Man's Best Friend - 15,000 Years Ago In Britain

I agree, ideally wild. My rabbits were all rescues too. Rabbits are rather nuanced and I have never heard it expressed like that before, Dormouse - well put! Once I ended up looking after sheep, goats and hens for some weeks on a smallholding. Poppy the goat was good natured and we got on well. The Suffolk flock was also gentle but prone to mischief and mishaps. The hens were, as yours, either very interested (dinnertime) or not. 

Yes, years ago, I rescued a (by poor human activity) traumatised wild rabbit (who would not have made it solo as a result). 

The rabbit lived healthily for many years (it ruled the garden).

As a youngster, I did not always find it easy, in all weathers, to tend to the rabbit - but always did so. 

The rabbit seemed to be even more co-operative towards me when I had made a particular effort to battle the frozen, wintery weather to ensure said rabbit had their vital supplies.  I do mean well beyond "oh, good, food!".

If nothing else, I felt we usually read and respected each others temperament and energy levels quite well.

By contrast, years ago, I used to keep chickens (for eggs).  They are definitely "characters" alright - but I did not find to the same degree, as with a rabbit, that you could be aware of their emotional sentience.  Chickens always strike me as a bit "digital" - all or nothing - somehow lacking the nuance of a rabbit.

As a general outlook, I would prefer wild things to be - actually wild. 

That said, I would consider supporting an animal rescue centre rehoming (to my home) rabbit, or ex-battery chickens (at some point in the future -  maybe, in 10 years time - when my calendar is more my own).

Yes! That happens to me as well, Dormouse. I had pet rabbits some years back, and they seemed to know too. 

Our Minds are Full.

Dogs are Mindful.

I did a dog behaviour course when I was in my early 20s and there was a unit that discussed the similarities and differences between foxes and wolves. The experts decided back then that they ‘didn’t interbreed’ and it seems they were right. We now know that foxes and wolves  diverged in their evolutionary paths over millions of years. Genetically they are different although they belong to the same family Canidae.

Cats were mumified in ancient Egypt dating much further back than the 2,000 years quoted in the BBC article. I think cats started living with us or at least around us the time of the Neolithic package of farming and storing foods and a settle rather than nomadic life.

In some places it seems that foxes were domesticated too and maybe some of the dogs we have now are a mix of fox and wolf?

Sounds like this note might be more of your interest:

Earliest evidence of a domestic cat: a 9,500-year-old Neolithic burial in Cyprus shows a human and a cat intentionally buried together, suggesting companionship or domestication

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../

Driscoll CA, Clutton-Brock J, Kitchener AC, O'Brien SJ. The Taming of the cat. Genetic and archaeological findings hint that wildcats became housecats earlier--and in a different place--than previously thought. Sci Am. 2009 Jun;300(6):68-75. PMID: 19485091; PMCID: PMC5790555.

Genetic divergence between wolves and dogs is believed to have occurred between 20,000 -40,000 years ago but researchers believe domestication took place later than this, how much later is an ongoing argument, but it was likely earlier than 15,000 years ago.

Gimme a snooty cat any day 

I have found it worth paying attention to those canines familiar with me (any, not just pets); as I have come to realise while my alexithymia might be operating in a time warp / lag zone ...a savvy dog can provide me an advance nudge about "whatever" they might have noticed in me - while I was still oblivious.

I saw it too, but I thought dogs had been domesticated much earlier than this?

It’s interesting because domestic dogs of the eastern genetic lineage generally show different behavioural traits to those of the western lineage. Natural selection, historical environment and selective breeding by humans for specific tasks are probably responsible for the differences. 

Hi Dormouse, thank you for sharing this positive and interesting story. Dogs are great companions and my woofer is certainly my best mate. Our ancestors' brains were well developed and I sense we still underestimate them, through our own pride at technological achievement and the paucity of records from those times. We owe them so much, including domestication of dogs!