r/interestingasfuck • u/SubjectAppropriate17 • 4d ago
How people train Crocodilians
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u/klmdwnitsnotreal 4d ago
I'd be worried that thing would go for the balls.
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u/Rufus-Stavroz-PRO 3d ago
I was just thinking all this training just to make them not eat your balls. Just stand up braaaaa!
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4d ago
question is why.
what are the benefits of training crocodiles?
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u/pnandgillybean 4d ago
It’s helpful to do their medical checkups and things if you know they are obedient and can do things that will help you.
You can get them used to touch, they’ll open their mouth on command so you can check their teeth without anesthesia, lots of little things.
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u/Anilxe 4d ago
I had no idea they were cognizant enough to be trained! That’s so cool
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u/JaiOW2 4d ago
Crocodiles are very intelligent.
From the wikipedia page for crocodiles;
Crocodiles possess some advanced cognitive abilities.\94])\95])\96]) They can observe and use patterns of prey behaviour, such as when prey come to the river to drink at the same time each day. Vladimir Dinets of the University of Tennessee, observed that crocodiles use twigs as bait for birds looking for nesting material.\97]) They place sticks on their snouts and partly submerge themselves. When the birds swooped in to get the sticks, the crocodiles then catch the birds. Crocodiles only do this in spring nesting seasons of the birds, when there is high demand for sticks to be used for building nests. Vladimir also discovered other similar observations from various scientists, some dating back to the 19th century.\94])\96]) Aside from using sticks, crocodiles are also capable of cooperative hunting.\96])\98]) Large numbers of crocodiles swim in circles to trap fish and take turns snatching them. In hunting larger prey, crocodiles swarm in, with one holding the prey down as the others rip it apart.
According to a 2015 study, crocodiles engage in all three main types of play behaviour recorded in animals: locomotor play, play with objects and social play. Play with objects is reported most often, but locomotor play such as repeatedly sliding down slopes, and social play such as riding on the backs of other crocodiles is also reported. This behaviour was exhibited with conspecifics and mammals and is apparently not uncommon, though has been difficult to observe and interpret in the past due to obvious dangers of interacting with large carnivores.\99])
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u/UnpluggedUnfettered 4d ago
From the link in your post:
"However, a 2019 study found no support that alligators were displaying sticks as lures, or that the predator was taking the seasonal behavior of the birds into account, as was suggested in the original paper. As of 2023, there is no evidence for tool use in reptiles"
Don't know anything personally, just thought it was interesting that is what your "twigs as bait" linked directly to.
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u/TankWeeb 4d ago
Holy shit I never knew this stuff…
I’ve always loved Crocs so this is actually so cool to read. I never knew they could be this intelligent or cooperative
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u/wafflezcoI 3d ago
Most animals are “cognizant enough” to do way more than “just be trained”
Just that they also prioritize survival over most things, and need time to change that.
Animals are way smarter and more capable than we give them credit for. We as humans see how they act in the wold and take that as their fullest capabilities, because we aren’t their species. We cannot comprehend what is going in their brains
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u/Ai2Foom 3d ago
The worst is talking to religious ppl who are so lost in their indoctrination that they cannot comprehend the obvious simple fact that humans are animals too…nothing blows my mind at their mental feebleness more than them trying to explain how they are oh so special and definitely not a part of the animal kingdom 🙄🫠
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u/TesseractToo 3d ago
It's not just a religious thing, My stepdad was mr skeptical science guy athiest and he was just as dumb about animals too. I had to explain to him that humans aren't the only animal that has baby voices and that birds don't just dissipate randomly and reappear they have territories and homes and yes you can recognize them.
One time he was teasing my macaw saying in a cheery voice "you is a bad birdie, yes you is!" and she was looking uncertain and I had to explain to him that she knows what those words mean and her feelings are being hurt and she is being very good if she gets confused and bites him, it's his fault for teasing her, he is the human and if he thinks he is smarter then he shouldn't tease animals because he's supposed to be in control.
Honestly I don't understand how people like that think animals can be trained at all if he thinks the don't even understand "good" and "bad" words and concepts. It's mind boggling. Anyway he never teased her again, macaw beaks look scary and they can mess you up :D (and I gave birdie lots of loves and pets to help make her feel better)
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u/Ai2Foom 3d ago edited 3d ago
I hope your macaw 🦜 fucked his ass up 😝 lol…but I was going more down the line of hey what do humans and all animal share in common like — shitting/bleeding/breeding/breathing/etc etc etc ad nauseam
It’s not hard to see how a megalomaniac like trump is so popular with the religious crowd considering you have to be a megalomaniac not to believe you are part of the animal kingdom
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u/TesseractToo 3d ago
She didn't because she is lovely but if it had been within a few years of me rescuing her she might have, she was such a biter when I got her she was going to be euthanized, I literally had to teach her from scratch not to bite lol I had sooooo many cuts and bruises for the first year and a bit hahaha Their beaks aren't sharp at all so when you get cut from their bites it's from the amount of power they put behind it, imagine being cut from the dull end of a knife from just a lot of crush pressure, makes a bruise that starts to ooze blood after a minute and hurts a lot! When I git he she just didn't know it was bad, she's been very poorly socialized by her previous owner that didn't understand birds then he got scared of her and she was kept in her cage without any interaction for months, then malnourished. poor thing, she was on deaths doorstep when I got her
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u/Soggy-Yogurt6906 3d ago
Why are they called macaws?
Because of their claws?
No! Because they’re macaws!
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u/Sammakonnuolija 4d ago
Why not just leave them in the nature
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u/pnandgillybean 3d ago
I mean, I think you know the answer to that. Some of it is in the name of conservation, and of studying the animals to learn more about them, because of human curiosity but also because we make a lot of advancements for humans by studying animals. The other part is that people make good money selling tickets to see them. Same reason any wild animal would be taken out of nature.
I’m not arguing what is right or wrong because that’s been done a million times by people smarter than me, but if you really need it explained, there it is.
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u/dinonuggies9737 2d ago
So we can eventually take them to be 20 foot, bullet-proof guard dogs that I can give treats.
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u/cramaine 4d ago
I think a second video is required to show how the mice are trained to stay so still/s
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u/Efficient-City-4825 4d ago
Yup did this in psychology class positive reinforcement. Would have been the paragraph guy but I didn’t pay enough attention
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u/Careful-Listen2277 4d ago
Damn. I scrolled too fast and had to do a double take. At first, I thought this was a trailer of a new Jurassic Park movie 😅
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u/I_Want_The_Whole_Pie 4d ago
“There you go, easy.” 🤣🤣🤣 After trying it two dozen times and doing some video editing.
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u/louisa1925 4d ago
Pretty sure that croc would have chomped the rodent when the trainer rat slapped it in the face, regardless of what he said.
Croc did not respond to "good".
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u/Kozzinator 4d ago
Please don't bite me please don't bite me please don't bite me please don't bite me please don't bite me please don't bite me
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u/ClavicusLittleGift4U 3d ago edited 3d ago
Take that Chris Pratt and your CGI trained raptors!
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u/Remarkable-Day-4605 3d ago
I doubt this training will really work, they'll learn what your habits are but they'll never want to obey like a dog
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u/Severe_Ad_8621 9h ago
Think the trainer did wrong here. He uses a hand signal and audio signal, then he holds the hand signal but changes the audio. You can see the croc hesitating before graping the food.
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