Posted on 09/06/2017 9:31:40 AM PDT by Silentgypsy
Do pack animals just follow their leader? Or if not, how do they reach a consensus? According to observations taken of African wild dogs in Botswana, one option is sneezing.
According to new research, if enough animals in the pack sternutate, that constitutes a quorum that it's time to get up and go hunting.
The research was initiated by Neil Jordan of the UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science, who was studying the dogs' social rallies. This is when the dogs, when they have finished resting, conduct energetic greeting ceremonies before running off to hunt.
Jordan started to notice that, prior to these rallies, the dogs would sneeze a lot more than usual.
"I wanted to better understand this collective behaviour, and noticed the dogs were sneezing while preparing to go," he said.
"We recorded details of 68 social rallies from 5 African wild dog packs living in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and couldn't quite believe it when our analyses confirmed our suspicions."
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...
ping
Our dog sneezes and huffs when she’s hungry.
They are just clearing their sinuses and olfactory sense so they can better track their prey...................what a moron..........
Works much the same in Chicongo except the dead also sneeze there.
African Wild Dogs Vote by Sneezing?
Cool.
And then does Uncle Sugar come running with EBT cards and free shi!t?
Sneezing, Yawning, and huffing are all Doggie behaviors that mean a LOT more to each other than they do to us.
So I am not surprised by this! ;-)
I find animal communication fascinating. There’s always that question... how much do they knooooowww???
This would be a step up from Paul Ryan or Sen. Turtle.
Did you ever wonder how many FReepers post for the sheer enjoyment of the commentary?
Fact: most wild dog packs are led by a dog named Pepper
LOL! I know...
In Florida a sneeze was counted as a Gore vote...
Gee, I guess you want to post something and receive no comment? Perhaps we should mail our comments for your approval prior to posting? Maybe the moderator will create a link to which we may refer for appropriate comment content; heck, maybe he’ll make it mandatory.
All hail silentgypsy self appointed authority on posting content. We are not worthy, we are not worthy!
Thanks for the ping. Amusing.
LOL!
I wondered about that....
The Little Dog sneezes when he gets slightly annoyed.
That is pure doggie genius.
Wouldn't have guessed that in a million years.
Pinging the Pack leader: Wooooof!
Don't know what you mean...not guilty your honour. :)
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