Imprinting on a baby?

Question

ok i don't read the Twilight series. My friend though does and was talking to me about how mad she was about the whole Breaking Dawn book. And she said that Jacob imprinted on Bella's baby. My question is...what does that even mean?

Answer 1

Imprinting is what happens when a baby "picks" something as it's mother, for lack of a better term. For some animals, like ducks or chickens, it's the first large thing they see when they hatch. So if you are there when a duckling or chick hatch and pick it up, it's going to think that you are logically it's mother.

Some animals are imprinted after care is given to it. I work at a wildlife facility and we have an owl who was imprinted on people. She was a wild owl, still a baby and just learning how to fly. Some people found her on the ground and took her home to try and keep her. A few weeks later, they found out that it's not a good idea to keep wild animals as pets and that they were in over their heads. They brought her to us to try and rehab and release, but it was too late. She had been hand fed by people for long enough that she became imprinted on people, she thinks she is one of us. Unfortunately for her, even though she is in excellent health, she can never be released because of that. It would be too dangerous for her.