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Young animal behaviour is more complicated than just instincts.
How do new born puppies know to crawl towards their mother’s mammary glands to suckle milk? How do adult dogs know to sniff under other dogs’ tails to get information about them? How do cats know how to use a scratching post? How do beavers know how to build dams? How do spiders know how to spin intricate webs? How do collies know how to herd sheep? How do birds know about migration?
The traditional answer to all of these questions is simple: instinct. Animals are born with specific instincts – inbuilt knowledge – to carry out certain behaviours. It’s hard wired into their genetic code. They do these things automatically, without thinking about it. It’s unconscious: they don’t even know they are doing it.
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