A friend sent us an article from the blog “Boing Boing” about a chimp raised like a kid in a human family. Life was good for a while, but when the chimp grew up he was shot. Bummer.
Then somebody said, “Ah, he was just a dumb animal.” That phrase “dumb animal” pisses me off. It pisses off my dog, too. The whole idea of animal intelligence brought back an experience I’d had on Nantucket…
I was taking a break from a boondoggle business conference. Guys in ties huddled at the hotel while I sat alone on a sea wall, away from business bull. Suddenly I heard sharp reports hitting the rocks. Crack. Crack! Was my boss throwing stones at me?
No, it was Herring Gulls. They were picking shellfish from the surf, then flying straight up and dropping them on the rocks where I sat, and also on a nearby parking lot. Then the birds would swoop down and pry open shells cracked by the fall. This is tool-making, I thought. Gravity can be a tool.
(I learned that the noise from this regular activity was so annoying that residents tried putting fake gulls on the pavement so real ones would avoid bombing the spot, not wanting their meal stolen. This stopped working because the gulls caught on.)
We’ve all heard that crows have been known to get water out of a shallow bowl by putting pebbles in until the level rises. I’ve seen a Black-billed Magpie beg for food in Colorado by using eerily human-sounding language. Yeah, language. For more about the surprising smartness of Corvids, see “Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies and Jays” by Candace Savage. Or read the “The Mind of the Raven,” by Bernd Heinrich.
We don’t know how animals think. Or if they’re smart or dumb. Like people, they’re probably a little of both. All we can do is infer. My dog’s looking at me now, and is either thinking “He’s hit the keyboard exactly 2,150 times and is due to stop,” or maybe, “Treat, treat, duh, treat, pant, pant.”
Don’t know. But the Herring Gulls who dropped clams to crack them open didn’t seem dumb. And the chimp who got too big to handle around the house didn’t deserve to get shot. Anyone who uses the term “dumb animal” is talking about himself.
Two things. The real meaning of the word “dumb” is “unable to speak” (at least ‘speak’ as humans know it) so “dumb animals” simply meant animals that cannot speak. (look it up) No slur intended, originally. Then the meaning got all twisted around somewhere, to mean stupid.
Second thing: Having said the first thing, I must say that humans seem to me to be just about the dumbest (meaning stupidest) animals around. Most other animal populations are in balance with the carrying capacity of their habitat. Humans however seem to think they (we!) can reproduce and reproduce and reproduce (I could go on…..) without any consequences. Now THAT’s DUMB!
I can’t help but wonder who’s less intelligent – those creatures who cover the ground with concrete, or those that know how to make use of the land without destroying it? Sure, we were born at a disadvantage having no fur or feathers, but I think we’ve taken the overcompesation thing to Nepolionic lengths.
I’m with you… the animals sure seem to know more about what they’re doing than we do.
You know, I believe I like your dog. The dog that lives with me, he’s not so bad at bird watching himself. He doesn’t seem to mind any birds except for wild turkeys. They upset him. Is it because they are non-native? I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure he has yet to go running up to the groups of them that gloam past his house and tell them one way or another. He must be a gentleman. Which is a fine thing for a dog to be. I suspect you already know that.