much so that here it is possible only to sketch out and suggest
its foundations and scope. On birds alone, an entire volume should
be written; but animal intelligence is a subject as far reaching
as the winds of the earth.
No man who ever saw high in the heavens a V-shaped flock of wild
geese, or heard the honk language either afloat, ashore or in the
air, will deny the spoken language of that species. If any one
should do so, let him listen to the wild-goose wonder tales of
Jack Miner, and hear him imitate (to perfection) the honk call of
the gander at his pond, calling to wild flocks in the sky and
telling them about the corn and safety down where he is.
The woodpecker drums on the high and dry limb of a dead tree his
resounding signal-call that is nothing more nor less (in our view)
than so much sign language.
It was many years ago that we first heard in the welcome days of
early spring the resounding _"Boo-hoo-hoo"_ courting call of
the cock pinnated grouse, rolling over the moist earth for a mile
or more in words too plain to be misunderstood.
The American magpie talks beautifully; but I regret to say that I
do not understand a word of its language. One summer we had
several fine specimens in the great flying-cage, with the big and
showy waterfowl, condor, griffon vulture, ravens and crows. One of
those magpies often came over to the side of the cage to talk to
me, and as I believe, make complaints. Whether he complained about
his big and bulky cagemates, or the keepers, or me, I could not
tell; but I thought that his grievances were against the large
birds. Whenever I climbed over the guard rail and stooped down, he
would come close up to the wire, stand in one spot, and in a
quiet, confidential tone talk to me earnestly and gesticulate with
his head for five minutes straight. I have heard senile old men
run on in low-voiced, unintelligible clack in precisely the same
way. The modulations of that bird's voice, its inflections and its
vocabulary were wonderful. From his manner a messenger from Mars
might easily have inferred that the bird believed that every word
of the discourse was fully understood.
The lion roars, magnificently. The hyena "laughs"; the gray wolf
gives a mournful howl, the coyote barks and howls, and the fox
yaps. The elk bugles, the moose roars and bawls, in desire or
defiance. The elephant trumpets or screams in the joy of good
feeding, or in fear or rage; and it also rumbles deeply away down
in its throat. The red squirrel barks and chatters, usually to
scold some one whom he hates, but other small rodents know that
silence is golden.
The birds have the best voices of all creatures. They are the
sweet singers of the animal world, and to the inquiring mind that
field is a wonderland.
The frogs are vociferous; and now if they were more silent they
would last longer.
Of all the reptiles known to me, only two utter vocal sounds,--the
alligator and the elephant tortoise. The former roars or bellows,
the latter grunts.
IV
THE MOST INTELLIGENT ANIMALS
To the professional animal-man, year in and year out comes the
eternal question, "Which are the most intelligent animals?"
The question is entirely legitimate. What animals are the best
exponents of animal intelligence?
It seems to me that the numerous factors involved, and the
comparisons that must be made, can best be expressed in figures.
Opinions that are based upon only one or two sets of facts are not
worth much. There are about ten factors to be taken into account
and appraised separately.
In order to express many opinions in a small amount of space, we
submit a table of estimates and summaries, covering a few
mammalian species that are representative of many. But, try as
they will, it is not likely that any two animal men will set down
the same estimates. It all depends upon the wealth or the poverty
of first-hand, eye-witness evidence. When we enter the field of
evidence that must stand in quotation marks, we cease to know
where we will come out. We desire to state that nearly all of the
figures in the attached table of estimates are based upon the
author's own observations, made during a period of more than
forty years of ups and downs with wild animals. ESTIMATES OF THE
COMPARATIVE INTELLIGENCE AND ABILITY OF CERTAIN CONSPICUOUS WILD
ANIMALS, BASED UPON KNOWN PERFORMANCES, OR THE ABSENCE OF THEM.
[Footnote: To the author, correspondence regarding the reasons for
these estimates is impossible.]
