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Animal Communication
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Oh my! There is so much to say about communication between cats. But I think I have to leave it until I write "The Cats of Happy Cats Ranch", which will probably be my next writing project.So much upfront: There is more communication between cats that one can imagine. And it goes on without humans seeing or hearing any signs of it.
I have created a bookshelf of over 60 books about animal communication and am reading my way through it. I would love to discuss these books with anyone else in the group that is interested. :)
Luminea wrote: "I have created a bookshelf of over 60 books about animal communication and am reading my way through it. I would love to discuss these books with anyone else in the group that is interested. :)"I would be interested. However, due to all kinds of troubles and also health problems, I am backlogged with everything. So I'll have to postpone. You might want to remind me. You are young, and your memory is probably better than mine. :-)
Mod
Where is your list located?
Mod
There is some interesting research on Elephant Communication, especially their use of low frequency rumbles (infrasound). They are highly intelligent social animals with a range of developed communication methods. See links at:
http://www.upali.ch/communication_en....
"Acoustic Communication" How Elephants Communicate 2004. Elephant Voices.org 8 Feb 2007
http://www.elephantvoices.org/index.p...
Summarised very well in the following educational book for high school age youngsters:
Elephant Talk
The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication
Hardcover or E-Book
By: Ann Downer
©2011
Twenty-First Century Books
Series: Nonfiction - Grades 4-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-7613-5766-7
Mod
I've read a lot on the subject of communicating with horses, and tried a lot of the ideas out myself. It's amazing how the smallest movements or positions can have a world of meaning to animals.
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I have worked as a volunteer at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand and I strongly believe now that elephants should not be domesticated. They are essentially wild animals and because of their size,intelligence and family based social structure; they always suffer when domesticated. Traditional Asian methods of training baby elephants are cruel. They involve separation from mothers, sleep and food deprivation and beatings to teach them to fear the prong and make them manageable.
I quote from chapter 1 The Elephants Picnic in my book: Of Mice and Zen. Animal Encounters in the Life of a Wandering Buddhist
"Some elephant experts, such as Joyce Poole, argue that there should be no domesticated elephants. They argue that they should not be captured from the wild and raised in captivity.
I agree with this view; and in fact wild elephant capture was made illegal in Thailand in 1957.
In addition they oppose the domestic breeding of elephants for use in trekking, elephant shows and zoos, on the basis that training and restraint of domestic elephants, even when not intentionally harsh or cruel, is inherently against the nature of the elephant, which is fundamentally a wild animal, and should have the freedom to roam in nature in its family herd, not restricted and controlled by humans. In principle, I agree with this too, but it still
leaves the problem of what to do with the existing population of domestic elephants, which in Thailand consists of about 3,500 animals. These still need to be cared for. The only facility which gives former domesticated elephants a life of freedom coming as close as possible to
the life of wild elephants, with reduced human contact and no chains or riding, is the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai Province. This sanctuary takes care of about thirty
elephants, and is rescuing more as funds become available. Given that the domesticated elephant population in Thailand is over 3,000 then a lot more sanctuaries like this would
have to be funded. As always, the crucial reason for the retention of domestic elephants is money. Trekking, and performing elephants in shows, and even elephants in zoos, are big income generators, drawing Thai and foreign tourists. Unless tourists can be educated not to
support this commercial exploitation of elephants, then the elephants will continue to be bred and trained. Mercifully, begging elephants are now illegal in the streets of Bangkok and other Thai cities, and local government supported projects are under way to help mahouts
and their elephants return to Surin and settle in the traditional elephant villages, and still
retain an income based on the attracting of tourists to these rural locations. Not ideal perhaps, but better than seeing elephants suffering as they beg in polluted and noisy cities.
The wild elephant population of Thailand is about 3,000 animals in isolated herds in the National Parks.
Brilliant video from Canada. Thanks for posting. He looks just like my GSD "Pepsi".
My Irish Setter, "Paddy" did something similar about 27 years ago. Leading my wife out of our garden, to guide her to our 3 year old daughter, who was wandering down a lane towards a busy road. I am sure Paddy is in Heaven....either that or reborn as Pepsi. Paddy's story and many Pepsi stories are also in my book, OF MICE & ZEN.
