Blog #13

The topic in Chapter 10 discussed by Mary Midgley is the idea of a "mixed community."  At the beginning of this chapter, Midgley talks about the domestic animals that we have at home have been conditioned to interact in the manner that they do.  Midgley states, "These animals became tame, not just through the fear of violence, but because they were able to form individual bonds with those who tamed them by coming to understand the social signals addressed to them."  Domestic animals are able to relate to the human beings personally and easier to train.  Migley makes the comparison of a domestic animal to a wildcat.  A wildcat may be impossible to tame because their species does not allow them to respond to social signals.  I see this as a species barrier because humans cannot interact with these creatures in a relationship. I think most of us in our right minds would not try and house a wildcat as a pet, but are more comfortable with dogs and cats because these animals have the capacity to be trained and it interact socially with human beings.

After reading some of the blogs on the topic, I was thinking the same way as Bethany in relation to the mixed community.  I have always wondered why dogs can be trained by most people, but why the wild animals, lions, tigers, and bears can only be trained by a select few.  This is probably the result of only those select few that try to take on training a lion or a bear are breave enough to interact and attempt to relate to these animals in a way that we relate to domestic animals.  This whole chapter just makes me consider Timothy Treadwell. He thought he was capable of interacting with the grizzly bears and he did seem to have a connection with them, but one little mishap caused the bear to turn on him in the drop of a hat.  I think those humans that interact with wild animals in a way that they would with domestic animals need to understand that there is a species barrier with these creatures.

The section on animals in relation to children made me think of why animals do not harm young children when they handle them in improper ways.  Midgley asks the question of how does a kitten know that a baby much longer than itself is a child?  This question has never really appealed to me until now.  I have never really noticed the idea that domestic animals react differently with children.  Even though I have observed this taking place time and time again, I never really thought about the issue.  I remember an instance when one of my baby cousins approached my black lab and I was so scared that the dog would react thinking the baby was a "toy."  I should have never doubted this thought for a second because all the dog did was lick my cousin and show compassion.  The species barrier is broken with domestic animals becuase there is a social and emotional relationship that forms from the beginning.