Thread: Are animals and humans afraid of fire?

Apparently many animals have an instictive fear or fire. right?

Is that animal fear really inborn(genetic)?

How about humans? Were ancient humans also afraid of fire at some point in time?

Im not afraid of fire, and I have seen toddlers without fear of it (I guess that might change if theyd get burned), but is there an age when kids fear fire the way animals are said to until they see adults that dont fear it, or is it that theres no fear by default regardless of age?

Animals are afraid of weird things in general. Fire is weird! You'd probably get similar effect with flapping flag or flashing light.... in fact I've seen CDs hung from strings to scare birds and deer away from gardens. Needless to say humans just think, "Ooh, pretty colours."

Only when you are aware that it doesn`t represent any danger at all. Imagine that in the middle of a dark place, if you suddenly see a flash of light, and after you investigate there is no reason of its existence, nor source for its appearance, I can assure you, you`ll feel panic, maybe even think about ghosts or aliens abductions, who knows all the tricks it can make to your mind ?

Originally Posted by icewendigo

Apparently many animals have an instictive fear or fire. right?

Is that animal fear really inborn(genetic)?

How about humans? Were ancient humans also afraid of fire at some point in time?

Im not afraid of fire, and I have seen toddlers without fear of it (I guess that might change if theyd get burned), but is there an age when kids fear fire the way animals are said to until they see adults that dont fear it, or is it that theres no fear by default regardless of age?

Imo behavior can be put in genes, observe the Kuku hatchling, it will preform a complex behavior by pushing other eggs out of the nest. Why can animal preform very complex mating rituals, when they'r not taught to?

Imo fear of fire can be a genetic memory.

Can be, but that would be superfluous when the animal is generally afraid of novelty. See, it's better to fear bubbling tar pits, rare vipers, a pair of eyes shining in the dark, simply because these things are weird. This is a robust instinct - it reacts to all sorts of threats, including fire.

Only species commonly exposed to a specific threat would gain by fearing it in particular, or species highly tolerant of novelty (crows, humans) would gain by fearing something.

This animal is not afraid of fire but is leary of getting burned. Though I find fire mesmorizing and exciting.

MB ...