3 ms·

Our bond with dogs may go back more than 27,000 years

7 points by hdivider 11y ago

Oatseller 11y ago
I posted a link to a video about a month ago [0], where arctic wolves approached some workers in remote northern Canada. I'd always held the belief that man had probably initiated the contact that led to the domestication of wolves but after viewing the video, I can imagine a similar scene, playing out many thousands of years ago, where wolves were the first to initiate contact. It's a cool video in my opinion (no comments or votes so it must just be me), I'd give anything to experience something like that (I don't think I'd let a wolf get as close as the cameraman though). [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9411228 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9411228
- ghshephard 11y ago
  Amazing video - but agreed about not letting the wolves get that close. Everything I've been taught about wild animals, suggests that one of these days, something very bad is going to happen to one of the workers who gets that close to a wild wolf. Absolutely no way would I let one get that close, or get that comfortable about being around humans.
  - Qantourisc 11y ago
    Well if they are anything like dogs, and given their posture they looked rather safe. However if you spook them (in any way), things could go wrong fast. I've seen quite a few dogs that look more like flip-flops then dogs. Hell these wolves behaved better then a lot of dogs I've seen! (However still don't recommend it though ;)
    - ghshephard 11y ago
      The danger is in treating a wild animal like a domestic animal. Domestic animals have gone through thousands of generations of selection bias - if they attack a human, they are euthanized. Even today, a lot of dog handlers I know have the rule of two - a dog gets one chance, but if they bite a human (without being commanded to, of course) a second time, euthanized. Wild Animals have gone through a little of that (any animal that attacks a human is hunted down and killed), but nowhere near as much as domestic animals. But the thing is, Wolves look a lot like dogs, so we expect them to potentially have the same behavior patterns - which is just not the case. One other thing - the guy coming out (I presume he was Inuit, but his accent actually sounded spanish), was acting totally alpha, and the wolves responded well to that. The guy with the camera was practically inviting the wolves to see if they could dominate him. That scene could have ended up really, really horribly.

7 points by hdivider 11y ago

I posted a link to a video about a month ago [0], where arctic wolves approached some workers in remote northern Canada. I'd always held the belief that man had probably initiated the contact that led to the domestication of wolves but after viewing the video, I can imagine a similar scene, playing out many thousands of years ago, where wolves were the first to initiate contact. It's a cool video in my opinion (no comments or votes so it must just be me), I'd give anything to experience something like that (I don't think I'd let a wolf get as close as the cameraman though). [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9411228 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9411228

ghshephard 11y ago
Amazing video - but agreed about not letting the wolves get that close. Everything I've been taught about wild animals, suggests that one of these days, something very bad is going to happen to one of the workers who gets that close to a wild wolf. Absolutely no way would I let one get that close, or get that comfortable about being around humans.
- Qantourisc 11y ago
  Well if they are anything like dogs, and given their posture they looked rather safe. However if you spook them (in any way), things could go wrong fast. I've seen quite a few dogs that look more like flip-flops then dogs. Hell these wolves behaved better then a lot of dogs I've seen! (However still don't recommend it though ;)
  - ghshephard 11y ago
    The danger is in treating a wild animal like a domestic animal. Domestic animals have gone through thousands of generations of selection bias - if they attack a human, they are euthanized. Even today, a lot of dog handlers I know have the rule of two - a dog gets one chance, but if they bite a human (without being commanded to, of course) a second time, euthanized. Wild Animals have gone through a little of that (any animal that attacks a human is hunted down and killed), but nowhere near as much as domestic animals. But the thing is, Wolves look a lot like dogs, so we expect them to potentially have the same behavior patterns - which is just not the case. One other thing - the guy coming out (I presume he was Inuit, but his accent actually sounded spanish), was acting totally alpha, and the wolves responded well to that. The guy with the camera was practically inviting the wolves to see if they could dominate him. That scene could have ended up really, really horribly.