Eli5: Why do some wild animals seemingly allow humans to help them if they are injured or in jeopardy?
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I think there are two reason. First the injury. It means, the animal feels pain and it tries to reduce movement. Second human beings usually fit not in the animals prey/predator scheme. So when a human approaches an injured/jeopardized animal the normal reactions(fight or flight) might be mostly suppressed. You still have to be careful, because it still feels uncomfortable and might react unexpectedly. Some animals, mostly mammals and birds, seem also to understand that they get helped. But please don’t count on it.
Animals prioritise just like everyone else. Normally they prioritise staying away from you or using aggression to keep you away from them when cornered.
But when they’ve been completely exhausted by their predicament, possibly starving or dying of thirst, in a great deal of pain etc. They don’t prioritise running away from you very highly.
They’re most certainly not asking for your help. You just rank too low on their list of problems to bother wasting energy on. If you start touching them, they might very well reconsider that.
Self-preservation. The same way when we are hurt or sick, we would set aside our prejudice or fears for a better outcome. A soldier would allow themselves to be captured if the prospect of care under the enemy as a POW is better than the suffering of the injury. A person with a fear of a dentist or doctor would try and tamp the panic and go to them to relieve the pain/suffering. If the pain is bad enough, or the situation dire enough, and your “enemy” was capable of providing relief….you would probably take it.
It depends on what their survival tactic is. A deer stuck on the icy lake will still try to run if approached by a human, unless it’s completely exhausted. Some younglings (birds, prey mammals) rely on sitting still to not be noticed, so they might not run if approached, especially if unwell. Predators are mostly gonna fight back if they feel threatened, again unless they are spent and resigned.
There is a lot of factors involved including individual animal “character”, the environment, health, even the clothing the rescuer wears.
Be very careful when approaching wildlife, as a vet who dabbles in wildlife rescue operations I have seen more human injuries than I’d like. What especially comes to mind is birds – they are vicious bastards and way more dangerous than most people assume. Herons for example are used to catching fish – quick shiny things- so they are absolutely lightning quick to strike and go for the shiny thing which is usually the rescuer’s eye. No chance to dodge that. Birds of prey like falcons and eagles can fuck you up with talons and beaks too, even swans can give you rough bruising with their wings.
Treat every animal as dangerous when you are trying to help and always, always prioritise your own safety.
People talk about the default behavior being fight or flight, but forget that the third one is freeze. They may not be “allowing the human to help” so much as “hoping the human won’t notice them”.
This is not hard to explain, when you are ready to give up the five-year-old belief that animals wouldn’t have consciousness. I’d say, obviously they have enough consciousness to realize what’s happening when they’re trapped or hurt.
Additionally, it’s good for everybody if somebody in distress is helped. This is probably why religions cater to the belief that there would be someone who’d help anybody in distress.
In most cases animals will be hostile to humans. If you want to help, you need to know how to approach them so they know you are not posing a threat.
I think it’s the human. When you’re not on top of the food chain it would seem senses are heightened to the extreme. They can feel you’re not a threat, or less of a threat than the end result of the current situation.
I guess you could say you could reverse the situation and imagine yourself somehow completely incapacitated and stuck and somehow some wild animal came to you. Perhaps at first you’d be very frightened but if you sensed it was a good thing would you cooperate. I always think that people are so strange that they think animals are so completely different than us. I think there’s more similarities than dissimilarities
Tbh, it’s not always the case
Deer won’t let you near unless they’ve exhausted all options (can’t run with a broken leg)
Other creatures freeze when they think they’re boned.
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