Do animals...

[chuck]

MSU has a bird sanctuary on Gull Lake, south of Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, about half way between the two. Kellogg Center (yes the cornflakes family donated the property to MSU). We were there for about a weeks training on wetland identification as part of my Corps of Engineers training. The class visited the bird watching visitors center on a Sunday afternoon in late summer. It was chilly on the shore and most of us were wearing light jackets/sweaters. There were vending machine where you could buy crackers to feed the ducks, etc.

There was a "gang" of immature swans (still rather large birds) that were patrolling the shore line and they would paddle in and try to steal the crackers the visitors were tossing to the duck and other small shore birds. They were watching when one of our party went up to a machine (kind of like a parking meter with a swollen head). She was rather petite (about 4'6") and the gang charged the shore and began a coordinated attack to steal the crackers once she turned the crank to dispense them. One grabbed her wrist of the arm holding the crackers and started shaking it. One went around behind her and started pecking her on the top of the head while a pair flanked her and set about beating her with their wings. Those two also charged/beat at anyone that moved in to try and rescue her. The entire event took about 1-2 minutes to play out. When she dropped the packet of crackers the gang of four immediately lost interest in her and started tearing the packet apart and scrambled for the loot.

They knew what she was going to do when they saw her go to the machine. They listened for the "clank" when the machine discharged the crackers. They knew they had a chance at overwhelming her because of her size. They cooperated in terms of the attack.

Seems pretty intelligent to me.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Seems pretty intelligent to me.

That's just it - seems. What I watched was the goose returning eggs the nest and all the motions involved; even when the egg was exchanged for a square block, or when the egg was simply taken away - all the same motions of returning an egg to the nest were followed w/o an egg being present. Purely instinctual behavior.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

A pack of wolves will work together in Lapland to befuddle a Brown-bear away from its kill, zipping in a circumference around the bear, taking nips at it , until they get a share and can escape. I don't know if that is simply instinct or learned-behaviors , also.

The co-operation among the wolves seems decided upon to defeat the brute-force of the huge hulking bear, effectively.

[chuck]

What "instinct" was involved with the gang observing the behavior of the humans on the shore, evaluating the potential targets and then massing a coordinated (and very successful) attack? Swans mate for life and mature swans tend to look only after their mate and their family unit. The "flock" is pretty far down on the list. There were no mature swans any where near the shore on Gull Lake. They stayed out about 100-200 feet.

It is extremely hard for us to evaluate animal intelligence. I am not sure of how well we do with ourselves. Until I watched the three part story of the horse I couldn't understand why horses even bother with us. They are much larger and stronger than we are and could easily throw you and then stomp you to a bloody pulp. What do they get out of the equation? Why do some elephants like to paint? Why do cows like classical music? I doubt their ancestors got to hear much of it as our ancestors hadn't developed musical instruments?

I've had three cats and three dogs over the years. The one dog was a rescue and she actually chose me at the pound. Two of the cats were very cat like in their behavior while the third had a lot of dog in him. His mother was a feral cat and she got run over by a car when he and his litter mates where about six weeks old. They were living under the deck of a colleague at work and their golden retriever adopted them. She taught them all sorts of mischievous behavior. Molly (the dog/"parent") knew she wasn't supposed to steal food off the counter/table. She encouraged the kittens to climb up and then knock the goodies on the floor and then they would all party down.

None of the cats were "aloof", one even preferred the company of humans to other cats. She even understood when I was asking where the other cat was (he had hidden while the furnace was replaced). I was worried he had gotten outside. She shook her head and then turned and went upstairs with me in tow. We got to out bedroom and she just stared at the dust ruffle on the bed. I lifted it up and there he was, staring back at me.

I didn't become a "fan" of cats until I learned a) how to read them, and b) really realized they aren't dogs and they generally don't behave like them. Their social cues are almost diametrically opposed to dogs. Perhaps it is the pack versus solitary hunter heredity? People who don't like cats fail to understand that looking away from a cat is actually an invitation for the cat to approach you. People that don't understand cats don't realize that pursuing the cat and saying here kitty kitty is the surest way to chase them away!

Local specialty pet shop has a 40 year old parrot (actually a scarlet Macaw). He sits on a perch in the store and is about six feet up in the air. He likes soft rock music, sometimes he will shuck and jive if it is a song he likes. He does recognize faces and there is a sign warning not to touch/pet him. If he knows and likes you he will toss nuts in your direction using his beak. Most customers aren't aware of the later, they think he is being aggressive. Aggressive is spreading his wings and making a lot of noise.

[rogruth]

Another interesting and different discussion that one would not expect to find on a model train forum.
This is why MTJ is still my favorite forum. LOVE IT!

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Are we absolutely certain that all of the life forms found in our oceans are from this planet? Every one of them?

Have you seen some of the photos of life forms discovered in our contemporary times to be existing in the deepest parts of the oceans ? Diaphanous , jellyfish-like individuals and/or whole colonies of entities traveling together down there =

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Are we absolutely certain that all of the life forms found in our oceans are from this planet?

I have doubts regularly about many of the so-called humans walking the surface as being from this planet.