Animals are People of Another Culture

I’ve come to the honest conclusion after many years of living with and observing animals, that they, like humans, are as smart and inventive as they need to be.  They have always made the kinds of dwellings, utilized the kinds of tools, engaged in the types of actions, that were minimally required to accomplish their ends.  When those ends change, due to changes in their world, they invent anew.  Unlike human beings, they have no need or desire for vast profits and kingly lives (though, like humans, they certainly wouldn’t turn down such things as would suit their particular interests). They seem to prefer their leisure time, their social time, their quiet time, their dinner time, their pure enjoyment of being alive.  In some ways, they are more advanced than humans.  They seem to know, for the most part, what really matters.

“In recent years, biologists have recognized that birds engage in play. Juvenile Common Ravens are among the most playful of bird species. They have been observed to slide down snowbanks, apparently purely for fun. They even engage in games with other species, such as playing catch-me-if-you-can with wolves and dogs.^[63] Common Ravens are known for spectacular acrobatic displays, such as flying in loops or interlocking talons with each other in flight.^[64][65] They are also one of only a few species who make their own toys. They have been observed breaking off twigs to play with socially.^[66]“ -wikipedia

If you look at the lives of many animals in recent times, there are plenty of events in support of these suggestions. For example, in Sy Montgomery’s “Birdology”, she presents the following discovery concerning the use of advanced creative techniques by crows (Ravens, in the same family as crows, also do this).

“Walnuts are a crop new to Japan, but lately groves seem to be springing up everywhere. Crows find walnuts tasty and nutritious, but the shells are too hard to open. The solution: crows pluck nuts from trees, then fly to perch on the traffic signal at the nearest intersection. When the light is red, they fly down and place the nuts in front of waiting cars. When the light turns green, the cars run them over, cracking the hard shells. When the light turns red again and the cars stop, the crows fly safely down to eat the nutmeats.”

Amazing.  Ravens are even more inventive and there have been many tests in which they demonstrate considerable ability to analyze and creatively manipulate physical conditions to attain their goal (usually food, but that could be because of the lack of imagination on the part of the experimenters).

“Crows, ravens, magpies, and jays are not just feathered machines, rigidly programmed by their genetics. Instead, they are beings that, within the constraints of their molecular inheritance, make complex decisions and show every sign of enjoying a rich awareness.”–Candace Savage^[57]

Occasionally Ravens can be heard around our home.  Their sounds are often interesting and dynamic (listen to an example of Raven sounds here).  I often see them flying over the pines, dipping and bowing towards each other, sometimes flipping over or otherwise playfully maneuvering in the sky.  They are magnificent to watch and listen to.

When my cats look at me, they generally have a serene, intelligent look in their eyes.  It is not a base, animal mechanism that stares back. They are capable of doing whatever they desire to do, it’s just that their desires are considerably more limited than those of most human beings!  Is that a sign of intelligence?

As an example, some years ago, my wife was playing with a string with one of our cats (Beaner).  Suddenly, he seemed to have been struck by some internal mental event, and he ran off down the hall, into the bedroom and returned with a small bell in his mouth, which he laid down in front of my wife.  She knew at once that he desired for her to tie the bell to the string, which she did.  She explained to me that his delight at the new toy was tangible.

Bears around our home are a puzzle to me in the context of animal intelligence.  Like everyone, I’ve seen them on TV exhibiting cunning and cleverness.  I’m certain it’s not uncommon in the animal world, and it is very common in the human one, but their desire for food seems to make them irrationally destructive.  They will destroy large portions of a fruit tree in our orchard simply to extract a small number of fruits, even whilst there are numerous, very edible fruits upon the ground beneath their feet!  I often eat these “grounders” myself.  I’ve stood at the edge of the orchard with a flashlight staring into the glowing eyes of a bear patrolling the fruit trees for delicacies.  There was a clear sense of understanding in the bear’s eyes, and a very strong determination to keep out of sight and away from any human contact.  Later, I discovered that s/he had actually climbed up into the persimmon tree (which had at that time but a few, unripe fruits) and had torn numerous branches out of it, throwing them to the ground.  This was clever, because it was done to make the fruit reachable — s/he could just jump back to the ground and pick the fruit from the cast-down branches at ease.  But the bark and many branches were torn off, thus rendering the tree likely to be less productive next year, and with that approach, in future years even less so.  I guess what bewilders me is the willful destruction of potential future benefit.  It’s frequently the case that bears indulge in greatly destructive behavior to get food in the moment (destroying cars, homes, even air-planes).  Their lesson seems to be, do not over-estimate the intelligence or benignity, of animals!  It’s a good and important lesson.

Nevertheless, this discussion should force one to recognize that animals are not the mere mechanism which Descartes’ ruthless, superficial rationality helped push into the race mind of Western Civilization (Descartes actually had some marvelous ideas, but this wasn’t one of  ‘em).  Yes, we have to eat some of them.  But do we have to “dehumanize” them to the degree that we do so we can be comfortable with this?

Tom Brown, who practices survival in nature as a spiritual practice, relates a poignant story in one of his books (I no longer seem to recall which one, but you can see his books here) about his youthful tutelage under Stalking Wolf, an Apache elder.  I may not remember this perfectly, but in the story he tells of how, once Stalking Wolf thought Tom was ready, Tom was asked to perch on a branch over a trail (taking a lesson from the Mountain Lion), and wait there for a passing deer.  This was, if I recall correctly, to be his first hunt. His mission was to secure a meal (I believe that Stalking Wolf had had Tom fast for some time so that he was very hungry).

When Tom leaped down upon the passing deer, he was struck by the contact between him and the animal with the deer’s love of its own life, and that the deer was another living being like himself who’s life was precious to it and sacred. He killed it (which was by no means a clean or easy process).  Afterword, his grief at taking the life of that wonderful being was so great that he turned away from Stalking Wolf for some days.  When he finally had the courage to return, Stalking Wolf welcomed him lovingly and informed him that this was a deep lesson in the valuation of life and in understanding its meaning and purpose.  Prior to his first hunt, Tom had been trained to learn from animals, to value their wisdom, their personality, and their spirit. With such understanding it is not possible to take one of their lives without a powerful level of appreciation, need, and sympathy. Human beings, like animals, should kill only to survive.  The life of any individual being is a sacred thing, never to be taken lightly.

Foxes sometimes travel through our property.  Invariably, if I’m out walking in the dusk (their usual pass-through time) and they come nearby, I’ll stop, and the fox will stop, and then for long periods of time we simply stare at each other.  I was within 20 feet of one once that simply watched me with alert interest.  He was perfectly still, ears erect, tail stretched out calmly behind him. He was as interested in me (God knows why) as I was in him! There was an exchange of awareness occurring, not simply a fearful stand-off between rivals.

So, I’m always surprised, in a wonderful way, with these precious encounters with our animal companions. I suppose I’m surprised by it because for so many years growing up I was trained to see them, to treat them, as inferiors, as unconscious, unfeeling and unaware.  What a crime this is.  So much of the heart is caged in iron by such training.  This is why it is so pleasing to find these bars melting away with each encounter with a friend “in the wild.”  The soul is the same in all beings. Only the purpose and culture is different.