[beginning of chart]
Perfection in all=100 [list of categories below are written
vertically above the columns, with the last column unnamed and
representing a total score of animal intelligence/1000]
Hereditary Knowledge Perceptive Faculties Original Thought Memory
Reason Receptivity in Training Efficiency in Execution Nervous
Energy Keenness of the Senses Use of the Voice
Primates
Chimpanzee . . . . . . . . .100 100 100 100 75 100 100 100 100 50 925
Orang-Utan . . . . . . . . .100 100 100 75 100 75 100 75 100 25 850
Gorilla. . . . . . . . . . . . .50 50 50 50 75 25 25 50 100 25 500
Ungulates
Indian Elephant . . . . . .100 100 100 100 100 100 100 75 50 25 850
Rhinoceros. . . . . . . . .25 25 25 25 25 0 0 25 25 0 175
Giraffe . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 25 25 25 25 25 0 25 100 0 300
White-Tailed Deer . . .100 100 100 25 50 0 0 100 100 0 575
Big-Horn Sheep . . . . . .100 100 50 25 50 0 0 100 100 0 525
Mountain Goat. . . . . . .100 100 100 25 100 0 0 100 100 0 625
Domestic Horse. . . . . .100 100 100 75 75 75 75 100 100 50 850
Carnivores
Lion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 100 50 75 50 75 50 100 100 25 725
Tiger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 75 50 50 50 25 25 100 100 0 575
Grizzly Bear . . . . . . . . .100 100 50 25 50 75 50 75 100 25 725
Brown Bear (European)100 100 50 25 50 75 50 75 100 25 650
Gray Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . 100 100 100 25 75 00 100 100 25 625
Coyote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 75 50 25 50 0 0 75 100 25 500
Red Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 100 50 75 100 0 0 100 100 25 650
Domestic Dog . . . . . . . . .50 100 75 75 75 75 100 100 100 100 850
Wolverine . . . . . . . . . . .100 100 100 25 100 0 75 100 100 0 700
Beaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 100 100 25 100 0 100 100 100 0 725
According to the author's information and belief, _these are
"the most intelligent" animals:_ The Chimpanzee is the most
intelligent of all animals below man. His mind approaches most
closely to that of man, and it carries him farthest upward toward
the human level. He can learn more by training, and learn more
easily, than any other animal.
The Orang-Utan is mentally next to the chimpanzee.
The Indian Elephant in mental capacity is third from man.
The high-class domestic Horse is a very wise and capable animal;
but this is chiefly due to its age-long association with man, and
education by him. Mentally the wild horse is a very different
animal, and in the intellectual scale it ranks with the deer and
antelopes.
The Beaver manifests, in domestic economy, more intelligence,
mechanical skill and reasoning power than any other wild animal.
The Lion is endowed with keen perceptive faculties, reasoning
ability and judgment of a high order, and its mind is
surprisingly receptive.
The Grizzly Bear is believed to be the wisest of all bears.
The Pack Rat (_Neotona_) is the intellectual phenomenon of
the great group of gnawing animals. It is in a class by itself.
The White Mountain Goat seems to be the wisest of all the mountain
summit animals whose habits are known to zoologists and sportsmen.
A high-class Dog is the animal that mentally is in closest touch
with the mind, the feelings and the impulses of man; and it is the
only one that can read a man's feelings from his eyes and his
facial expression.
The Marvelous Beaver. Let us consider this animal as an
illuminating example of high-power intelligence.
In domestic economy the beaver is the most intelligent of all
living mammals. His inherited knowledge, his original thought, his
reasoning power and his engineering and mechanical skill in
constructive works are marvelous and beyond compare. In his
manifold industrial activities, there is no other mammal that is
even a good second to him. He builds dams both great and
small, to provide water in which to live, to store food and to
escape from his enemies. He builds air-tight houses of sticks and
mud, either as islands, or on the shore. When he cannot live as a
pond-beaver with a house he cheerfully becomes a river-beaver.
He lives in a river-bank burrow when house-building in a pond
is impossible; and he will cheerfully tunnel under a stone wall
from one-pond monotony, to go exploring outside.
[Illustration: CHRISTMAS AT THE
PRIMATES' HOUSE Chimpanzees (with large ears) and orang-utans
(small ears). The animal on the extreme right is an orang of the
common caste]
He cuts down trees, both small and large, and he makes them fall
as he wishes them to fall. He trims off all branches, and leaves
no "slash" to cumber the ground. He buries green branches, in
great quantity, in the mud at the bottom of his pond, so that in
winter he can get at them under a foot of solid ice. He digs
canals, of any length he pleases, to float logs and billets of
wood from hinterland to pond.
If you are locating beavers in your own zoo, and are wise, you can
induce beavers to build their dam where you wish it to be. This is
how we did it!
