why do most domestic animals enjoy being petted?
In: Biology
I mean have you ever been petted or scratched behind the ears? Feels nice, my guy. Highly recommend putting your head on a humans leg until they absent mindedly pat your head.
You ever had a good head massage or head scratch/backscratch from someone?
afaik the release of endorphins when “petted”(gentil touch ) is a mammalian reflex, there are some papers about it, it seems it’s a leftover reflex from being nurtured by the mother.
I have a best friend who is blind. One time she went to visit her boyfriend‘s new family. There was some thing that she could see with her limited vision out of the corner of her eye. She got really excited and bent down to pet the cute… Toddler. She was sure it was a dog. Then she hoped she could sneak away without being embarrassed. But not so. Her boyfriend‘s little sister at the time yelled “Karen, you’re petting Nicholas. “How embarrassing for her.
You probably don’t think about it since you have hands to do it with, but people scratch and rub themselves all the time on their faces, neck, ears, chest, etc.
Most animals can’t do that themselves
I’ve always enjoyed being petted… Specifically the back of my head.. Even scratching… My lady likes to pet me and hear growls/purs when we’re snoozing…
Im not a furry… I just like being petted… O_o
Petting isn’t the same for all animals, it involves stroking and touching them then adjusting the patterns of touch according to their responses.
In other words, the process of petting is trying to determine what kind of touch this particular animal enjoys.
And then you can ask why animals would like pressing, rubbing, stroking or rearranging hairs or feathers, which are the basic acts that we tend to do, and the first answer is that most animals engage in grooming or self-cleaning activities, there is a particular environment on their skin or in their fur or feathers that is good for them, and being in a complex environment may mess that up, and so having some other entity help you with that problem is nice.
Secondly, animals have nervous systems, which are attached to their skin, and highly complex and varying stimulation of that nervous system can produce different responses.
That’s almost tautological, but if you picture that animals are “built” for a particular combination of sensation and action, but have the potential to do a lot more, there are all kinds of potential responses that we can find that an animal never normally experiences in normal life, and if they also feel safe, the experience of novelty can be a positive experience.
So even if you’re dealing with a fish or a lizard, you can find a particular “hack” via touch, where they are able to enjoy some random sensation that they would never come across in the wild.
Not because they evolved to like being pruned of parasites or whatever, just because they’re a sensing acting being and you’ve managed to find some way of interacting with them while playing about that provides them an experience they could never get anywhere else. The fact that your lizard likes you patting their shoulders back and forth in order doesn’t need a sensible explanation, it’s just a specific quirk of that lizard and how their brain has developed to experience the world, that you happened to discover.
I’m not a pet, obviously 🤣, but I’m a man and sometimes I grow beard… Man! Do I love when my GF plays with it! I could be there for ages!
If you are a man, try it! It’s nowhere near the feeling when someone scratches your hair. Not at all.
It’s a sign of affection for both sides. Pet them as long as possible as they relish in the love you have to share ❤️ 🐾
Lots of animals are social and find comfort in contact.
Lots of animals don’t.
Guess which ones we preferred to domesticate?
Bison vs cows for example. There are bison farms, and bison are hardier animals that can handle extreme weather, but cows are much more docile and friendly.
Horses vs zebras for another. Horses are very social animals and can be trained to be used to humans and eventually form meaningful bonds. Zebras aren’t just striped horses, they’re far more aggressive and will kick the shit out of you.
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