individual level. Playground activity had the most negative effect overall, while walking significantly reduced the chances of an individual squirrel solving the puzzle.

The results highlight that human presence and activity are stressors for urban squirrels and that squirrels perceive humans as potential threats.

The impact of playground activity could also be attributed to loud noises masking the ability to detect predators.

However, for those few that were successful first time, dog-walking led them to solve the task faster, which may be an adaptive strategy to avoid predators."

How human activities negatively affect urban red squirrels' problem-solving skills and potentially their chances of thriving is revealed in newly published research from the universities of Chester and Oulu.

19/09/2025

So much more than we give them credit for (and so much more reason to speak to/play/love them) "Our results show that these dogs do not just memorize object names," continues Dr. Fugazza. "They understand the meaning behind those labels well enough to apply them to new, very different-looking toys— by recognizing what the toys were for."

"The study provides the first evidence that dogs can generalize verbal labels to functional categories during natural-like playful interactions in their human families—mirroring, in functional terms, the natural context of human language development.

"This ability shows that classification linked to verbal labels can emerge in non-human, non-linguistic species living in natural settings," said Dr. Adam Miklosi, co-author of the study. "It opens exciting new avenues for studying how language-related skills may evolve and function beyond our own species."

"Gifted Word Learner" dogs learned verbal labels for two groups of objects based on their functions: objects used to play tug of war, called "pull," and obje...

17/09/2025

"Calf mortality is always high among orcas, but the endangered population of killer whales that frequent the marine waters between Washington state and Canada have especially struggled in recent decades due to a lack of their preferred prey, Chinook salmon, as well as pollution and vessel noise that interferes with their hunting. There are 73 whales remaining in the so-called Southern Resident population."

Once again, an endangered orca in Washington state has been seen carrying her dead newborn calf in an apparent effort to revive it.

12/09/2025

Please watch 💚
“73 Cows” is a 2018 short film about Jay and Katja Wilde, farmers in England who gave their herd of beef cows to the Hillside Animal Sanctuary and took up vegan organic farming.
Directed produced by Alex Lockwood. In 2019, it won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BqyiSnhV11I?si=GYGwtx1TRzeeRSQO

11/09/2025

"The authors recorded which arms were used each time the octopuses performed one of fifteen distinct behaviors (such as crawling). They also recorded which combination of twelve distinct arm actions (such as curling) took place during the behavior, and which combination of four distinct deformations (such as elongating) took place to perform each arm action.

The authors found that all the octopuses could deform all eight arms in four distinct ways, and could perform all of the actions with each arm.

They also found that arms on both sides of the body are used equally, but that the front four arms are used significantly more often than the rear four arms (64% compared to 36%). The front arms are more likely to be used to explore the surroundings, while the rear arms are more likely to be used to move the octopus around. As a result, two actions are performed more often using the rear arms: roll, in which the arm moves underneath the octopus along the seafloor similar to a conveyor belt; and stilt, in which the arm is extended straight downwards to raise the body.

The authors say that their results are some of the first to show that octopuses use specific limbs for specific tasks—behavior that is currently only well known in primates, rodents, and fish. They also state that their results could be" https://phys.org/news/2025-09-octopuses-arm-task.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter

Octopuses can use any of their arms to perform tasks, but tend to use a particular arm, or arms, for specific tasks. This finding, presented in a paper in Scientific Reports, reveals more about the complex behavior these animals display.

09/09/2025

The social learning employed in the animal kingdom to hunt, build nests, seek water, evade predation, etc., the model rival method Pepperberg demonstrated with Alex, all beg how unknown these findings are. Survival dictates social learning not blind imitation.

One of the most effective ways we learn is through third-party imitation, where we observe and then copy the actions and behaviors of others. Until recently, this was thought to be a unique human trait, but a new study published in Scientific Reports reveals that macaws also possess this ability.

07/09/2025

Much of the talk, rationalizations, self-intrepretations, confusion on applied animal behavior research from compulsion/force based training is rooted in trainer deficiency. Certain breeds or individual animals will be more resistant to reinforcement based training. But often this is because the reinforcer or method or understanding of that breed or animal is not reinforcing or the understanding or the knowledge enough. The animal in front of you needs to be familiar in all aspects. To change behavior, an equally satisfying behavior needs to be offered. And to figure that out, in those circumstances is a stretch too far to the less experienced, less insightful, less proficient trainer. So, instead they turn to force and compulsion, shocks, strikes, chokes, prongs, helicopters, food deprivation, it goes on. And any variation of torture will work along with the enduring legacy of fear, trauma and displacement.

Guardians get to choose when bringing on trainers, but ask - why pay someone who doesn't know what they are doing well enough that they have to resort to the bully's way out?

Positive, Science based, Animal Behavior, Training, cats, dogs, aggression, socialization, unacceptable elimination

06/09/2025

"It is all done with classical conditioning and positive reinforcement...

"Their sense of smell is incredible," said Fabrizio Dell'Anna, an animal behaviorist at APOPO, a Tanzania-based nongovernmental organization that trains the rats for lifesaving applications. "These rats are able to detect explosives, tuberculosis—even tiny amounts of the bacteria—and in this project, they are able to correctly identify and indicate humans."

A man lies unmoving, slumped in the rubble of a simulated earthquake, as an unlikely rescuer approaches: a rat with a backpack. Whiskers waving, the rat breezes past garbage, toppled furniture and scattered clothes to find him and pull a trigger on its pack, alerting searchers above.