Opportunistic

[Vickie]

Was just reading another thread where a comparison was made between dogs & rats.

I know absolutely nothing about rats. I know that learning theory & behaviour contains some parallels across all species but out of curiosity are rats as opportunistic as dogs? What other species are as opportunistic as dogs?

I have spent a lot of time with horses & cattle & sheep. I don't see them to have the same levels (but am prepared to be wrong as I have never attempted to train them to the level I have trained a dog).

[corvus]

I think a dog's opportunism is mostly a factor of their roots as scavengers and hunters and possibly most importantly, cachers (if that's a word). IME, herbivores are considerably less opportunistic than even a non-caching carnivore. Their food doesn't move around and try to run away from them. They can take their own sweet time about it. They might have to be more opportunistic about social interactions, or getting the choicest treats, though. Animals like bears and pigs are highly opportunistic because they are omnivorous and take advantage of whatever food they can find. Foxes are also very opportunistic. As far as other domestic animals go, I would be putting chickens after dogs and pigs for opportunism towards food resources. Cats are more a "hunt when I'm hungry" kind of animal, but they can be opportunistic as well. Rats are also omnivorous, so I would expect them to be quite opportunistic as well. Supposedly they will hunt in groups.

[J...]

I can really only comment on cattle and horses.

I think cattle appear more opportunistic the more "domesticated" they are. Our stud cattle in the small stud paddocks would take any advantage which worked for them - busted fence, open gate - they didn't take long to find them. They also test electric fences regularly to see if they are working or not.

Dairy cattle appear even more opportunistic because you see them twice a day and work more closely with them. I've seen cows work out exactly where they need to be to score the extra ration that's available on the dairy platform. Have also seen them push the non-electric parts of a rolling fence with their heads to get to the fresh pasture allocation. Same thing with the stud beefies - leave a gate open by mistake or turn a fence off and see how long it takes them to find it. Especially those little yellow ones

The station I worked on the cattle were lucky to see man every few months or so - so you don't get as exposed to the opportunities they take.

Horses I haven't found too disimilar to the cattle.

[Staranais]

I can really only comment on cattle and horses.

I think cattle appear more opportunistic the more "domesticated" they are. Our stud cattle in the small stud paddocks would take any advantage which worked for them - busted fence, open gate - they didn't take long to find them. They also test electric fences regularly to see if they are working or not.

Yes, I agree. I think cattle & sheep are always opportunistic about what matters most to them - and for sheep and cattle that aren't tame, what matters most is not getting eaten! They're prey animals. So when you have contact with most sheep or cattle, they'll just be concentrating their wiles on getting away from you, before you eat them.

Once a cattlebeast or sheep gets to know you a little better and aren't as scared of you, you start to see their true natures emerge, & they can become very opportunistic about food & social opportunities. I've known tame cattle, and several bottle raised sheep, that were as opportunistic as any dog.

[Skitch]

*scratches head* Not only am I bit stupid but I'm not much of a trainer either so I dont know exactly what you mean by opportunism in regards to training.. but I have lots of rats and can tell you that they can be very easily taught to do a variety of tricks with positive reinforcement in a similar fashion to dog training. Basically all you need to do is get them to exhibit the desired behavior and then reward the second that they do it! Most rats can pick up simple tricks like spin, 'up' or jump over a small hurdle on command relatively quickly.

[Aidan]

Do rats ever eat their own poo?

[Skitch]

Do rats ever eat their own poo?

Hahaha I think most animals eat their own poo at some point! It's called coprophagia and for some animals such as rabbits it's a normal, important part of their digestion but for others it often indicates a deficiency in their diet somewhere.. I've never seen a pet rat do it but I wouldn't say.. a quick google search tells me it's pretty normal for them to do so!