Animal Boundaries

[Bazile]

Watching a programme about lions and other animals in one of the African national parks got me thinking

How do different pride of lions for example ,know where the boundaries are of their territories , given that you are talking about hundred of miles between the various areas ?

[Old_Geezer]

Perhaps they just continue to push them out until they find trouble ?

[woofgang]

I think its theirs until they smell non pride pee.

[Buenchico]

If you'd ever lived with an un-neutered tom cat you'd be in no doubt about how they mark their territories!

(I recently discovered that my neighbour's tom cat had visited my house and, obviously not liking the presence of my own four cats, he'd scent-marked a brand new jacket of mine. The money I paid to have it dry-cleaned was a total waste, as it still ponged terribly afterwards!)

[Bazile]

Yes Buenchico - i can see that when your'e talking about small areas /distances .

However in this case, your'e talking about a boundary which will be hundreds of miles in length .
They cant pee along all along it's length .

[Buenchico]

A cat doesn't have to leave a continuous trail of pee all along the edge of its territory. Cats have a far better sense of smell than humans and can detect scents from hundreds of metres away. So a few patches of pee here and there along a territorial boundary would suffice.

[Bazile]

I'm not convinced that few patches here and there would be sufficient for another pride to know that they have crossed a boundary line any where around a boundary .

And how do they determine where to 'draw' the boundary

[Bazile]

Further , what about animals / birds / replies , which do not scent mark ?

[KARL]

Lots of different animals scent mark (lions, other cats, canines, antelopes, camels, etc., etc.) and it is all about marking space as theirs plus as a by-product attracting a mate. Birds make their presence known by singing in strategic spots, so marking their territorial claim (and also by fighting off intruders). Quite a lot of creatures are not territorial and don't have any devices for declaring boundaries.

[Tilly2]

The fights in my garden between blackbirds, robins, dunnocks and wood pigeons are horrible. I hate it.

[woofgang]

Mine don't fight. I have got a cluster of feeders in hanging cages very close to the back door. They have different sized access so the bigger birds can't get all the food. My regulars are two robins, two male blackbirds, a trio of wood pigeons and a thrush. I have lots of non regular visitors who are harder to identify as individuals. I have seen 4 robins all within about 2 feet of each other or closer, either feeding or waiting close by to feed, I also get tits of all kinds, tree creepers a lovely noisy gaggle of starlings, a sparrow or two and I see the occasional wren. None of the birds take any notice of my dogs and the dogs ignore the birds. In order to deal with the rat and mouse issue, I put out tiny amounts of food (a couple of teaspoons at a time) and only replenish when a feeder is empty. If the feeders are empty and I open the door suddenly the birds appear and are in the feeders and eating while I am still putting the food in.

[KARL]

Just to tell a story prompted by woofgang's tale of his experience of birds learning to anticipate being fed: My late father used to put out raisins for songbirds in the winter. The birds would visit in the morning, land on the door handle and knock on the door by pecking at the glass which they could reach off the handle. Father would oblige by fetching some raisins and toss them out onto the ground outside. Once a bird arrived a bit later and found there were no raisins around, the routine would repeat itself.