Animals that kill for fun

[Gr8Scott]

I was listening to a radio talkshow that was discussing the Micheal Vick apology yesterday. I called in to give my opinion about the subject and the host and I got into a brief discussion about the "unspoken contract with pets" and the host (Alan Handleman) said the following...

Humans kill for fun. No animal kills for fun. Animals kill to eat or to defend, but never for fun.

I interpreted this as a basic putdown to humankind saying that we're worse than animals. I didn't agree with that.

I interrupted him at this point with "tigers kill for fun". He was unaware of that and then I added housecats to the list of animals that kill for fun and cats in general I guess. What other animals out there kill for fun? I'm just curious about how big that "humans are not as good as animals" fallacy is.

[PFDarkside]

I was under the impression that humans and wolverines are the only two that will kill for fun. I have no emperical evidence. Do tigers kill for fun? How do you/we know? Do they kil stuff then not eat it? I thought everything they hunted was for food, since they are only successful 1 of 20 hunts or so.

[sosomething]

I don't think it's a matter of humans being worse than animals. Animals do lots of messed-up stuff. Ever see a cat refuse to feed it's kittens? It happens.

The question here is whether humans should be expected to be better than animals. Should certain behaviors be acceptable from us just because we can observe them in nature?

ask yourself.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Better??
Life is not a moral thing....it just is...same with death.

[Rich_T]

I didn't know humans killed for fun.

[sosomething]

Better??
Life is not a moral thing....it just is...same with death.

You're a nihilist, then?

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Better??
Life is not a moral thing....it just is...same with death.

Don't get all deep on us now! LOL

My cats kill for fun, or kill while having fun.

[Budweiser]

Humans don't kill for fun. there's always something underneath.

* money
* power
* defence
* insanity/sickness
* greed
* anger
* food
* inferiority

[bigheadood]

By what standard is anyone judged better? What does that even mean?

[sosomething]

By what standard is anyone judged better? What does that even mean?

In regard to behavior, what do you think it means?

[Rainmaker]

I didn't know humans killed for fun.

You mean to tell me you did a huge trip of the United States but didn't once go hunting?

[Gr8Scott]

I was watching a show where two tigers were temporarily transplanted to Africa and kept in a preserve with other native african wildlife. These tigers were young and about as tame as tigers can be. About halfway through the show the two tigers went on a killing rampage and cut a wide swath through a herd of springbock. Killing far more springbock than they could hope to eat. It was amazing to see them at work. Hyper-efficient and well tuned hunting and killing machines. They simply gave into the bloodlust and killed everything they could get their paws on. This sort of killing has been occasionally documented with wild tigers as well, but never caught on film like this. Those tigers were having fun and that is why they killed so many springbock.

[bigheadood]

In regard to behavior, what do you think it means?

Could mean many things, depending on the standard used.

1. Respect for life.
2. Survival of the fittest.
3. Probably many more

Judging animals by the standard of human morality is kind of odd, at best.

[Gr8Scott]

Hunting is fun. If any hunter denies this, he/she is a liar IMHO. Humans don't spend large sums of money to pursue an activity that they loathe. That being said, hunting is also a way to put good clean food on the table that is free from dyes, antibiotics and synthetic hormones. Hunting is also a great way to control pest species. I kill groundhogs for fun and I don't eat them. They are pests and I will kill every groundhog I can if given an opportunity. Though some may consider it a terrible thing to do, I consider it to be great fun and helpful to those who garden or have livestock/horses.

Ergo - I kill for fun.

[innerdreamrecords.co]

I was watching a show where two tigers were temporarily transplanted to Africa and kept in a preserve with other native african wildlife. These tigers were young and about as tame as tigers can be. About halfway through the show the two tigers went on a killing rampage and cut a wide swath through a herd of springbock. Killing far more springbock than they could hope to eat. It was amazing to see them at work. Hyper-efficient and well tuned hunting and killing machines. They simply gave into the bloodlust and killed everything they could get their paws on. This sort of killing has been occasionally documented with wild tigers as well, but never caught on film like this. Those tigers were having fun and that is why they killed so many springbock.

Interesting. I bet it's not fun as we know fun. Probably more a right of passage to becoming a BIG KILLING MACHINE. There is this video floating around the web of a Tiger hiding in high grass and it comes out of the grass all stealth like to attack this guy on an elephant...WOW.

[Gr8Scott]

Interesting. I bet it's not fun as we know fun. Probably more a right of passage to becoming a BIG KILLING MACHINE. There is this video floating around the web of a Tiger hiding in high grass and it comes out of the grass all stealth like to attack this guy on an elephant...WOW.

These tigers were just ending their jouvenile phase in life. They were young, but still adult for the most part.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

You're a nihilist, then?

Yeah find more boxes and other academic terms to use
Anyways take a ferret and shove it in a henhouse.....bloody murder....but why??
Just goes mad with the blood or is it having fun??
No one knows.....maybe its mind just shorts out..

[Gr8Scott]

Sounds like we can add ferrets to the list.

[idsnowdog]

People idealize animals that come when their called. When animals aren't tame and their habits conflict with humans their a nuisance. And when animals show a rudimentary organization and hierarchy we admire them because they validate our behavior. We start to believe that everything they do is perfect, has purpose and is in balance. After all their nature must be perfect and it us complicated monkeys that screw everything up!

[Gr8Scott]

People idealize animals that come when their called. When animals aren't tame and their habits conflict with humans their a nuisance. And when animals show a rudimentary organization and hierarchy we admire them because they validate our behavior. We start to believe that everything they do is perfect, has purpose and is in balance. After all their nature must be perfect and it us complicated monkeys that screw everything up!

Very very astute observation. I agree with all points.