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| Crows are very smart, not to mention beautiful. |
I remember when I first started fishing, my grandpa told me fish didn't feel any pain. That isn't what it looked like when I had a fish on the ground in front of me.
Now we know better. Fish feel pain. I don't fish any more, but am glad that I can in case the grocery stores quit stocking food, or if that food gets too expensive to eat. Until that time I am happy to see fish swimming free in the water. Unmolested (I do not do torture and release either).
Fish do feel pain, and are smart. Other smart creatures on Earth include the following (in order of intelligence).
- Chimps
- Dolphins
- Elephants
- Cephalopods (octopi, squids and cuttlefish)
- Crows
- Squirrels
- Pigs
- Dogs
- Cats
- Humans
Just kidding about the "in order of intelligence" part, but I wasn't sure where exactly homo sapiens sapiens fit on the list of Earth's most intelligent.
Do other creatures kill each other for no reason? Do they soil their own nests? Are they threatening life as we know it on this planet?
Do other creatures kill each other for no reason? Do they soil their own nests? Are they threatening life as we know it on this planet?
I do know that the more I learn about nature, the less intelligent we seem in comparison.
Crows are awesome creatures. I saw a PBS special about them one time and fell in love. The scientists actually showed that crows grieve when one of the flock perishes. They are very smart too as you say.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's a good idea to treat all living things as if they have some kind of feeling or response of some kind. Plants respond to injury. If a green leaf is folded and creased, it becomes darker at the injured spot and seems to weep or be sending fluid to the crease. Many plants put off aromas when damaged or changed in some way. Think how grass smells after being cut. Or rub a leaf on a tomato vine. New research is showing that trees have a communication system via their roots. When one tree needs nitrogen another tree that might be pretty far away sends nitrogen toward the tree in need and other tree root systems continue to carry it to the tree in need. It was jaw-dropping to learn that and see the researchers' maps of the root systems.
Good post, reminds us to be gentle with all living things.
It seems there is a cultural dislike for crows. In Nova Scotia there is an open season on them because they say crows do damage to crops. How mean! And they call a group of crows a murder.
DeleteI love crows, too. The ones that visit us every day are infinitely interesting and fun to hang out with. They are smart, and quite humorous, too. They let us know, in a variety of ways, when we are too slow putting out their peanuts. They sit in the front yard and call, or do a slow fly-by at one of our windows.
Isn't that something about trees? On the surface they look separate, but underneath it all they all linked. A good metaphor for the interconnectedness of all of humanity, the planet, and all that exists in the Universe.
More gentleness all around. We are one.