How can we study wild animal behaviour in the home?

Although they have been domesticated for thousands of years, cats and dogs still retain many aspects of their wild ancestors.

The domestic cat has never lost its hunting instinct. Like most solitary predatory wild cats, it eats whenever the opportunity arises. When it is not eating, it spends the majority of its time sleeping.

The ancestors of dogs were pack animals and the modern dog has adopted the family as its pack, accepting its owner as the pack leader. Even the dog’s habit of turning round and round before going to sleep is a relic of the habit of flattening a sleeping place in long grass. The dog still marks its territory urinating on trees and lamp-posts to warn other dogs to keep away.

Picture credit: google