Can animals commit suicide

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  1. sweety4you profile image41
    sweety4youposted 13 years ago

    Can animals commit suicide?

    1. pisean282311 profile image65
      pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      never heard of that ..

    2. Cagsil profile image72
      Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      No. You are implying that they like human beings, have some reason or emotional/mental capacity for such. hmm

    3. qwark profile image60
      qwarkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      We are animals.

  2. LeanMan profile image82
    LeanManposted 13 years ago

    Lemings.... They leap off cliffs...But is it suicide?

    Most animals by the sides of the roads, did they do it on purpose??

    Humans are animals too... be nice to them, take one as a pet and look after it..

  3. habee profile image92
    habeeposted 13 years ago

    I thought the lemming thing was a myth?? Anyway, I wrote a hub about a feral cat that tried to drown herself in my pool. I rescued her!

    1. Dense profile image59
      Denseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      smile

  4. Polly C profile image92
    Polly Cposted 13 years ago

    What about bees when they sting someone? Do you think they know they are going to die?

    1. profile image0
      Justine76posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I dont think bees even know they are alive, they just live by instinct. maybe?

      1. Polly C profile image92
        Polly Cposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Yes - on reflection I think you're probably right Justine !!

  5. habee profile image92
    habeeposted 13 years ago

    I'm not sure insects are that smart, but good question!

    1. Polly C profile image92
      Polly Cposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I'll be reading your hub about the feral cat later smile

  6. ddsurfsca profile image71
    ddsurfscaposted 13 years ago

    I had a goldfish that I like to let swim in the bathtub several times a week, then put him back in his aquarium.  He grew bigger than a usual size for an aquarium because I did this.  He jumped out of the aquarium  couple of times, and I put him back, and he survived the first time.  The second time he did not.  I think he hated the aquarium and wanted the tub fulltime, but no can do fishy....so he did it

    1. Volty profile image59
      Voltyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Aww sad That's a sad fish story

  7. Dense profile image59
    Denseposted 13 years ago

    Yes, and it's fairly well known that they do. -_-
    Have you not heard of the story of the dog who tried to kill herself on a busy street purposely?

    1. Dense profile image59
      Denseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Google for it, there should be lots of these stories around. smile

  8. profile image0
    kimberlyslyricsposted 13 years ago

    help!

    I can't get out!

    stuck in a thread!

    so confused!

    lol

    1. Dense profile image59
      Denseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      ???? yikes

  9. theirishobserver. profile image61
    theirishobserver.posted 13 years ago

    Yes - a chicken went into my oven yesterday and came out roasted - that is suicide by any other name smile

    1. bonny2010 profile image60
      bonny2010posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      sadly it is true - old piker bullock when caught will lie down and die; young kangaroos when sick will sulk and refuse to drink and eat, no amount of force feeding will save them. My little girl a western grey suffered a serious dose of scoures and I am currently fighting to get her to drink - I manage to get100mls each day into her,but today I feel that I may lose her as she is now showing signs of giving up. To me that issuicide as her stools are back to normal and she nolonger has a temperature. I have also had wild birds which have just given up. I also had an old horse once which refused to eat when he lost his old mate , another gelding, he laid down one day  and did not get up. So I believe animals do commit a form ofsuicide.

  10. theirishobserver. profile image61
    theirishobserver.posted 13 years ago

    Bonny hope all turns out well - those of us who love animals sure do put oursleves through a  lot of hard ship - but the rewards are great smile

  11. TMMason profile image60
    TMMasonposted 13 years ago

    I highly doubt an animals grasps such complex concepts as depression and suicide. I highly doubt they sit around contemplating whether or not to end it all.

    So no.

  12. K Partin profile image60
    K Partinposted 13 years ago

    Strange you would ask this question....I wrote a hub about cows committing suicide, still no answers. I have to think that animals can sense when their time is up. But jumping off a cliff? I doubt it.....but you never know! smile

    1. profile image51
      nelsondaveposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think animals no what suicide is let alone committing them.

      1. K Partin profile image60
        K Partinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Exactly! But do we know for sure??

    2. Polly C profile image92
      Polly Cposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I think animals do know often know when their time is up. After all, cats can go and hide away before they die. I think they are so in tune with nature that they simply accept it.  And they probably don't have all of the emotions that we may experience, like fear etc. So rather than commit suicide they probably do give up, but just because they sense their life has come to an end. Maybe.

      1. K Partin profile image60
        K Partinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Good answer Polly....animals do sense the end of the line I'm sure. They are a lot smarter than we think. smile

  13. Dense profile image59
    Denseposted 13 years ago

    Also animals have a deeper connection to nature than we do; it has been argued that they can also intuitively rendezvous with a car to become 'accidental' roadkill.
    That in addition to running slower and become a predator's lunch.
    We can only wait for ours - hope that we don't die too soon, don't die too late and hopefully die in one piece and nothing messy. -_-
    They have more options than we do and nothing too worry about. big_smile

  14. Misha profile image63
    Mishaposted 13 years ago

    whales do...

  15. Eaglekiwi profile image75
    Eaglekiwiposted 13 years ago

    Animals react on instinct and not reason so my guess is no..smile

    1. bonny2010 profile image60
      bonny2010posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      when i think about it - maybe itis not suicide which causes some animals to give up - maybe it is shock - the old piker bullock goes into shock at having his freedom taken from him - birds which have been taken out of their comfort zone go into shock, sometimes a dark place and warmth can revive them other times ,especially in the case of older birds they seem to give up. I can't explain cats or dogs, which sometimes tend to wander off and go to sleep. Kangaroos will sulk and go into shock, its almost impossible to revive them - which by the way is something I failed to do this morning at 3am - Noona,my little grey roo died..

 
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