We dug out a pond of mud in order that the beavers might have a
pond of water; and we wished the beavers to build a dam forty feet
long, at a point about thirty feet from the iron fence where the
brook ran out. On thinking it over we concluded that we could
manage it by showing the animals where we wished them to go to
work.
We set a l2-inch plank on its edge, all the way across the dam
site, and pegged it down. Above it the water soon formed a little
pool and began to flow over the top edge in a very miniature
waterfall. Then we turned loose four beavers and left them.
The next morning we found a cart-load of sticks and fresh mud
placed like a dam against the iron fence. In beaver language this
said to us:
"We would rather build our dam here,--if you don't mind. It will
be easier for us, and quicker."
We removed all their material; and in our language that action
said: "No; we would rather have you build over the plank."
The next night more mud and sticks piled against the fence said to
us,
"We really _insist_ upon building it here!"
We made a second clearance of their materials, saying in effect:
"You _shall not_ build against the fence! You _must_
build where we tell you!"
Thereupon, the beavers began to build over the plank, saying,
"Oh, well, if you are going to make a fuss about it, we will let
you have your way."
So they built a beautiful water-tight dam precisely where we
suggested it to them, and after that our only trouble was to keep
them from overdoing the matter, and flooding the whole valley.
I am not going to dwell upon the mind and manners of the beaver.
The animal is well known. Three excellent books have been written
and pictured about him, in the language that the General Reader
understands. They are as follows: "The American Beaver and His
Works," Lewis H. Morgan (1868); "The Romance of the Beaver," A. R.
Dugmore (no date); "History and Traditions of the Canada Beaver,"
H. T. Martin (1892).
"Clever Hans," the "Thinking Horse." From 1906 to 1910 the world
read much about a wonderful educated horse owned and educated by
Herr von Osten, in Germany. The German scientists who first came
in touch with "Hans" were quite bowled over by the discovery that
that one horse could "think." The _Review of Reviews_ said,
in 1910:
"It may be recalled that Clever Hans knew figures and letters,
colors and tones, the calendar and the dial, that he could count
and read, deal with decimals and fractions, spell out answers to
questions with his right hoof, and recognize people from having
seen their photographs. In every case his 'replies' were given in
the form of scrapings with his right forehoof.
"Whether the questioner was von Osten, who had worked with him for
seven years, or a man like Schillings, who was a complete
stranger, seemed immaterial; and this went farthest, perhaps, in
disposing of all talk of 'collusion' between master and beast."
Now, by the bald records of the case the fact was fixed for all
time that Hans was the most wonderful mental prodigy that ever
bore the form of a four-footed animal. His learning and his
performances were astounding, and even uncanny. I do not care how
he was trained, nor by what process he received ideas and reacted
to them! He was a phenomenon, and I doubt whether this world ever
sees his like again. His mastery of figures alone, no matter how
it was wrought, was enough to make any animal or trainer
illustrious.
But eventually Clever Hans came to grief. He was ostensibly
thrown off his pedestal, in Germany, by human jealousy and
egotism. Several industrious German scientists deliberately set
to work to discredit him, and they stuck to it until they
accomplished that task. The chief instrument in this was no less a
man than the director of the "Psychological Institute" of the
Berlin University, Professor Otto Pfungst. He found that when Hans
was put on the witness stand and subjected to rigid cross
examinations _by strangers_, his answers were due partly to
_telepathy and hypnotic influence_! For example, the
discovery was made that Hans could not always give the correct
answer to a problem in figures unless it was known to the
questioner himself.
To Hans's inquisitors this discovery imparted a terrible shock. It
did not look like "thinking" after all! The mental process was
_different_ from the process of the German mind! The
wonderful fact that Hans could remember and recognize and
_reproduce_ the ten digits was entirely lost to view. At once
a shout went up all over Germany,--in the scientific circle, that
Hans was an "impostor," that he could not "think," and that his
mind was nothing much after all.
Poor Hans! The glory that should have been his, and imperishable,
is gone. He was the victim of scientists of one idea, who had no
sense of proportion. He truly WAS a thinking horse; and we are
sure that there are millions of men whose minds could not be
developed to the point that the mind of that "dumb" animal
attained,--no, not even with the aid of hypnotism and telepathy.
