Re:Chicken Hypnotism
by marcellus23 on Thursday November 30, 2023 @03:01PM
(#38478330)
I was hoping there would be more details on why exactly this happens, but maybe this is one of those things where no one really knows?
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It seems to be a manifestation of tonic immobility [0] triggered as a defense mechanism in response to a perceived threat. As far as why drawing a line is perceived as a threat is anybody's guess. Maybe it's the chicken's simple brain using a flawed heuristic for recognizing snakes? It brings to mind cats freaking out about cucumbers. [1]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_death#Tonic_immobilit...