Stewart - When I was in vet school a traveling circus came to Philadelphia. As they were packing up to leave the city, one of the elephants slipped off the loading ramp and crashed to the pavement. She was not able to get up because of an injury to her front leg. So this created a huge predicament for this pachyderm and for city officials. The vet school was contacted- the large animal section- and asked or begged for help. So after much to do a crane was brought to the site and "Mabel" was lifted up into a truck where she was transported to the Equine Center- where she was x-rayed and found to have a dislocated wrist or carpus.
Eventually she had surgery to repair the dislocation, set the wrist and a huge plaster cast reinforced with steel rods applied to the leg. She stayed at the center for over a month and became a celebrity. The wrist also healed well. She was lucky that it healed okay since no one there ever did surgery on an elephant before. But she was also unlucky because she returned to the miserable life of a circus elephant traveling from one city to another. Hopefully she would be able to retire some day to a sanctuary of some sort.
Mod
Samuel Hawley's book Bad Elephant Far Stream is a sad but excellent novel, based on the experiences of circus elephants.
Here is my recent review of it....
Samuel Hawley, (Goodreads Author & member of ALL ABOUT ANIMALS Reading group) "Bad Elephant Far Stream"
This is a meticulously researched and well told story of Circus Elephants in the USA in the late 19th & early 20th centuries. It is based on the true story of Topsy, a circus elephant who became dangerous through abuse and ill treatment, and was executed at Coney Island in 1903. The author has incorporated the real experiences of other circus elephants of the period, into his narrative.
It is a well told and important story, but very upsetting.
It describes the capture of Far Stream and her sister in Sri Lanka; and their shipment, training and the working lives of circus elephants in the USA during this period.
The level of ignorance and brutality shown by "keepers" & "trainers" is shocking. The one lesson they seem to have absorbed from the Asian mahouts, was the idea that young elephants have to be brutally “broken”, through sleep and food deprivation, along with physical abuse. This idea is totally untrue, but remains basic to the training of most domestic elephants in Asia today. It is one of the reasons that the so called domestication and training should end, because in countries such as India, Sri Lanka , Thailand and Burma, there is no effective way of educating and policing mahouts to ensure that their methods do not involve cruelty. The humane training of elephants requires a time commitment and research based level of understanding of elephants needs, which these countries are not able to achieve.
The 19th & early 20th century circus trainers and so called experts had no conception of the family social structure, communication methods and basic biological drives of the elephants, and were operating within a sphere and ignorance and arrogance. They were not even aware of the male musth in elephants, when mature males are driven crazy by their testosterone and urge to mate. This state occurs about once a year, and during it most male elephants call kill or injure their keepers or anyone else approaching them. The circus and zoo staff had no understanding of this, and attributed the behavior to disobedience and the elephant turning bad.
Many trainers and members of the public felt the urge to prove their courage and superiority to the elephant by torturing and provoking it. In case anyone thinks this ignorant mindset is a feature of a bygone age, think again. The elephant which charged into the crowd and killed Andrea Taylor, a teenage British tourist at Nong Nuch Garden near Pattaya in April 2000, was also the victim of this kind of ignorance.
The elephants were being overworked, performing in tourist shows, coupled with the fact that the tourists behind the girl were teasing the elephant with food. The tourists responsible for this provocation were Russian. The elephant charged through to get at the food, and Andrea Taylor was crushed. I would say this was due to the irresponsible and cruel use of elephants in shows, and idiotic behaviour by tourists in the audience.
One of the strengths of the Samuel Hawley’s book is that it avoids a too emotional approach, letting the facts of these elephants’ lives speak for themselves. Another strength of the book is the feel for the period described. One actually gets a sense of the language and values of the late 19th century.
Distressing though the subject matter is, I urge people to read this book.
The reviewer has written about his own experience with rescued elephants in Thailand in his book: OF MICE & ZEN. Animal Encounters in the Life of a Wandering Buddhist.
Available on Amazon (for Kindle) or EPub at:
http://www.taichi-exercises.com
Free sample chapters on Goodreads or the above.
Anna Breytenbach
Anna is a professional animal communicator who has received advanced training through the Assisi International Animal Institute in California, USA and has been practising for 12 years in South Africa, Europe and the USA with domestic and wild animals. Her conservation experience includes working with cheetahs, lions, wolves, baboons and elephants in educational and rehabilitation programmes. Anna's goal is to raise awareness and advance the relationships among humans and other species, on both the personal and spiritual levels. She’s also the subject of the documentary movie “The Animal Communicator” due for international release in 2013. In her communication and conservation work, Anna lives her personal mission of being a voice for the animals and the wilderness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Lc5M...
http://www.animalspirit.org/