In Moscow, humans are not the only commuters using the subway.
It turns out that many of the city’s dogs have figured out how to use the subway system.
The dogs have simply figured out how long they must remain on the subway before getting off.
The dogs use the subway to travel from their homes to the city’s center, where the scavenging is good. Then they hop back on the subway to get home.
What I find most interesting is that these dogs learned this behavior from observing humans. The biologist who released these findings has also seen dogs waiting at crosswalks and watching for the lights to change. This behavior was also learned from watching people.
(The dogs most likey know the light position. They probably are not observing the color.)
The whole Moscow Street Dog thing is so fascinating. It’s like they’ve developed their own doggie culture over there.
I’ve heard the same thing exists in Mexico City, where they only cross at crosswalks.
[…] Those Cosmopolitan Muscovite Mutts 2010 January 19 tags: Andrei Poyarkov, Moscow street dogs by retrieverman This article appeared on FT.com this weekend. My uncle, who is currently in Eastern Europe on business, forwarded it to me. I have written a post on the Moscow subway dogs several months ago. […]