too&me
09-15-2009, 10:34 AM
Commuting dogs in Moscowhttp://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=dcfa28c5a3&view=att&th=123be16f32ca6eec&attid=0.1&disp=emb&zw
STRAY dogs are commuting to and from a city centre on underground
trains in search of food scraps.The clever canines board the Tube each morning. After a hard day scavenging
and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the
suburbs where they spend the night. Experts studying the dogs say they
even work together to make sure they get off at the right stop - after
learning to judge the length of time they need to spend on the train.
The mutts choose the quietest carriages at the front and back of the train.
They have also developed tactics to hustle humans into giving them more food
on the streets of Moscow.
Scientists believe the phenomenon began after the Soviet Union collapsed in the
1990s, and Russia's new capitalists moved industrial complexes from the city
centre to the suburbs. Dr Andrei Poiarkov, of the Moscow Ecology and Evolution
Institute, said: "These complexes were used by homeless dogs as shelters,
so the dogs had to move together with their houses. Because the best scavenging
for food is in the city centre, the dogs had to learn how to travel on the subway -
to get to the centre in the morning, then back home in the evening, just like people."
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=dcfa28c5a3&view=att&th=123be16f32ca6eec&attid=0.2&disp=emb&zw
Dr. Poiarkov told how the dogs like to play during their daily commute.
He said: "They jump on the train seconds before the doors shut, risking
their tails getting jammed. They do it for fun. And sometimes they fall
asleep and get off at the wrong stop."
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=dcfa28c5a3&view=att&th=123be16f32ca6eec&attid=0.3&disp=emb&zw
The dogs have learned to use traffic lights to cross the road safely, said
Dr Poiarkov. And they use cunning tactics to obtain tasty morsels of
shawarma, a kebab-like snack popular in Moscow. They sneak up behind
people eating shawarmas - then bark loudly to shock them into dropping
their food. With children the dogs "play cute" by putting their heads
on youngsters' knees and staring pleadingly into their eyes to win
sympathy - and scraps. Dr Poiarkov added: "Dogs are surprisingly good psychologists."
The Moscow mutts are not the first animals to use public transport. In 2006
a Jack Russell in Dunnington, North Yorks, began taking the bus to his
local pub in search of sausages. And two years ago passengers in
Wolverhampton were stunned when a white cat called Macavity started
catching the 331 bus to a fish and chip shop.
STRAY dogs are commuting to and from a city centre on underground
trains in search of food scraps.The clever canines board the Tube each morning. After a hard day scavenging
and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the
suburbs where they spend the night. Experts studying the dogs say they
even work together to make sure they get off at the right stop - after
learning to judge the length of time they need to spend on the train.
The mutts choose the quietest carriages at the front and back of the train.
They have also developed tactics to hustle humans into giving them more food
on the streets of Moscow.
Scientists believe the phenomenon began after the Soviet Union collapsed in the
1990s, and Russia's new capitalists moved industrial complexes from the city
centre to the suburbs. Dr Andrei Poiarkov, of the Moscow Ecology and Evolution
Institute, said: "These complexes were used by homeless dogs as shelters,
so the dogs had to move together with their houses. Because the best scavenging
for food is in the city centre, the dogs had to learn how to travel on the subway -
to get to the centre in the morning, then back home in the evening, just like people."
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=dcfa28c5a3&view=att&th=123be16f32ca6eec&attid=0.2&disp=emb&zw
Dr. Poiarkov told how the dogs like to play during their daily commute.
He said: "They jump on the train seconds before the doors shut, risking
their tails getting jammed. They do it for fun. And sometimes they fall
asleep and get off at the wrong stop."
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=dcfa28c5a3&view=att&th=123be16f32ca6eec&attid=0.3&disp=emb&zw
The dogs have learned to use traffic lights to cross the road safely, said
Dr Poiarkov. And they use cunning tactics to obtain tasty morsels of
shawarma, a kebab-like snack popular in Moscow. They sneak up behind
people eating shawarmas - then bark loudly to shock them into dropping
their food. With children the dogs "play cute" by putting their heads
on youngsters' knees and staring pleadingly into their eyes to win
sympathy - and scraps. Dr Poiarkov added: "Dogs are surprisingly good psychologists."
The Moscow mutts are not the first animals to use public transport. In 2006
a Jack Russell in Dunnington, North Yorks, began taking the bus to his
local pub in search of sausages. And two years ago passengers in
Wolverhampton were stunned when a white cat called Macavity started
catching the 331 bus to a fish and chip shop.