The veined octopus is a truly amazing underwater character. Researchers in Melbourne have discovered that they get up to some surprising antics – using coconut shells.
These octopi collect coconut shells discarded by their human neighbours, gather them under their body and then carry them and walk, rather awkwardly, for up to 20m at a time. The scientists dubbed this as ‘stilt-walking’ due to the unusual way the octopus has to use its legs whilst carrying the shells.
The octopus goes to this considerable effort so he or she has portable ‘armour’. If suddenly under threat the octopus could create instant camouflage and protection by climbing in between two coconut halves.
This is really significant, as use of tools by animals is said to be a sign of higher mental functioning, as is planning for the future. Some people used to believe that only humans had such advanced abilities, but we increasingly find that other animals have so many unsuspected abilities – including a mind of their own. (see Rooks, Pigs).
Here is another shining example of amazing animals and a valuable reminder that animals can have many hidden abilities that we are yet to notice and appreciate.
Horses are great at reading body language, even that of the humans around them – in fact a horse known as ‘Clever Hans’ was able to answer mathematical questions by tapping his hoof, based on the very subtle signals given out by the person asking the question! Even though they didn’t mean to give any secret messages to the horse, he could read small changes in facial expression or intakes of breath – and then work out what the right answer was!
Clever Hans
At the time, people thought he was working out the maths himself, and were disappointed to learn that he was reading their body language instead. But the fact that Hans could answer the questions by this method is in itself amazing. He was seeing small changes in the behaviour of his questioners which people did not see – and it took an extensive experiment for us to find out what Hans knew all along.
Other animals are also more tuned in to us than we might expect. In a previous post about Sociable sheep we found out that sheep preferred the faces of smiling people rather than stressed or angry people.
This leads us to consider, how much do animals really know about what we’re thinking?
Sources: Clever Hans (BBC website)
McGreevy (2004) Equine Behaviour: A Guide for Veterinarians and Equine Scientists.
The ability to co-operate with your companions is believed to show a higher level of thought – and is an ability once thought to be unique to humans. In a recent study hyenas were found to be great team players, with a 100% success rate in a group challenge. They had to work together to reach food from a platform which they couldn’t get to alone. It was even found that when a hyena who had worked out the ‘platform puzzle’ was paired up with one who was new to it, the experienced hyena changed his behaviour – as we would when showing someone a new task.
Team players. Image courtesy of Tim Vickers
Source:
Drea, C. M., Carter, A. N. (2009)
Co-operative problem solving in a social carnivore
Animal Behaviour, 78: 967-977.
Chimps in Japan have been seen helping their companions out, purely on the basis of need. They would hand tools over to chimps in a nearby pen; and most notably this was most likely to happen if the chimp really needed the tool and requested it, rather than if they just wanted it to play with. This shows that chimps care about the welfare of their fellows and will assist them even if there is nothing to be gained themselves.
This helping is not just reserved for other chimps too – in a previous study by Warneken, chimps were also witnessed helping humans in a similar task and handing a stick to them on request. Videos of both of these experiments can be found below.
Chimp helps human- scroll down the page, and play the first video in the list.
Sources:
Yamamoto, S., Humle, T.,Tanaka, M. (2009)
Chimpanzees Help Each Other upon Request
PLoS ONE, 4(10): e7416
Warneken, F., Hare, B., Melis, A. P., Hanus, D., Tomasello, M.
Spontaneous Altruism by Chimpanzees and Young Children
PLoS Biol 5(7): e184
A recent test found that pigs understand mirrors, and can learn where a food bowl is through looking at the reflection. One group of pigs had time to get used to the mirror before they were tested, and another group were only shown a mirror at the beginning of the test. A hidden food bowl was then shown to them in the mirror. The food bowl was empty – so the pigs would not be relying on their sense of smell to locate it.
All but one of the pigs who were familiar with the mirror found the food bowl in less than 23 seconds – whereas the pigs who were new to it looked behind the mirror for the bowl.
Again, we see the amazing capacities of animals to work out their environment and shows the importance of using only high welfare farming systems as pigs easily become bored and frustrated in barren factory farms. At a minimum, all pigs should have access to bedding materials that let them root and explore like their wild ancestors.
Source:
Broom, D. M., Sena, H., Moynihan, K. L. (2009)
Pigs learn what a mirror image represents and use it to obtain information.
Animal Behaviour, Article in Press
If by the word ‘language’ we mean a system of communication, animals have different languages of their own. Hens and chickens have over 30 different calls, which they use to alert their group to food or danger, for example. Chicks start communicating with their mother hen while they are still in the egg and cockerels have a special food call to let the hens know that food has been found. Hens make a gentle crowing sound when they are happy.
