How Do Some Animals Train Their Young?

Animal parents spend much time in training their young ones. A she-bear may take up to two years teaching her cubs. She shows them where they can find food, teaching them to dig for spicy tubers. And it is she that introduces them to the tangy sweetness of wild honey, a delicacy that they relish for the rest of their lives.

Young racoons get quite a training in the art of being self-sufficient. Their mother spends time flipping frogs and crayfish to them, using play to teach them. She also instructs them in self-defense, hunting and fishing. In time her young ones learn to trail mice, catch frogs and unearth insect larvae. And she tips them off about where they can find wild grapes and the best corn.

Certain young animals undergo training to do the very things that we may think are instinctive. Consider the water-loving otters. The mother has to teach her young to like water, for they will not go into it of their own accord. She may drag them into the water, pulling them by the skin of their neck. Or she may induce them to get on her back. Then, splash, into the water she goes! For a while she swims around with her litter hanging on for dear life. Suddenly, she submerges! Now the young otters are forced to sink or swim. And they try to swim! At first they are awkward, but little by little they learn.

A mother seal, also, has to take time to teach her little one how to swim. When in the water, she will plead, persuade and entice her pup to try swimming. Usually, she ends up simply pushing him adrift. But her work does not end there. She helps her whelp along by swimming under him at times. Should he appear in distress, she will put her head under his forequarters and push his head up out of the water. After a time, the seal pup is able to swim on his own.