Thursday... the weekend is nearly here!!!!
I am looking forward to the weekend so much. Not only do I get to spend it with some great people but will probably get to play at the Lair with my favorite Dom (Socalsox) and see the Indy movie :)My brother texted me last night with some bad news. One of my mother's ponies has to be put down. In the past couple of years, since moving to
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With regard to the domestication of animals, I have come across a number of theories though none of these would be easy to prove.
Dogs seem likely to have domesticated themselves. It seems that wolves, somewhere in south or east Asia, started scavenging around human settlements and eventually became completely reliant on this food source. The humans eventually recognised their use as guards and accepted them.
Wild ungulates such as sheep, goats, cattle and horses were originally hunted for food. It is probable that occasionally a calf or foal was captured alive when its mother was killed and kept until it reached adulthood before it was slaughtered. As wild game decreased near human settlements due to overhunting, it would have become worthwhile to keep adult animals and breed from them. As for who came up with the idea of riding a horse, my guess is that it probably began as a dare or some rodeo-type event. In any case, genetic evidence suggests that horses were domesticated several times independently. The north European ponies appear to have had a different wild ancestor to the other horses.
Throughout the world people seem to have a habit of capturing and taming random wild animals. Interestingly, it is usually children who do it. Even in African villages, children often keep tame parrots and other animals. However, there is a big difference between taming an animal and domesticating it. True domestication seems to involve a fundamental genetic change in the animal, making it tolerant of human company.
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