Coyote_Individuals_Jackson_Chris_CarrolltonTX_3October2024_Reel4213.mp3

Chris Jackson [00:00:00] Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I see them as individuals.

Chris Jackson [00:00:05] I think when you talk about why are you interested in animals, I've always found that a difficult question to answer. And I've been asked by many people, my kids in particular, "Why do you want to do this so much, dad?" Right?

Chris Jackson [00:00:17] And I keep trying to think of a good answer. And one of the reasons is, is that animals, I think, kind of live their lives as stories.

Chris Jackson [00:00:26] So, there's drama and there's, there's intrigue and there's obstacles and challenges and there's perseverance and there's courage and there's fear. And they experience all that stuff.

Chris Jackson [00:00:37] I hear people question whether animals have emotions or not, when to me it's abundantly clear that they do. I mean, an easy "for instance" is it's hard to miss when an animal is angry, for instance. Right? Or feeling aggressive. Most animals are designed to communicate that feeling to whoever they're feeling angry or aggressive towards pretty effectively. And people read that.

Chris Jackson [00:01:04] So, if they can feel that, then I think there's a whole spectrum of emotions that the emotion of anger and aggression fits onto. And if they can feel one, I don't see why they wouldn't be able to feel a multitude of others.

Chris Jackson [00:01:17] And I even suspect that with animals, these emotions probably feel pretty similar to the way they do for us. I'm pretty sure fear feels the same, anger feels the same, apprehension, feels the same.

Chris Jackson [00:01:32] I mean, even, yeah, I even have noticed what I would characterize as pride in their offspring. There's clearly love between a mother and their offspring, and even a kind of a form of love between mated animals that mate for life.

Chris Jackson [00:01:49] Emotions, from a scientific point of view, are just, they're kind of irrational behaviors that have a survival value. Right? So, there's, there's really nothing magical implied by the word, "emotion". It's just, it's just a survival mechanism.

Chris Jackson [00:02:08] And it applies to animals the same way it would apply towards people...

Chris Jackson [00:02:13] Yeah, I definitely, I definitely see them as individuals.

Chris Jackson [00:02:16] Coyotes in particular are fun because of the things they care about, you know? I think that's, that's part of the affinity we have with, with canine species is, is that they care about a lot of the same things that people care about.

Chris Jackson [00:02:31] You know, they care about their territory. They care deeply about that. They care about knowing what's going on - stopping to investigate scent markings. That's kind of their, that's kind of their form of gossip, I think.

Chris Jackson [00:02:43] They, they care about each other. Loyalty is important to them. They care about the family group. They care about their offspring.

Chris Jackson [00:02:51] As I mentioned earlier, that trail camera that I had set up that recorded that litter of pups through the first month or so of their life. And part of what I recorded was the father babysitting the pups while the mom was out doing her hunting business, I guess.

Chris Jackson [00:03:06] And he was playing with them and wrestling with them, just like I do with my own kids when they were little.

Chris Jackson [00:03:13] Yeah, very much so - individuals.