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Tue 2 Sep, 2003 09:27 am
Bumblebeeboogie wrote:Of course, when it comes to the ultimate test of what distinguishes humans from the other creatures, scientists have long believed that mourning for the dead represents the real divide. It's commonly believed that other animals have no sense of their mortality and are unable to comprehend the concept of their own death. Not necessarily so. Animals, it appears, experience grief. Elephants will often stand next to their dead kin for days, occasionally touching their bodies with their trunks.
I always thought the ultimate test was tool use. Hmm.
Tool use got done in ages ago - lots of critters use them - from chimps with termite sticks and nut-cracking rocks, to sea otters with their special shell fish rocks, to crows and suchlike who use cars to crack nuts to ants who use silk from their young to stick things together....been reported for years.
It got spooky when apes taught sign language taught it to others - and started "whispering" to themselves, by keeping the signs out of sight of their human teachers.
What is truly amazing is that the so-called 'learned' professors taught that tool use was limited to human beings. Were they all raised in apartments? Anyone who has spent any time in nature can see tool use among almost every species.
My cousin had to put one of her very old cats down. She arranged to have her other cat stay with friends so that she could take the sick cat to the vet's office without causing the remaining cat too much stress. She brought the body back and buried it in the back yard, digging a very deep grave. When the other cat was brought home that evening, he immediately wanted out--went directly to the spot of his old friend's grave and started to moan and howl.
Emotions and abstract thought are quite evident if you are aware and familiar with animal behavior.
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