Animal Talk: Breaking the Codes of Animal Language

by Tim Friend

If animal behavior is mostly instinctual, why do animals need to communicate? Is it possible that there is a universal language spoken and understood by all animals on earth, including humans? Do barks, growls, rumbles, chirps, yips, and meows have communicative meanings?
"No matter what species," writes acclaimed science journalist Tim Friend, "we're all concerned with the same topics of conversation -- sex, real estate, who's boss, and what's for dinner." In Animal Talk, Friend draws upon years of field research, interviews with preeminent scientists, and lively personal anecdotes to find out how our animal neighbors communicate and what their languages mean. From bird calls to whale songs, laughing hyenas to rattling snakes, an elephant cry in the jungle to the bark of a Chihuahua in his own backyard, Friend tells the grand story of animal communication through the sounds, stripes, scents, and signals of the animals themselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2003

Reviews

[Frances Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really interesting stuff in here which made me think hard if we're taking enough factors into consideration when we take animals, particularly orphaned birds, into care. I got a bit fed up with him banging on about evolution and at times I wondered what the focus of the book was - but the later chapters concentrated on the reason I picked up the book, which was to learn about the various ways animals communicate.

[Suzie]

A book about animal communication by a journalist, not an animal behaviorist. Still a good read.

[Alexandra Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A journalists thoughts on animal behavior/language... interesting perspective.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought-provoking look into animal communication and the lives of animals from the perspective that we are all speaking a common language.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed from library.

FS: "Just before midnight, I crawl off my hammock and slip quietly from under the blessed drapes of mosquito netting."
LS:

(In notebook.)