Poll: Do animals seem especially drawn to you?

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It's pretty well established that a lot of us really like and relate to cats. I have a multi-cat household. However, I've noticed that some non-domesticated animals seem to be drawn to me. I go to the zoo quite often. The cougars recognize me and will come up. Loud people, especially children, upset them. However, I make a purring noise, which they like. Last visit, one of the cougars was trying to converse with me with a sort of chuffing noise which I tried to reproduce as best as I could. I don't know what we were saying in cougar, but it clearly wasn't bad as no growls or snarls were elicited. There's also a female elk who seems to like me. I had surreptitiously fed here foliage that was out of her reach once in the past when she came up. On my most recent visit, she came up but the available foliage was scant and not to her liking. Nevertheless, she was poking her muzzle through the fence trying to get my scent and followed me to another observation post for more attention. I haven't seen her show any interest in humans other than the keepers. It's possible that she has seen me in a zoo docent's shirt, but that would have been a couple years ago and I wasn't wearing red, the color of the docent shirt, the other day. Somehow these animals seem to sense that I'm a sympathetic person. Has anyone else noticed anything like that?

I have a had a few close encounters with certain wild birds where usually you would expect them to flee when approached by a human. I don't read much into it but just enjoy the experiences and memories.

Yes, I'd say that animals are drawn to me. When I was staying at my hostess' house when I spent three weeks in Brazil a couple years ago, her dogs really seemed to love me right away - every time she and I walked through the front door, both dogs came right up to me, jumped all over me, licking me and begging to be petted and loved on. Their cat really seemed to like me, too, even though cats are sort of indifferent to me most of the time.

I'm still getting acquainted with my youngest half-sisters new green cheeked conure, but he seems to like me okay, so far. When I was over there for Spring break a week ago, he hopped onto my head and stayed there for a few minutes. He loves to ride around on people's heads; mostly my sister's and my mom's. Thankfully, he's been trained not to go to the bathroom while he's up there.

My Mother has a Belgium Shepard dog that doesn't like men, so mother was most surprised at how it took to me.

When I used to go horse riding, the horse would do things for me that its owner would have to shout and whip it to get it to do, it would lick my neck and come from across the field when it heard my voice.

Ive had wild birds land on my fingers to eat offered food.

Children like me as well, I get most embarrassed the way babies just stare at me, one even pushed its granny out the way so it could continue staring at me.

Animals have always liked me. I have had racoons come up to me while I fed my dog and one become almost a pet. Use to give him treats all the time. Birds don't seem to be scared of me either nor deer. My coworkers freaked out at this sight when I was standing outside taking a break and a friend came to visit!

Not really.

I remember when I was a kid I used to get dogs drawn to me because I showed fear. I was always afraid of dogs, and the dogs knew that and would always come running up to me. I would then get scared and run off, and they would then chase me and once they have cornered me they would jump up and not leave me alone, and when the owner called them they wouldn't come because they were so interested in me. It was sometimes very embarrassing. Thankfully I have learnt that the only dogs I am afraid of are the vicious sort or the ones that are more liable to bark. Otherwise, when I see a dog running about, I just ignore it or just stroke it if it comes up to me, then walk away. So now I don't get much attention from dogs at all, not like I used to when I was a kid. When I saw a dog I acted like I had come face to face with a bear!

I don't know with cats. If I hold my hand out to stroke, they either come up to me and allow themselves to be stroked, or cower away into a garden.

I get along with animals just fine, they don't bark or hiss or claw at me when I enter the room or anything. If I choose to interact with them, they seem to take to me okay, but I wouldn't say they follow me around in a trance like some Pied Piper.


And I HATE cats. HATE 'em. They're obnoxious, useless and extremely stupid, despite the anthropomorphic 'wisdom' their owners like to project onto their vacuous stares. They're imbeciles. They don't do tricks because they can't learn anything. They ignore you because you're just a food dispenser to them. They're as intellectually deep as FISH. OTOH, if you get one that isn't a complete lazy slug, they can be quite good at catching mice.

