Quote:
Originally Posted by gonesnakee
Interesting but it doesn't prove much at all really. Unless the "tubing unit" was completely sterlized between all specimens all they are doing is following scent trails by natural instinct. The younger snakes of course travelling faster as they as youngsters are almost always seeking prey to support their growth into adulthood. Despite what anyone may speculate snakes are not "trainable" LMAO but believe what you want.
|
I work in a university psychology laboratory, and the idea that researchers would forget something as basic as erasing scent trails is very hard to believe.
Furthermore, I don't think it's that unlikely that snakes could be trained WITHIN their very limited cognitive abilities. True enough, they are limited. But the trick to animal training is using an animal's very instinctual capabilities to perform a given behavior when supplied with a given stimulus.
I think all of you are making too fine a distinction between instinct and trainability. Without instinct, very few animals would even be trainable.
I'm a falconer, and hawks are also basically "creatures of instinct." However, within the areas that are essential for their survival, the areas in which instinct is strongest, they are more than capable of being trained. Hawks, as simple and instinctive as they are, learn how to find food/shelter/water in a new, man-manipulated environment very readily. Snakes can do the same, not surprisingly.
Threaded Mode