If dogs started out as wolves and ended up as English bulldogs, imagine how stupid raccoons will eventually look.
Probably something like a koala bear
Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
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Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#32Just remember to remain wary of the cute ones. > Raccoons are a rabies reservoir in the eastern United States, extending from Canada to Florida and as far west as the Appalachian Mountain range. Within these areas, 10% of raccoons that expose people or pets have rabies, making them one of the highest rabies-risks in the United States. https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/php/protecting-public-health/inde...
> 10% of raccoons that expose people or pets have rabies I don't understand the language of this quote. What does it mean for an animal to expose people?
An “exposure” in this instance to rabies would be physical contact - a bite, scratch, or from its saliva on an open wound for instance.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#33If dogs started out as wolves and ended up as English bulldogs, imagine how stupid raccoons will eventually look.
Most cat breeds still look more or less like their wild relatives.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#34I want to see an intelligence-optimized domesticated raccoon breed, like the raccoon equivalent of a border collie
Imagine trying to keep an animal like that out of food it's not supposed to have (to include fish tanks). The dang things would probably learn to pick locks with their cute little hands.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#35I want to see an intelligence-optimized domesticated raccoon breed, like the raccoon equivalent of a border collie
Get a pet rat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV9z0c1hjnA
(I'll convince you all to get pet rats eventually!!! :))
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#36Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#37> Oddly, tameness has also long been associated with traits such as a shorter face, a smaller head, floppy ears and white patches on fur—a pattern that Charles Darwin noted in the 1800s. Hmm, so evolutionary pressure of existing around humans makes animals cuter. I wonder why we find these features endearing?
I thought it's because adrenalin and melatonin are produced in the same brain region, or something like that.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#38If dogs started out as wolves and ended up as English bulldogs, imagine how stupid raccoons will eventually look.
Well this gave me some fun ideas for AI image generation. There goes the rest of my afternoon, thanks!
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most cat breeds still look more or less like their wild relatives.
Have you seen short legged cats?
That's a recessive trait that is fatal if they get two copies of it. When left to their devices they'll return to being normal cats in a few generations.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#40Skunks apparently make great pets (but need to have their stink glands surgically extracted), the pitch is smart like a cat but faithful like dogs
Removing the scent glands of a skunk is considered about as ethical as declawing a cat. It just isn't really done anymore. Maybe 30 years ago...
I don't really understand this. Isn't it about as surgically invasive as getting a pet spayed?
Does the scent gland do anything more than just stinking? For a cat, removing the claws literally removes bones from them. It limits their mobility and hurts like hell.
(Not that I want a pet skunk. Just curious as to why it's unethical)