I don't think animals are any more drawn to me than to anyone else. I mean, it's not like I'm psychic or something. But I don't do as much to scare or annoy them as many other people do, so if the animal in question wants to approach me, it can. Does that count as "animals being drawn to me"?

I'm certainly not perfect. I annoy my cats on occasion. Once I startled a feral cat so badly that she actually tried to climb over me when she bolted for safety. I had made her feel like I wanted to corner her, and she was so scared she didn't realize she could have ducked around me. No claws--not an attack--she just climbed straight over me as though I were a human hurdle. (I saw her a few days later still at her usual spot though, so I hadn't actually scared her away from the vicinity entirely. Poor cat.)

On a few occasions I have made friendly contact with a cat whose owners claimed that the cat "doesn't like anybody" or "is bad-tempered" or "is really shy". Mostly, these were cats who seemed a little scared of me, so when they looked at me, I backed off and looked away, and that seemed to reassure them. One glorious elderly longhaired cat named Tiger was supposedly a grumpy, evil cat, but he was always polite to me, and his fur was beautifully soft. I used to greet him every day on my way to library one summer. I was surprised when I finally met his owners and they said he was so hostile. He never was, to me.

I have less contact with other species. I understand dogs fairly well, and have had no trouble taming a hamster. Mostly, when I see an animal I haven't gotten to know yet, I tend to back away and observe out of the corner of my eye, always making sure that the animal has an escape route, because the animal doesn't know I don't mean any harm. Sometimes they take an interest, sometimes not.

I've also had the 'be careful, he/she hates everybody' then I just come in and start petting the cat or dog in question and getting along with them famously. I think they can see your hesitation when you go to pat them and they feed off that by trying to dominate. Also I've had a weird amount of wild animals show up at home over the years before I left Mums place. There was a heat struck cockatoo I called Kami that I kept for a while until he got better and flew away, baby galahs and magpies that animal rescue came and collected, blue tongue lizards, an eastern snake neck turtle, there was also a brown snake in the back yard (which nearly bit me but got my sister's cat instead which I had to feed and give water for a week while she was paralysed until she got better). The only one of those that happened after I left was the snake which showed up when I was visiting. I think that was because our area was in a really bad drought so native animals were coming into town for lawn sprinklers.

animals tend to hate the ones who fuss over them,who give them less eye contact,who let them choose when they want to be given contact,many on the spectrum respect these boundaries of animals because we act in the same way as them so it works well.

am animal obsessed and have always had a profound connection with them,from the age of five when was unable to recognise own parents as parents but felt recognition and a deep connection with the pet cat; to all the cats we have ever had and the pet rats [all dead now unfortunately] and chickens of mine,and now;a pair of beautiful medium sized lion head doe rabbits to add to the KoR family;
http://theresidentialautist.blogspot.co ... bbits.html
plus am adopting sisters cat in a few months when every other resident moves in;am the only other person who understands her- sandy has a behavioral condition;very severe FHS which excluding her two food givers makes her brutaly untrustworthy of people, extremely afraid of people and if any person tries to rub her she will spin like the tazmanian devil in the cartoon whilst growling loudly and biting her tail/bum.

she was badly abused by a dikhead before sister found her heavily pregnant and took her in,she found out from the neighbours the bloke aparently used to beat her when she got pregnant [what happened to neuturing?]and kick her out,but poor sandy kept going back and now she is scarred for life with a personality disorder,she woud be euthanised if she went to a sanctuary, however we get along; am tolerated by her and the other day managed to sit on the bed next to her and rub her for a while without her FHS kicking in; progress after four years.

ive been thinking about this lately. I have some odd encounters sometimes. just the other day, i was down with the garbage, then suddenly out of nowhere a rabbit comes by, just sat like meter from me chilling, and looked at me, before it moved out slowly.

If i didn know any better, i would say they can somehow feel the calmness of me or something. on the other hand it might just be totally random and silly.

I dont see many children now a days, but i used to have the same effect on children, like they would instantly stop crying and look at me. its actually kinda creepy to have that effect on them and get that kinda attention. Its like they can somehow see right through me.

All types of animals are drawn to me and I'm drawn to them. Rats used to chase me when I was cleaning parking lots.