Animal

This post contains graphic images that may go unappreciated by the squeamish.

If you were ever that student who kept passing out in Biology class (and you know who you are), then you may wish to consider looking no further.

True story:

Years ago, when I was in college, I came back to the dorm with a stack of photographs that I had snapped at the Bronx Zoo. I liked photography a lot, and I was probably more eager to show off my photos than most of my friends were interested in seeing them. But I prevailed upon my roommate to look at my new zoo shots, and I handed him the stack of prints to look through at his own pace.

He muttered one polite comment after another as he flipped through the photos, until.....

"Eewww!! What the hell is THAT?"


The tone of revulsion sounded excessive. I assured him that it was only just an ordinary caiman or crocodile in the picture. But he continued to look puzzled and disturbed, which began to puzzle me.

Then I noticed the awkward way that he was holding the print.

So I suggested that he try holding it this way:

But I'm sure that he had difficulty reorienting the image in his mind. He insisted that the animal was not like any crocodile he had ever seen. Then I recall that he flipped through all the rest of the prints, but without any more comments. Sheesh!

Anyway....

Nowadays my portrait subjects have fur.
That seems to help.


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Urine Good Company

Well this is just great. Now I can't get dog pee out of my mind.

Anyway, it's no big news that dogs like to use their good scents in marking various locations with their urine and/or feces, sniff at the the locations marked by other dogs, greet new colleagues with a sniff of their anogenital regions (AGR), roll in wet odiferous matter and wear the fragrance into the house, etc. But humans just don't really know all the information that could be getting exchanged between dogs through scents (are they sniffing about us??), or how dogs actually choose the time and place for a pee or a sniff (smell art?).

Right now there's an interesting discussion happening on Trisha McConnell's blog concerning some new research on scent marking. It seems that one of the reasons they mark where they do could be because it can give other dogs a place to sniff them without intruding into their personal space to sniff their AGRs, particularly when they are entering a new area where other dogs are already gathered (thus avoiding being mobbed by multiple noses at once).

....or maybe it's just their way of sniff blogging.
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Friday Play

It was another Friday off from work. Sasha, Kasey, and I enjoyed a day of play, and we all appreciated the sight of grass appearing from beneath the receding snow.



Another reason that I am glad about taking the day off was that it gave me an opportunity to phone a question in to Partricia McConnell, an ethologist specializing in dog behavior, and an author of several books about human/dog relationships. Dr. McConnell was interviewed by Susan Frank on "Wild About Pets." It's an interesting discussion for anyone who interacts with dogs, or for anyone who wonders what their dog really thinks about those affectionate hugs they get from humans. Go here to listen to the interview (and my brush with greatness).
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