clever little creatures
By Elizabeth
@Poppylicious (11134)
United Kingdom
September 25, 2016 5:17pm CST
I've been thinking lots about animals recently. Well, maybe not lots, but definitely quite a bit. It stems - I think - from Husband showing me oodles of animal videos every evening as he browses reddit in front of the tellybox.
I have come to the conclusion that animals are getting more and more intelligent.
In our domestication of the animals we keep as pets, we are subconsciously teaching them new things. We have shown them how to love other creatures, how to interact with other creatures and how to empathise with other creatures. We have taught them how to open a fridge/door, how to tell the time and the best way to convince us to do something for them.
'Wild' animals found in the zoo have learnt how to interact with the humans who watch them. Surely we've all seen the videos of the dolphin teasing the children, and the orangutan being thoroughly flummoxed by the 'magic trick'?
Hedgehogs and frogs know to use the specially constructed underpasses to save them from becoming squished, squirrels will happily chatter to people, birds mimic the man-made noises they hear and raccoons have learnt how to use water to annoy cats {it must be true, I saw a video on the internet}.
Are we helping animals to become cleverer? Are they simply adapting to the world we force them to live in? Are we just beginning to understand them a little more? They laugh, they feel pain, they get excited, they crave attention, they learn how to do things, they care ...
Honestly, if I carry on thinking these things, I will have to add cows, chickens and pigs to the list of not-dumb animals, and then what will I eat!?
7 people like this
7 responses
.
@topffer (42155)
• France
26 Sep 16
@LadyDuck I wrote long ago here a discussion about a couple of blackbirds that I fed. Something incredible happened : the mother blackbird knocked at the door with her beak, and when I opened the door, she was there with all her children on the ground. They were not afraid at all, and they flied after 10 or 20 seconds. I realized later that they were living, and that she wanted to introduce me to her family.
2 people like this
.@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
26 Sep 16
One day, when pigs rule the earth and are farming us for meat, our descendents will curse us!
1 person likes this
@topffer (42155)
• France
26 Sep 16
@Poppylicious They are smartest than that, and I suppose they are secretly lobbying to decide people eating pork meat to change their religion : half of the world does not already eat pork meat.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
27 Sep 16
@topffer I eat it, but I'm it's not my first choice of meat.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
14 Nov 16
what cute lil pigs :) critters 're smart 'n 've always 'd feelin's, adapted to their environments, etc. i've 'd lots 'f cows 'n such throughout my lifetime 'n i'm hear to tell ya that they're indeed quite bright (like their human counter-parts though, there's some that don't appear to be such). i reckon yer gonna need to go vegan :)
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15826)
• Manchester, England
26 Sep 16
This is why I don't eat them!
I think they have always been that intelligent, it's just taken us a while to realise it. It's widely accepted that pigs are as intelligent as dogs, if not more so. Research suggests they are as intelligent as 2 - 3 year old children. You wouldn't eat a 2 year old child now would you???
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
27 Sep 16
Well, only if I was starving and it was the end of the world {one of the saddest bits in the book/film The Road is where men are keeping women with them purely as baby making machines, but the babies are for eating because there is literally no other food available.} ... Lolz. Dogs aren't intelligent, so pigs must surely be MORE intelligent than dogs.
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15826)
• Manchester, England
27 Sep 16
@Poppylicious "Well, only if I was starving and it was the end of the world" - the circumstances under which i would consider eating any form of meat again!
Pigs probably are more intelligent than dogs. I think that documentary about the sheep-herding pig proved that. What was it called again? Ah yes. 'Babe'.
1 person likes this
@cindiowens (5120)
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
25 Sep 16
Yes. They are much more clever than we give them credit for.
2 people like this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
26 Sep 16
I know that my cats definitely are. I see the way they try to trip me on the stairs and get into cupboards for treats!
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
26 Sep 16
It is. They are no different from us in that respect.
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20363)
• Fairfield, Texas
26 Sep 16
Animals have become smarter because they'll be the only ones left on this planet after about 30 more years (considering what humans are doing to it) @Poppylicious . Sounds familiar don't it? Before Adam & Eve, there were only animals here.
1 person likes this
