Researchers Cédric Sueur and Michael A. Huffman have introduced the concept of 'co-culture' in their recent paper. This idea looks at how different animal species, including humans, influence each other's behaviors and cultures through their interactions. They provide examples like humans and animals sharing medicinal knowledge, urban wildlife adapting to city life, and cooperation between different species. This challenges the idea that culture is specific to just one species, showing how connected and complex these interactions are.

The authors suggest that more research into these interspecies cultural exchanges is important for conservation, urban planning, and understanding animal behavior and intelligence. The co-culture concept highlights how these mutual cultural influences shape the behaviors and adaptations of different species within their shared environments.

https://phys.org/news/2024-07-cultures-habiting-animal-species-culture.html

This is a story about something that happened to a cat. It makes me sad every time I think about it. I found this board and it made me think about it again.

It was a cold winter day. I was going to work and had just gotten off the bus. I saw a cat that I knew belonged to one of the neighbors where I was working at the time. She was lying down in quite deep layers of snow. My first thought was that there must be something wrong with her; in no way would the cat choose to sleep there.

I lifted her up, and the cat was making painful meows. I took her to work and gave her some water and food in a closed room. Then I went to knock on her owner's home, but nobody was home. When I got back to check on the cat, she hadn't moved an inch but looked exhausted. I managed to reach them by finding their phone number and told them something was wrong with their cat.

They came as soon as they could, getting off work just to check up on their cat. This part is what got me. They opened the door to get her, and she saw her owner and started crawling towards her owner with only her front legs, her back legs were limp. She cried out like I had never heard a cat cry before. It sounded like she seeked comfort from her owner. It was a cry for help. Sounded like happy fear and help at the same time. And she couldnt stop crying for help when he got her. He took the car and went to vet.

Unfortunately, the damage was not recoverable, and they had to put the cat down. She had broken everything from her midsection down. Sorry, this just made me cry again, but I'm sure she's in cat heaven now. Her behavior taught me something about pets: cats are not fearless, even though they behave as if they have nine lives. They also need comfort when scared.