Comment on Woof is dog for "You may test that assumption at your convenience"
EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 days agoWell, do I have a fun fact for you then: Cheetahs are such anxious and easily stressed animals that zoos consistently failed to set up breeding programs until somebody had a bright idea and paired up a cheetah cub with a golden retriever puppy to be raised together.
Growing up with a lifelong friend in such a chill and loving dog breed allows them to live a lot less anxiously, and has been so successful with keeping cheetahs happy and healthy that the practice has been adopted all over the place.
Dogs are full of love and want to help, even if that’s by simply existing in the same space as you.
dethedrus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 days ago
Cheetahs are just so wonderfully weird. Basically big housecats that are also rocket powered apex predators.
Also, I love The Cheetah Whisperer.
EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 days ago
Cheetahs are so weird largely because they’re actually not apex predators and are surrounded by so many bigger predators! From lions and leopards to packs of wild dogs or hyenas, there are plenty of animals that can take down a cheetah pretty easily. Especially because they’re so overbuilt for that burst of speed that that’s basically the one trick that they have. They’re super easily bullied out of their meals by other animals, including scavengers. I think this is why they’re so chill with people, though. Because if we’re not running at them or away from them, then we’re not predator or prey, and must be some secret third thing - friend shaped! Kinda like how we’re the only other bipedal animal in the Antarctic besides penguins, so penguins largely see us as just weird-looking penguins and will hop into boats with people and stuff.
dethedrus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 days ago
I sort of knew the overview of all that, but thanks for the detailed clarifications! :)