Thursday, July 04, 2019
Not quite as obvious as it looks
Lots of online articles today about dogs and cats versus fireworks.
For instance:
That’s because dogs, like humans, are hardwired to be afraid of sudden, loud noises. It is what keeps them safe. Some dogs, though, take that fear to the extreme with panting, howling, pacing, whining, hiding, trembling and even self-injury or escape. And, unlike humans, they don’t know that the fanfare on the Fourth is not a threat. Dogs hear the fireworks and process it as if their world is under siege.LIteral hardwiring is unquestionably true. Major sections of the auditory system are devoted to analyzing and switching sudden noises, pre-empting regular audio programming, breaking sleep, and motivating big movements in muscles and viscera. The thunder response makes sense for mammals who live in areas with frequent thunderstorms. Humans developed first in warm wet places, so the connection is easy. But canines developed in cold places. Dogs and wolves know what snow is, and generally enjoy snow. Lightning is rare in snowy places. By the usual model of "evolution", the thunder response should have faded out of the genome. Later thought: Why do canines enjoy snow? I'd think snow would be a threat to survival. Obviously I'm wrong and Nature is right, but why?
Labels: Asked and badly answered
¶ 10:59 AM