The bare fact that a horse _can_ be influenced by occult
mental powers proves the close parallelism that exists between the
brains of men and beasts. The Trap-Door Spider. Let no one
suppose for one moment that animal mind and intelligence is
limited to the brain-bearing vertebrates. The scope and activity
of the notochord in some of the invertebrates present phenomena
far more wonderful per capita than many a brain produces.
Interesting books have been written, and more will be written
hereafter, on the minds and doings of ants, bees, wasps, spiders
and other insects.
Consider the ways and means of the ant-lion of the East, and the
trap-door spider of the western desert regions. As one object
lesson from the insect world, I will flash upon the screen, for a
moment only, the trap-door spider. This wonderful insect personage
has been exhaustively studied by Mr. Raymond L. Ditmars, in the
development of a series of moving pictures, and at my request he
has contributed the following graphic description of this
spider's wonderful work.
"The trap-door spiders, inhabiting the warmer portions of both the
Old and New Worlds, dig a deep tunnel in the soil, line this with
a silken wallpaper, then construct a hinged door at the top so
perfectly fitted and camouflaged with soil, that when it is closed
there is no indication of the burrow. Moreover, the inside portion
of the door of some species is so constructed that it may be
"latched," there being two holes near the edge, precisely placed
where the curved fangs may be inserted and the door held firmly
closed. Also, the trap-door of a number of species is so designed
as to be absolutely rain-proof, being bevelled and as accurately
fitting a corresponding bevel of the tube as the setting of a
compression valve of a gasolene engine.
[Illustration: THE TRAP-DOOR
SPIDER'S DOOR AND BURROW By R. L. Ditmars 1. The door closed. Its
top carefully counterfeits the surrounding ground. 2. The door
with silken hinge, held open by a needle. 3. The spider in its
doorway, looking for prey. 4. Section of the burrow and trap-
door.]
"The study of a number of specimens of our southern California
species, which builds the cork-type door, including observations
of them at night, when they are particularly active, indicates
that the construction of the tube involves other material than the
silken lining employed by many burrowing spiders. In the
excavation of the tube and retention of the walls, the spider
appears to employ a glairy substance, which thoroughly saturates
the soil and renders the interior of the tube of almost cement-
like hardness. It is then plastered with a thick jet of silk from
the spinning glands. This interior finishing process appears to
be quite rapid, a burrow being readily lined within a couple of
hours.
"The construction of the trap-door is a far more complicated
process, this convex, beautifully bevelled entrance with its hinge
requiring real scientific skill. Judging from observations on a
number of specimens, the work is done from the outside, the spider
first spinning a net-like covering over the mouth of the tube.
This is thickened by weaving the body over the net, each motion
leaving a smoky trail of silk. Earth is then shoveled into the
covering, the spider carefully pushing the particles toward the
centre, which soon sags, and assumes the proper curvature, and
automatically moulds against the bevelled walls of the tube.
"The shoveling process must be nicely regulated to produce the
proper bevel and thickness of the door. Then the cementing
process is applied to the top, rendering the door a solid unit.
From the actions of these spiders,--which often calmly rest an
hour without a move,--it appears that the edges of the door are
now subjected, by the stout and sharp fangs, to a cutting process
like that of a can opener, leaving a portion of the marginal silk
to act as a hinge. This hinge afterward receives some finishing
touches, and the top of the door is either pebbled or finished
with a few fragments of dead vegetation, cemented on, in order to
exactly match the surrounding soil."
V
THE RIGHTS OF WILD ANIMALS
Every harmless wild bird and mammal has the right to live out its
life according to its destiny; and man is in honor bound to
respect those rights. At the same time it is a mistake to regard
each wild bird or quadruped as a sacred thing, which under no
circumstances may be utilized by man. We are not fanatical Hindus
of the castes which religiously avoid the "taking of life" of any
kind, and gently push aside the flea, the centipede and the
scorpion. The reasoning powers of such people are strictly
limited, the same as those of people who are opposed to the
removal by death of the bandits and murderers of the human race.
The highest duty of a reasoning being is to reason. We have no
moral or legal right to act like idiots, or to become a menace to
society by protecting criminal animals or criminal men from
adequate punishment. Like the tree that is known by its fruit,
every alleged "reasoning being" is to be judged by the daily
output of his thoughts.
