Monday, March 14, 2011
Ox and Dog Interspecies Play; Toy or Tool?
In the first half of the video Scout the Ox and Harry the Dog play with a section of garden hose; Harry the Dog then switches to using the hose to poke at Scout the Ox ---at which time the ox attempts to take the hose away from the dog. It's all in good fun; as regular readers of this blog know, the ox and dog are companion animals and best of friends.
Is this further proof that the notion, tool use makes humans unique, is outdated? This was completely self-invented use of a garden hose, first as a toy (is a toy a tool when used to engage another?), and then as a pseudo-horn (tool?) to poke at the ox.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I think the dog has seen too many Westerns and is trying to lasso (rope) the ox. ; )
I promise, he hasn't watched any westerns! But you could be very right about him trying to rope the steer. He loves to lead the steer by his leadrope.
http://storybrookeripples.blogspot.com/2010/11/dog-leads-steer-ox.html
http://storybrookeripples.blogspot.com/2010/02/serendipitous.html
storybrookeripples
LTD
That "Puppy leads calf" is cute. So, comparing that to "Dog Leads Steer," apparently they have been doing this for quite some time.
Personally, I think Harry is trying to get Scout to grab and end for tug of war!
Anonymous ---
That's a perfectly plausible explanation as well. Harry the Dog frequently engages me in tug of war sessions.
storybrookeripples
LTD
Post a Comment