Socialising in the village square. (c) Compassion in World Farming/Chi Keung Wong
Pigs are very chatty, communicating with grunts, squeals, snarls and snorts, champing their jaws and clacking their teeth. Sows have a special call for their piglets when it’s time for the piglets to suckle. Sows and piglets keep contact with each other and with their mother by squeals and grunts. If piglets are separated from Mum, they squeal for her. Scientists found that sows responded more strongly to the desperate squeals from cold, hungry piglets than they did to calls from larger, more well-fed piglets.
Animals can also understand each other’s language. For example, some animals can understand the meaning of another’s alarm call.
Dogs and humans have a long history of living together. While dogs are often quick are picking up what humans are saying – perhaps by the tone of voice rather than by all the actual words – we humans often seem to struggle to understand dog ‘bark language.’ In this really interesting video, courtesy of the social networking site Petstreet , dog communication expert John Rogerson helps us decipher what our furry friends are wanting to tell us.
As reported in the Daily Mail, Clyde is blind, and Bonnie leads him “to food or water, and lets him rest his head on her haunches when he feels a bit lost. They are inseparable, and if Bonnie isn’t nearby Clyde refuses to move a paw.”
Bonnie and Clyde were rescued as strays recently and now they happily have a new home. The BBC’s One Show has a special page and film about these two great friends.
Bonnie and Clyde are inseparable border collies. Dogs are social animals so company is very important for them. But this is a bond with a difference: Bonnie is Clyde’s guide dog.
The Daily Mail reports that Bonnie leads Clyde “to food or water, and lets him rest his head on her haunches when he feels a bit lost. They are inseparable, and if Bonnie isn’t nearby Clyde refuses to move a paw.”
Bonnie and Clyde were rescued as strays recently. It appears they were lost in a storm and no-one has come forward for them. Obviously these two have a vital bond and they must be rehomed together.
Some pig breeding farms use computerised feeders for the pregnant sows. Each sow is fitted with an electronic collar which triggers the release of each sow’s meal individually. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some pigs reject the collars and will get them off. Other clever pigs have learnt that picking up the collar and taking it through the computerised feeding area means that they get another meal.
The farmer of course needs to replace the collars of the sows who discarded theirs, otherwise those sows will not get any food.
A TV series called ‘Clever Critters’ filmed some of these sows and you can see them here:
The clip says the sows are only fed one meal per day. The farmer does provide straw, a really important basic enrichment for pigs. But these clever animals may be hungry and they also will look for interesting activities to fill their days of pregnancy. It is admirable how they use their wits to beat the system!
Pigs are intelligent and curious and need an interesting environment. Image (c) Compassion in World Farming/Martin Usborne
“A cat looks down on man, a dog looks up to man,
but a pig will look man right in the eye and see his equal.”
Winston Churchill
Apes, crows and dolphins have been seen to make and use tools. Now, captive rooks have joined the band of animals who are “tool users.”
Rooks have not been seen to use tools in the wild. But not only can they use tools, they can use two in succession and they can make new ones. This BBC article reports research in which the rooks worked out how to get a food treat from a apparatus consisting of a tube and a small trap door. They needed to choose a suitable stone and drop it into a tube to release the trap door and get their treat. They chose the heaviest stone as the most likely to be weighty enough to make the trap door open. They also had to choose from different-shaped stones, not all of which would fit into the tube. They chose the best-shaped stone! Here’s the film of the clever rooks with rocks.
Rooks are even more clever than we thought. Photo: foxypar4
The birds also quickly learnt how to bend a straight piece of wire to make a hook, so they could pull up a small container with food in it from the bottom of a test tube. It is amazing to see! Watch the film clip.
Betty, a captive New Caledonian crow, was the only captive bird who had previously been seen to do this. Crows in the wild do use tools, such as twigs and leaves. They use their beaks to make these tools into a satisfactory shape and then pick up ants and other insects. They also use grass stems. The rooks showed they can use and make tools too; three out of four made a hook in their first trial. One of the researchers pointed out: “The study shows the creativity and insight that rooks have when they solve problems.”
Rooks also understand that they can work in pairs to get a good food source. In this experiment, also reported by the BBC, researchers put two hooks on a small tray which had treats for the rooks, and then put a length of string through the hooks. The rooks were in an enclosure and the tray was just out of their reach. To pull the tray to them and get the food, each rook needed to pull on the strings at either side of the tray. The rooks all worked this out – some immediately and others took a bit longer. The rooks’ understanding of this “need for team work” is said to be as good as that of chimpanzees. Here’s the film clip of the dexterous rooks.
Rooks and crows are both in the corvid family, along with jackdaws, jays, magpies and ravens. These birds have long had a reputation for being clever and researcher Nathan Bird at the University of Cambridge said: “I would rate corvids as being as intelligent as primates in many ways.”
