Sep 7, 2016 05:15 PM
http://newatlas.com/zoo-monkeys-human-gu...b-91806145
The first thing that occurred to me about the story is that in human captivity, monkeys are subject to human-acclimated microbes to a large degree.
Then it reminded me just how last night it occurred to me that the local raccoon or raccoons think(s) that I am one of them, probably because I have a habit of doing a lot of outside stuff after dark, once the hot, UV-emanating furnace in the sky goes down, unlike most everyone else in the area. I was working on the major project of removing the window AC unit, opening it up, and hosing it out, which it needs every year or two because of the clogging accumulation of slime, lint, and dust internally.
I was working on putting it back in the window afterwards, replacing insulating packing around it in the window, reusing store plastic bags for the purpose, when the raccoon climbed up the tree just a foot away from me and just stopped there a foot away. I was startled by the rustle of leaves. Unfortunately, it was heading up to the roof on branches that I had thought too thin to support the weight of a full-grown coon. The good that came from it was I retrimmed the small shade trees shading the window and A/C unit.
Quote:Turns out humans aren't the only ones who need more fiber. Researchers have found that monkeys in captivity lose so much of the diversity of their natural gut microbes, that the bacteria in their digestive tracts starts resembling those of modern, Western humans. And no, it's not because of antibiotics – it seems that in captivity, they don't get the diverse, plant-based diet they do in the wild.
The first thing that occurred to me about the story is that in human captivity, monkeys are subject to human-acclimated microbes to a large degree.
Then it reminded me just how last night it occurred to me that the local raccoon or raccoons think(s) that I am one of them, probably because I have a habit of doing a lot of outside stuff after dark, once the hot, UV-emanating furnace in the sky goes down, unlike most everyone else in the area. I was working on the major project of removing the window AC unit, opening it up, and hosing it out, which it needs every year or two because of the clogging accumulation of slime, lint, and dust internally.
I was working on putting it back in the window afterwards, replacing insulating packing around it in the window, reusing store plastic bags for the purpose, when the raccoon climbed up the tree just a foot away from me and just stopped there a foot away. I was startled by the rustle of leaves. Unfortunately, it was heading up to the roof on branches that I had thought too thin to support the weight of a full-grown coon. The good that came from it was I retrimmed the small shade trees shading the window and A/C unit.
