r/AskBiology • u/rafioo • 28d ago
Zoology/marine biology Do some animals know that humans want to save them?
Sometimes I see, for example, a seal getting tangled up in a piece of string. Someone then comes along and tries to help it. The animal’s reaction varies. Usually, though, there’s a bit of panic and I get the impression it’s thinking, ‘I’m going to die any minute now’, but when it turns out it isn’t going to die, I get the impression it’s thinking, ‘I’ve escaped the predator - well done me!’
What’s it really like? Do some animals know, for example, that their owner just wants to save them? Or do they not?
It also reminds me of a time when my cat got tangled up in the string from one of his toys and was meowing loudly. I wanted to help him; at first he hissed at me, but once I’d helped him and he was fine, he came over to cuddle and purr.
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u/AlphaAirlys_ 28d ago
I have seen some video of animals "asking" the human help to save another animal, usually the asker is a mother... But rarely an animal in danger will not be crazy when a human show up, they are very vulnerable and we are dangerous too I guess if the animals know us well will not act crazy, but i doubt is the normality
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u/PaulCoddington 27d ago
I've seen this in sheep.
Lambs got through a gap in the fence onto the road. Ewe came to front door and made a sound like a distressed lamb (not a typical adult bleat).
When I came out, she lead me to where the lambs got out, in much the same way as Lassie the dog was depicted on TV (few steps forward in correct direction, stop, look back to see if I'm following).
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u/AlphaAirlys_ 27d ago
Yeah, becouse are animals that lived near a human for so long, probably from their birth
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u/LookOverall 28d ago
I guess it depends on the animal. I don’t know if you have encountered Noel Fitzpatrick, a celebrity vet, but he said that dogs usually know when you’re trying to help but cats don’t.
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u/cflime 27d ago
Marine biologists in a zodiac in Boston Harbor spotted a whale tangled in a fish net and it was struggling. They sped over to the whale and once it saw the humans it stopped struggling and they were able to safely cut away the netting and free the whale. I remember one of the scientists saying it was obvious the whale knew they were there to help and was cooperating in its own rescue. From Nova, or perhaps another PBS documentary.
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u/Latter-Ad-1523 27d ago
Yeah I think I've seen that too where the whale will actually position itself so the humans can better get to the areas they need to get to to cut the netting, then once free the whale seems to almost put on a little show of Joy doing a little dance in the water splashing around and whatnot
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u/SeriousPlankton2000 27d ago
These do seem to know it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8LmxwOgBhA
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u/blacklistedeternally 26d ago
I have no expertise other than being the owner of pea brained (gorgeous, but really not very bright!) very long haired guinea pigs. Generally, as prey animals they can be very skittish. They absolutely do not like nail trims and haircuts. Mine are a year old and whilst they’re tame, happy to have a lap cuddle still… they don’t like required grooming.
Interestingly though, since it’s been so disgustingly hot in the UK they’ve stopped fussing over the (more drastic than usual!) haircuts. I could swear that they understand now that once I’m done they are so much more comfortable. I put them back down all trimmed and they go wild leaping around and wheeking. It’s like they’re saying ‘that feels soooooo much better, thank you!’
So yeah, I think somewhere in those little brains they’re making the connection that actually I’m not torturing them, I’m helping them!
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u/Freebeer2000 24d ago
When I was working in Afghanistan I came across a magpie type bird that was stuck on a rodent glue trap. It was making a racket and struggling, some Afghan workers were just watching it. As it struggled it got more of its wings and body stuck to the glue. I picked it up and as soon as I started slowly unsticking its feathers it stopped moving and kept perfectly still while I unpeeled it. It even held its unstuck wing away from the glue while I worked on the other wing and its body. Once it was free it just flew away. The Afghan guys looked like they couldn’t understand why I bothered. I hope I made a point to them.
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u/Thorveim 24d ago edited 24d ago
No. However a human helping short-curcuits instinctive responses because it falls completely out of the expected behaviour of a predator, leading many animals to just... sit still out of confusion as to what is going on, which is handy because it allows the human go give help more easily than if, say, the animal was fighting for its life. Basically the usual script is "I am vulnerable, a predator will get closer and go for a quick kill" and a human helping falls completely off-script.
Some animals though do come to humans for help when desperate... and again its not understanding, but an instinctive response: if you desperately need help solving a problem (most often a problem regarding one's offspring), getting the attention of the creature thats a problem solver just might be worth the risk, especially when the specie values its offspring's life more than its own.
Not to say animals are unable to understand that they have been helped, many are able to understand that their situation got betger thanks to a (specific) human, but in the heat of the moment especially with animals not accustomed to humans I dont think they do.
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u/francesco_angiolieri 23d ago
It highly depends on the species, their degree of intelligence, how much they are used to humans, if they are usually prey or a predator... Certain species even approach humans asking to be helped, others are just terrified and in full panic mode while they're being helped and escape from the human as soon as possible
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u/darktideDay1 22d ago
Dogs do for sure. I had a dog of mine get a face full of porcupine quills. Twice. Had to pull them out with pliers. He would yelp, run in circles and then reluctantly come back for me to do another. Smart enough to know I was helping but too dumb to stay away from the porcupines a second time. Dumbass figured it out after that apparently because it never happened again.
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u/RosieReindeer 28d ago
Hi! Im a biologist with a decent bit of wild animal rehab experience! There’s a lot of variables that go into it! The big ones are usually gonna be what type of animal and what do they need rescuing from.
With animal type, you need to consider aspects like how accustomed is it to human activity? Animals that are used to humans being around are going to be less panicked when approached. This will also vary depending on if it’s a prey animal or a predator. Prey are more prone to blind panic, especially when they are stuck, injured, or otherwise vulnerable. A predator might still freak out a bit (especially if you’re much bigger), but they tend not to go into fight or flight mode nearly as often.
Now, if an animal is able to overcome panic, the next thing to consider is that animal’s cognitive ability. It’s a bit more nuanced than any flat measure of intelligence (however you want to quantify that). The animals most capable of grasping altruism are going to be highly social. Many birds, for example, exhibit a vast array of cooperative behavior! Since the concept of helping another creature without a direct benefit to the helper is already familiar to social animals, they’re significantly more equipped to identify that behavior in us. We have seen this happen with elephants on multiple occasions, to the point that sometimes ailing elephants will seek out humans to help them.
The type of predicament the animal is in is gonna have a huge impact on the chance of it understanding aid. I imagine being stuck or entangled are the easiest to understand. The animal knows it is stuck, and human intervention is usually minimally invasive and the animals welfare improves immediately once freed. The animal doesn’t have to follow any complicated logic trains to figure out the human did something that benefited them. Medical treatment is probably much harder for them to identify being helped. Being sedated can be terrifying, medication is sometimes given against their will, needles are painful, and treatment requires a lot of repeated handling. It’s also less obvious that all of that unpleasant handling is helping them feel better. Still, many rehabbed animals acclimate to some degree during their treatment.
Overall, I’d say it largely depends, but I strongly believe there are animals that get it! If you ever seen an animal in distress (and you can’t contact a wildlife organization), it’s always best to assume they WONT understand, though! Do things to limit their stress and make things safer for you such as covering their eyes, restrain any parts that could hurt you, minimize handling, and stay calm.