• Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
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    9 hours ago

    If you grabbed a wild coyote, and started feeding it, how long would it take before the animal, if not fully tame, would at least not bite the hand that feeds it?

    • thedeadwalking4242@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      Honestly depends on the animal. The biting will probably stay depending. It’s one of the ways alot of animals communicate in the wild. Little nibbles

    • poweruser@lemmy.sdf.org
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      4 hours ago

      Wild animals are wild.

      I once rescued an injured duckling from our cat and nursed it back to health.

      I fed and watered it several times a day while it convalesced. Each time I reached my hand in the box that tiny adorable creature thrashed its wings and bit my fingers.

      After about 3 days I had had enough of it biting the hand that feeds. It was barely larger than a marshmallow but it was kicking my ass.

      I decided it must be strong enough so I returned it to its mother, who was conveniently still in the nearby pond. It launched itself toward her and literally ran across the water to be reunited.

      That part was touching, so I guess it was worth the effort, but I learned a valuable lesson. Imagine if instead of a tiny bird it had been a dangerous predator with fangs and claws

    • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      An adult or a pup? That’s going to make a big difference. You’ll never be able to domesticate it in one or two generations, but depending on temperament and dedication you could probably have a coyote that allows you to live in proximity to it after a year if you spent all your time working with it. But never turn your back on it.

      A pup would obviously be easier. But I still wouldn’t turn my back on it.

      They worked on domesticating foxes in Russia for decades. Selective breeding for less aggression and fear. It’s funny, the domesticated ones start looking slightly more like dogs, with some even getting floppy ears and little curly tails. I assume it would be similar for coyotes.

      • TomMasz@piefed.social
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        19 minutes ago

        Not sure if you can still buy one, but it’ll easily cost more than $10K US. And while they’re definitely cute, they make terrible pets. That article doesn’t mention it, but they also have a rather intense odor. Your house will never be the same.

      • ITGuyLevi@programming.dev
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        41 minutes ago

        Growing up in the late 80s we had lots of crazy pets, I was about 5 or 6 when we adopted a timber wolf (Eastern Wolf) and I named it Babe. I remember it was a baby when we got it (I think it was rescued after a wildfire) and about two years later we had to reintroduce it to the wild. It wasn’t because it tried to hurt us or anything but it was starting to do things like stopping our oldest dog from eating and I think there were complaints from our neighbors (we lived in Gulfport Florida so that stuff happened a lot but could have played into it).

        I think back every now and then and remember his coat, it was so thick and soft while still feeling kinda stiff, he slept in the bed with me and we were pretty much inseparable.

      • StinkyFingerItchyBum@lemmy.ca
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        5 hours ago

        Well said. In addition, think of the sheer number and severity of maulings we have from existing domesticated breeds. Now extrapolate to a wild and only habituated animal.

      • UltraBlack@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        Curly tails and floppy ears are a generql sign of domestication. It’s a shame, really. The wild animals look so majestic, while their pet counterparts look very unserious.

  • perishthethought@piefed.social
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    10 hours ago

    What the what? I was just looking at recent pics I took a second ago and came across one of a coyote I saw while on a walk recently. The universe, Amiright?