It seems like many mammals even those that would be considered exotic or dangerous seem to enjoy being petted by humans under the right circumstances. Why did so many mammals evolve to enjoy this?
In: Biology
Most herding/grouping animals with little hands express affection, or bonding, through grooming. Others, without those little grabbies, bond by rubbing on each other to mix their scents. Other animals, like us, just enjoy the feeling of being close to another animal. It’s safety and comfort.
Petting covers, basically, all of that.
Animals are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for. We tend to judge intelligence based on *our* intelligence, totally ignoring the fact that intelligence is a pretty broad spectrum.
It’s why we have r/likeus to remind us. And r/lilgrabbies
The literal answer is that we share a common ancestor that developed the trait of enjoying being groomed. Humans excel at this behavior because of our primate ancestry, empathy and opposable thumbs.
Have you ever been petted by a human? Shit feels pretty good
My dog has a certain unmistakable “I’m in Heaven” behavior and expression. It happens most when I gently stroke the side of his snout from the end of his nose to his cheek. My theory is that it reminds him of his mother’s licks.
That’s false: wild animals don’t enjoy being petted by humans. There might be some wild animals that are used to humans who could tolerate petting, but in general, you should assume the animal doesn’t want to be touched. Heck, even domestic animals are particular about petting: my dog won’t let strangers touch him, and my cat only lets me pet her head (I read somewhere that cats can be very sensitive along their back/ tail, so touching there is unpleasant).
1. The common petted location is hard to reach places, touching there is a feeling of relieve/pleasure, because its massages the underused nerve and muscle.
2. Like wise often that place is vulnerable to injury, having a trustable species that wont harm you means it establish a sort of mutual trust and appreciation.
3. Smarter ones realize social interaction is possible and naturally wanted to communicate.
4. Social and culturally is acceptable.
Dude, did YOU ever get some headpets? It’s fucking amazing. Of course all animals love it! As humans we are also mammals, so we could say the social interaction of “brushing” each other is just enjoyable. As humans we just have these big, handy… hands to do the petting with.
not just mammals (also birds, reptiles, fish), it se ems to be essentially a universal thing.
Cos we give good pets and they’re social animals
Look if you weren’t the dominant species, do you not think it’s a good idea to cosy up to the dominant species when that species can take you out from literally a different country with technology that you can’t even conceptualise, even the concept of human technology is lost on most animals
We’re all just tryna survive
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