Toward wild life, our highest duty is to be sane and sensible, in
order to be just, and to promote the greatest good for the
greatest number. Be neither a Hindu fanatic nor a cruel game-
butcher like a certain wild-animal slaughterer whom I knew, who
while he was on earth earned for himself a place in the hottest
corner of the hereafter, and quickly passed on to occupy it.
The following planks constitute a good platform on which to base
our relations with the wild animal world, and by which to regulate
our duty to the creatures that have no means of defense against
the persecutions of cruel men. They may be regarded as
representing the standards that have been fixed by enlightened and
humane civilization.
THE WILD ANIMALS' BILL OF RIGHTS
This Bill of Rights is to be copied and displayed conspicuously
in all zoological parks and gardens, zoos and menageries; in all
theatres and shows where animal performances are given, and in all
places where wild animals and birds are trained, sold or kept for
the pleasure of their owners.
Article 1. In view of the nearness of the approach of the higher
animals to the human level, no just and humane man can deny that
those wild animals have certain rights which man is in honor bound
to respect.
Art. 2. The fact that God gave man "dominion over the beasts of
the field" does not imply a denial of animal rights, any more than
the supremacy of a human government conveys the right to oppress
and maltreat its citizens.
Art. 3. Under certain conditions it is justifiable for man to kill
a limited number of the so-called game animals, on the same basis
of justification that domestic animals and fowls may be killed for
food.
Art. 4. While the trapping of fur-bearing animals is a necessary
evil, that evil must be minimized by reducing the sufferings of
trapped animals to the lowest possible point, and by preventing
wasteful trapping.
Art. 5. The killing of harmless mammals or birds solely for
"sport," and without utilizing them when killed, is murder; and no
good and humane man will permit himself to engage in any such
offenses against good order and the rights of wild creatures.
Art. 6. Shooting at sea-going creatures from moving vessels,
without any possibility of securing them if killed or wounded, is
cruel, reprehensible, and criminal, and everywhere should be
forbidden by ship captains, and also by law, under penalties.
Art. 7. The extermination of a harmless wild animal species is a
crime; but the regulated destruction of wild pests that have been
proven guilty, is sometimes necessary and justifiable.
Art. 8. No group or species of birds or mammals that is accused of
offenses sufficiently grave to merit destruction shall be
condemned undefended and unheard, nor without adequate evidence of
a character which would be acceptable in a court of law.
Art. 9. The common assumption that every bird or mammal that
offends, or injures the property of any man, is necessarily
deserving of death, is absurd and intolerable. The death penalty
should be the last resort, not the first one!
Art. 10. Any nation that fails adequately to protect its crop-and-
tree-protecting birds deserves to have its fields and forests
devastated by predatory insects.
Art. 11. No person has any moral right to keep a wild mammal,
bird, reptile or fish in a state of uncomfortable, unhappy or
miserable captivity, and all such practices should be prevented by
law, under penalty. It is entirely feasible for a judge to
designate a competent person as a referee to examine and decide
upon each case.
Art. 12. A wild creature that cannot be kept in comfortable
captivity should not be kept at all; and the evils to be guarded
against are cruelly small quarters, too much darkness, too much
light, uncleanliness, bad odors, and bad food. A fish in a glass
globe, or a live bird in a cage the size of a collar-box is a case
of cruelty.
Art. 13. Every captive animal that is suffering hopelessly from
disease or the infirmities of old age has the right to be
painlessly relieved of the burdens of life.
Art. 14. Every keeper or owner of a captive wild animal who
through indolence, forgetfulness or cruelty permits a wild
creature in his charge to perish of cold, heat, hunger or thirst
because of his negligence, is guilty of a grave misdemeanor, and
he should be punished as the evidence and the rights of captive
animals demand.
Art. 15. An animal in captivity has a right to do all the damage
to its surroundings that it can do, and it is not to be punished
therefor.
Art. 16. The idea that all captive wild animals are necessarily
"miserable" is erroneous, because some captive animals are better
fed, better protected and are more happy in captivity than similar
animals are in a wild state, beset by dangers and harassed by
hunger and thirst. It is the opinion of the vast majority of
civilized people that there is no higher use to which a wild bird
or mammal can be devoted than to place it in perfectly comfortable
captivity to be seen by millions of persons who desire to make
its acquaintance.