Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.63.0509170108430.13438@panix3.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.aol.com>,
"WRYTING-L : Writing and Theory across Disciplines" <WRYTING-L@LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA>
Subject: Annoying Behavior
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 01:08:53 -0400 (EDT)
Annoying Behavior Annoying and annoyance are difficult to analyze. Yet they form a behav- ioral matrix, appearing in such forms as teasing, taunting, daring, whining, infuriating, and seducing. The phenomenology of annoyance is complex; among animals, annoyance plays roles ranging from deflection to prey production. Crows and other birds will annoy hawks; smaller birds will annoy crows - in both cases to lead the larger birds away from potential prey. Egrets on the other hand will annoy bottom-dwellers, which flee their hiding-places and are caught. Their behavior ranges from wing- flapping and circling to leg vibrating and kicking back. These actions change quickly, decreasing the likelihood for a steady-state response by potential prey. It's unclear to what degree this behavior is learned or instinctual. See http://www.asondheim.org/annoyingegret.mp4 - a snowy egret at dawn in the Bolsa Chica wetlands, Huntington Beach, California. Other examples - chipmunks, squirrels, and various bird species taunting rattle-snakes; coyote and other large predatory animals harrowing prey; annoying by the weaker and taunting by the stronger, among humans.