“I’ve never owned a kitten before this one, and I always kind of assumed that baby animals were born with implicit understandings of things like heat and what water is, but he’s really proving me wrong at every turn. This tweet was prompted by him sticking his arm shoulder-deep into my hot tea just now to see what it was.
“This was honestly one of my favorite things about getting a kitten. They’re insane, but it’s an absolute joy to watch their little brains marvel at whatever new thing they’ve just discovered.
“I mean, I just wish the new things weren’t fire and hot liquid, you know?
“One of the ferals I brought in bit a candle, which made him mad, so he hit it. Momentary chaos ensued. No real damage done, but much excitement.
“Not quite. Some things are instinctual, others not. Chickens, for example, have to be shown how to eat and drink, but they know how to dust bathe instinctively.
“This is true of baby turkeys too! I had a professor in college who raised turkeys, and he said you have to put marbles in the babies' water dish so they’ll get curious and peck at them, then accidentally consume water for the first time.”