Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures

I was tempted to say I was blown away by this sensitive and informative book about the inner minds and emotions of animals. But I'm not really. For anyone who loves and respects animals, this is more a confirmation of what we may have suspected than a surprise.

Virginia Morrell does a wonderful job of explaining some of the ways humans have been discouraged from believing in the intelligence and emotional connections of animals. She then goes on to explore case after case where people (scientists usually) who have spent great time studying certain kinds of animals have learned about what creative, intelligent and interactive lives they have. (Think Jane Goodall, but with every species...insects, birds, fish, mammals...)

In the beginning she states that we study animals' minds as a "better way to share the earth with our fellow creatures." And as she lays out her findings, one is repeatedly reminded that they *are* our fellow creatures.

This book may leave hunters, lab experimenters, even maybe just meat eaters re-thinking some of their positions. But whether that happens or not, it is undeniable that the book will leave you feeling amazed and far more respectful of our other animal kin.

Kirsten Potter does an excellent job of narrating, but I did find myself wondering what it might have been like if the author had read it herself. I am sure I will listen to this over and over.

Highly recommend!

Through other minds

Mary Austin's The Land of Little Rain for its close perception of nature especially from the view of the nonhuman.

I liked the chapter on elephants very much.

Yes, it is that engaging. And each chapter reports on different animals, so it holds your interest.

This is a very good introduction to recent developments in the study of animal cognition.

Although I love anecdotes that provide glimpses into the presumed thoughts and feelings of animals, I also like to see what comparative psychologists, primatologists, ethnologists, and others have to say as well. Animal Wise does an excellent job of providing a survey about what published studies by these researchers have to say. Although it would be easy for such a survey to become dry and academic, Morell is an accomplished science writer (think Nat Geo) who does a good job of making this information interesting and accessible to a lay audience. Along the way she tours what is known about animals you are likely to be somewhat familiar with - you know, dogs, chimpanzees, elephants, and porpoises, but she also covers animals and creatures you are probably less familiar with, like ants, fish, and birds (especially crows!).

What surprised me the most about reading Animal Wise is that Morell explores the philosophical and moral implications of animal intelligence: To the extent that there is evolutionary continuity at a physical level, what does it mean that there is also intellectual and emotional continuity between humans and other animals? What if any bearing do these issues have on how we treat and how we eat these animals?

If books of this type are of interest, check out "Our Inner Ape" by Frans de Waal.

I was disappointed in this book.
The writer, instead of being invisible, was too much center stage.
We found out too much about the life stories and personalities of the researchers.
There simply wasn't enough interesting material about animals.
The narration droned on and on. Perhaps that was more the material than
the narrator.
I couldn't keep at it and did not download the second of two parts

It was a good listen. Sometimes read like a thesis and I would skip ahead. But some of the case studies are very interesting.

Although unusual, I thought this book might have some interesting insights that would be useful in training my dog. it didn't.