The Connections Project

Humans

Humans often domesticate cats and keep them as pets. A grown human is generally much stronger than a cat and could easily beat one in a fight. However, most humans would have a hard time catching these smaller, more agile animals. Although possible in principle, most humans avoid eating cat's meat.

Because of how independent cats are, and how high-maintenance they can be as pets, we often jokingly refer to cats owning humans instead of vice versa.

It's common for humans to domesticate dogs and keep them as pets. They can also be trained to perform useful tasks, such as leading blind humans, tracking things for humans, even pulling sleds for humans. Humans have been known to organize dog races.

The question of who is stronger-- a human or a dog-- largely depends on the particular human and the particular dog. Some humans are stronger than some dogs, and vice versa.

Humans and wild birds live together peacefully, largely ignoring each other. Some birds are domesticated by humans and kept as pets. Historically, birds were even occasionally used to perform useful tasks, such as delivering messages. Of all the animal kingdom, humans and certain birds are unique in possessing vocal cords necessary for speech.

While a human's life and a bird's life have basically nothing in common, perhaps the biggest difference is the fact that birds can fly.

Humans often domesticate rabbits and make pets out of them. Historically, we hunted rabbits and ate them, but this is fairly rare nowadays. To some of us, such as farmers, rabbits are pests, eating our crops, a nuisance to be trapped or exterminated. Wild rabbits are terrified of humans and will run away in an instant.