What do you think animals think about sharing the planet with humans

I must say, I just love reading eveyone's fine posts. I find the subject so interesting and each opinion is so unique and some of you make me laugh (which is really good for a sad person) 💗

We can speculate a theory but I think the truth is that we can never know for certain, the private thoughts of another mammal.

...and by the way, the film is not about animals good, humans bad. You have to watch it to see. Its more about male behaviors, jealously and young mothers plus female bonding and why.

(sorry for the poor sentence)

Macaydia

I once heard an author say, "Who are we to say that a crab on the ocean floor does not look up at the stars and ponder the universe"

Is that what you mean about anthropomorphism?

Well, we can say that because it would be impossible to see the stars from the bottom of the ocean. Light would not penetrate that far.
If on the shore a crab might realise that it could see its way back to the sea from the light given by the moon and stars!

But it's not going to gaze up and think "Is that Sirius up there?"

I don't know who that author is but 🤔

Is that what you mean about anthropomorphism?
Yes!!

Whitewavemark2

Interesting the concept - every species has evolved a way to survive.

We appear to have gone one stage further and evolved to destroy

Interesting. I think that every species destroys whilst in the process of surviving. They kill each other, they strip bark off trees to the detriment of other wildlife etc.
Each species does what it has to do to survive with no thought on the impact on the planet or other species. If anything humans are better at looking at the potential impact of us following our survival imperative.
As I said above the idea that animals are good and humans are bad us in my view seriously flawed.
We are the only species that stops to consider the impact of our survival strategies rather than just getting on with blindly surviving.
Too little too late one might say ... but that just makes us human and not inherently evil.

SORES

Macaydia

I once heard an author say, "Who are we to say that a crab on the ocean floor does not look up at the stars and ponder the universe"

Is that what you mean about anthropomorphism?

Macaydia, how would you imagine that this is even possible?

How can we compare animals for perceived and/or innate intelligence even within the same species, ie, a Spaniel against
a Belgian Malinois
Animals, even those who strategically hunt, track, ambush, alone or as a well co-ordinated team, ie lionesses, do so by instinct, generational memory, watching mama, there is no intelligence per se.

The soulful eyes of a Gorilla do not intelligence convey, a fanciful notion,
as is describing a household bound dog as ‘intellectual’

If philosophical crabs had intelligence, fewer would be caught.

I think you are wrong about mammals.

Humans are the worse thing that could ever happen to animals.

Certain humans, not all.

We are, after all, just another species of mammal but find it difficult to share land and resources.

In the film, the Rwandans are sharing their land. It's really beautiful.

I will never, ever forget the footage of when his forest habitat was being cut down in Borneo an orangutan ran along a branch and punched the digger.

I just cried. How dare they. Who do humans think they are.

The clip is still on YouTube.

I remember reading about Koko a female gorilla who was born and spent all her life in captivity in the USA. She had an amazing sign language vocabulary and she was able to convey her thoughts at a very sophisticated level.

Purplepixie

Humans are the worse thing that could ever happen to animals.

We ARE animals! It is an invalid distinction.

I think it all comes down to territory and the drive to re-produce.

Sewer rats are a species that benefits greatly from human activities. Cockroaches too benefit from human environments although cockroaches are so adaptable they would survive in various environments.

God made a big mistake when he put humans on this planet. He should have chosen somewhere where we were not the dominant species.
The rest of nature all fits together very neatly. We are the odd ones out, unless we live in harmony with nature.

Casdon

The one species that I think has benefitted most from humans is dogs. They are lazy, sociable creatures, and they have us sussed.

Dogs like horses, both social animals have adapted their socializing to depend on humans, allow several dogs to get out of human control and the pack instinct returns very quickly.
Wolves and African Wild Dogs depend on the structure of the pack to survive hunting for food.

Caleo

Sewer rats are a species that benefits greatly from human activities. Cockroaches too benefit from human environments although cockroaches are so adaptable they would survive in various environments.

Cockroaches could inherit the earth.

Dogs will seek an easy life David49, even street dogs will always prefer somebody else to feed and care for them rather than continue with that life. Wolves have not had human contact, so are wild.

Casdon

Dogs will seek an easy life David49, even street dogs will always prefer somebody else to feed and care for them rather than continue with that life. Wolves have not had human contact, so are wild.

You haven't seen a pack of 3 dogs attacking a sheep flock, just ordinary domestic pooches.
In general they are lazy as you say but don't rely on it, we've had terriers that were determined hunters, squirrels, cats, birds had to be quick to avoid them, hedgehogs weren't.

Yes, I have unfortunately. I live in mid Wales. I think you missed the point I was making though, which is that dogs have learned to benefit from humans. I didn’t say anything about their wild side being suppressed?

mum2three

God made a big mistake when he put humans on this planet. He should have chosen somewhere where we were not the dominant species.
The rest of nature all fits together very neatly. We are the odd ones out, unless we live in harmony with nature.

Humans can have greed. Do other mammals have greed as well or do they only take from nature what is absolutely necessary for their families' survival?

*mum2three

God made a big mistake when he put humans on this planet. He should have chosen somewhere where we were not the dominant species.
The rest of nature all fits together very neatly. We are the odd ones out, unless we live in harmony with nature.*

We are not the odd ones out - we ARE nature, in the same way as all animals and plants are.

The rest of nature fits together very neatly by killing each other and destroying habitats for their own survival (e.g. beavers, elephants, deer).

So - no different from us. We just have bigger brains than most (as far as we are aware to date) and are able to apply more technology to our primal urge to develop the survival strategies in the same way as the whole of nature.

Taking actions to survive is what all animals do - human and all other species.

It disturbs me to read this ingrained mindset that humankind is inherently evil and all other species are inherently good. We have well and truly absorbed the original sin myth.

As I said upthread we are in fact the only species that has any regard at all for what our survival strategies might do to other plants and animals.

mum2three

God made a big mistake when he put humans on this planet. He should have chosen somewhere where we were not the dominant species.
The rest of nature all fits together very neatly. We are the odd ones out, unless we live in harmony with nature.

We evolved.
We weren't put here.

It's the survival instinct we all have that drives us to enterprise so that our family (herd) can survive longer. Also on a larger scale, empires, states and religions compete with each other for dominance. Not only survival we have the pleasure drive that animals don't have, the need for enjoyment, travel, culture, sport, sex for pleasure not just reproduction.
Us smart apes now have the means now to destroy the planet but we can't control it, maybe we're not so smart after all