Because I was writing about pets (last time, I mean) I thought I’d continue. Humankind is finally learning about animal intelligence and behavior. In the past, animals were generally thought of as something dumb, disposable, targets for hunters, creatures in the way of progress. How could we build large environment-polluting, coal-fired power plants and factories or asphalt-paved parking lots with these useless critters, not to mention native Americans, in the way? Rev up the bulldozers. They all need to go.
Anyone who’s owned more than one pet of similar type, such as cats, dogs, rocks, wildebeests, knows each member of the species has its own personality and habits. For instance, we’ve had a lot of hamsters over the years. Although many traits were common to all individuals of the species, such as sometimes eating their newborns or maxing out their credit cards, each hamster was unique in its own way. They all may look alike, but as with human twins, parents, or pet owners can tell them apart
For instance, I’ve lived with a lot of cats. When I was young and still inhabiting my parents’ home, one of our cats took a liking to me. When I was driving home from work one afternoon, I spotted it almost two blocks away from our house, walking down the sidewalk (the cat not the house) in the opposite direction. He must have heard the car pass by because in the rearview mirror I saw him stop, turn around, and start trotting back toward the house. He was following me. I pulled in the driveway and in a few seconds, he jumped up on the hood of my vehicle and sat looking at me through the windshield. He’d obviously recognized my car. A few seconds later, he coughed up a hairball. No, just kidding. He was happy to see me.
I’m sure big cats such as lions are individuals too, although I’ve never been close enough to a bunch of them to hang around and find out… at least the big ones. I did hold a baby lion once. It was kind of like holding a cross between a 10-pound marshmallow and a Brillo pad. What I mean is her body was squishy, but her coarse fur made her feel a bit scratchy. All she did was yowl or cry, whatever baby lions do. I saw her late the following year and she was no longer squishy and yowling. She was full-grown and growling, chasing after a ball tossed in her cage. She was playful like our housecats. A housecat that could bite your head off.
One last comment about elephants because I mentioned them in my previous piece, they, too, are intelligent with their own personalities. Esther, the old one I’d told you had some fun in a Pennsylvania forest preserve, validated the adage that an elephant never forgets. Her first trainer, long since retired, came by one day to visit the circus. He’d heard that Esther, now 72, was still performing. She was outside enjoying some hay when the old trainer picked up a ball to see if she remembered a trick he’d taught her when they were both with Ringling Brothers, a trick she hadn’t done in the 50 years since he’d left for another circus. He never made her new trainer aware of it. He tossed Esther the ball, gave her the command, and she did the trick. I think of this sometimes when I can’t remember what day it is.
As for animal intelligence, I think they have it all over us in some ways. They don’t worry about their looks, or money, or even if Donald Trump is president. They don’t kill for fun. The just go through life doing animal things, leaving the stress and worry to us. I don’t kill animals. I have an understanding with them: If you don’t come in my home to kill me, I won’t go into nature, your home, to kill you. Some time back I was having a conversation with world-famous author Scott Turow. We world-famous authors all hang out together, y’know. Our talk turned to capital punishment, which Scott is against. He asked me how I felt. I told him I don’t even kill spiders. “Haaaa,” he said (that’s his drawn out laugh). “I don’t go that far.”
I figure life is pretty special. We haven’t as yet been able to create it from scratch. You can’t buy a hunk of life from Amazon, ship it free with prime®,pick it up at Walmart and use it to create a new gerbil, Tasmanian Devil, or spouse. I let things, as Mr. Spock would say, “Live long and prosper.” Except for my lawn. The grass won’t. The dandelions will.