Sling behaviour question.

[Andrew Ferguson]

Hello ladies and gentleman

I have a question for you all regarding slings if I may. It may sound silly, but please give a newbie a chance.

Are slings just miniature versions of adults? I mean, puppies, kittens, cubs and even our own children develop through playing and trial and error. We've all seen on David Attenborough shows were the baby monkeys play with each other and lion cubs play fight, all to develop the skills they need to survive in the wild.

So do slings display the same behaviour, or as my original questions states, are they just miniature versions of an adult and everything they need to survive in the wild is instinctively embedded in their brain? I hope you understand what I'm trying to ask.

[SylviRigden]

Hi, I think my slings don't learn by trial and error, they seem to have the knowledge they need to survive already in them. Their behaviour differs from the adults in that the more aggressive ones, when small, tend to run and hide rather than show aggression. Some burrow as slings and don't as adults - this is more obvious with the arboral ones. I assume all this is for protection against predators when they are very small.