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Anecdotally, when I volunteered at an animal shelter, we had to undergo training to work with both the dog and feline populations. Something they taught us, an
by funkjunky 7y ago
Anecdotally, when I volunteered at an animal shelter, we had to undergo training to work with both the dog and feline populations. Something they taught us, and eventually witnessed ourselves, is that cats form much more complex social systems than dogs do. Dogs have the typical alpha/everyone else system, whereas cats seem to have more specialized roles in their organization. Some monitored the food rations, some were on watch at the door, some controlled certain areas or furniture, etc. They even rotated night shifts! Hard to verify experimentally, but work with them often enough and you start to notice the patterns. I think they're much smarter and more sophisticated than we give them credit for, especially when it comes to social behavior.
- alchemism 7y agoAthens, like many Mediterranean cities where winter is easy, has a massive urban feral cat population. In that environment they form colonies, often inhabiting the ruins and other protected spaces scattered about the city. Networks of cat-loving residents feed and support the colonies as best they can. Cat-loving friends there have told interesting stories of observing complex political behavior, e.g. turf wars between rival colonies operating as if they were street gangs. Night ambushes, targeted assassination of enemy leaders. I took it with a grain of salt, but now I wonder...
- p_l 7y agoAfter hearing of seagull gangs having turf wars, and observing a ritualised duel between two seagulls with a circle of watchers who proctored it (the whole thing looked like Greek wrestling using beaks), believing in organized warfare between cats... Is easy.