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Understanding the Animal Mind
By John M. Regan
Animals fascinate us. Pets are a multi-billion dollar industry. Zoos in the US attract more visitors each month than all sports combined. “Animal Planet” runs 24/7 television coverage devoted just to animals. In spite of all this wild exposure a great deal of the public actually understands very little about our non human friends. A profusion of animal “whispers,” pet psychics, associated other frauds, and a barrage of nonsense from the mass media makes matters worse. There is even an absurd line of thought that equates animal behavior as a yardstick for what ought to be considered normal for humans.
This article presents opinions about the animal mind and proposes a paradigm to interpret and understand their world. I’ll point out some differences and similarities between human and animal perception, and provide some insight for the animal curious everywhere.
I Started Out As An Expert
As a young lad I considered myself a natural trainer; a “whisperer,” who intuitively understood how to relate to animals. After all, I had trained a number of dogs with ease. I made friends with all the neighborhood cats. I could handle snakes without getting bitten. I loved frogs, lizards, hamsters, and anything else I could lay my hands on. I had a natural knack.
I was twenty one years old when I got my first job in a zoo. My responsibilities included the care and feeding of an elephant and a hippopotamus – and between these two heavyweights I quickly learned that my “natural” knack for training animals was nothing more than a very natural love of them. But all the love in the world could not get the elephant from stealing the hippopotamus’s food or stop the hippo from chasing me out of the enclosure. The young elephant thoroughly enjoyed my company, but blithely ignored any command I gave. Ditto for the hippo (although she did not enjoy my company). Like me or loathe me, however, they refused to respond like the family dog. I had a lot to learn.
After several elephants, rhinoceroses, an assortment of other animals, and a lot of time with professional animal trainers and keepers I believe I have learned something about the way our wild friends perceive the world.
Animals Live Completely in the Present
First of all, animals do not share our sense of time. Look at your dog, cat, parakeet, cheetah, boa constrictor, or chimpanzee. They are not thinking about what to do the rest of the day. There is no plan for tomorrow or the holiday season. The future is not even a concept for them. The future does not exist. The past is simply an amalgam of associations that serve to deal with the present; it is not recalled with fondness, sorrow, or fear. They have no context for their place in history. Animals are solidly rooted in the present moment. What is happening at this particular moment is the most critical time in their life.
This is why it makes no sense to yell at a dog five minutes after he has wet the carpet or chewed the shoe. This may be the present moment for you, but to the dog your antics are inexplicable. The dog is completely confused as he attempts to understand your anger in terms of that exact moment. Since he has nothing to compare it to, the dog may associate your presence with anger and begin to fear you.
Animals Think But They Do Not Have a Language
I can hear the howls and yowls now. Yes, yes, I know all about Koko’s sign language and the African Grey parrot that recognizes keys and colors. Yes, the alarm calls of prairie dogs and meerkats differentiate danger from a hawk or a snake, but they don’t get together the next day and discuss the event. That would take human type language.
A lot of people want to stretch the definition of the term language to include our wild friends. But to think of roars, hoots, howls, croaks, and mimicry in terms of human language is a mistake. These sounds do not remotely compare with the complexity and nuance of human language. Our intricate vocalizations are our paramount means of communication; we live by the dictates of the written and spoken word. Everything else is secondary. No one expects you to respect a boundary line based on your neighbor’s odor. (Although I’ve had some neighbors who qualify.)
In the animal world everything but speech is the primary method of communication. Exactly what is primary depends on the species and the circumstances. Roars, calls, howls, odor, color, body posture, size, individual characteristics – these are the means by which animals communicate.
Is thought possible without language? At the end of the day is the tiger thinking, “Dang, I should have crept up on that deer from the other side of the tree.”? Obviously not. Yet carnivores do learn from their mistakes or else they’d all likely starve to death.
Recently it has been postulated that animals think in pictures. This makes a lot of sense. Without a human type, spoken or written language, pictures are the only viable explanation. Pictures work very well for us, too. It is reasonable to assume that animals think in this manner. They picture in their mind the consequences of certain actions, and then take that action with the successful end in mind.
Associations are Everything
Lacking a human type language animals depend on associations to understand their environment. They quickly learn that certain actions result in certain consequences. When that consequence is something they strongly like or strongly dislike the association is learned faster. Animals (and people, too) are effectively trained by association.
You can explain to your dog all day long that if he sits you will give him a treat. Of course, he will never understand the relationship between the command SIT and a biscuit until he receives a biscuit when he sits. The dog must associate the act of sitting with a reward. An animal understands your command only because it has learned to associate the sound with an appropriate action that gets a reward or consequence.
But don’t forget the first principle that animals live in the present moment. Therefore the reward must occur FAST. Dog sits – BAM – dog immediately gets reward.
Show Them the Money!
Animals recognize rewards and consequences. Think of what you do to earn money. The opportunity to make more money motivates you, but so does the thought of losing it. Animals think in the same manner, but their currency is obviously not measured in dollar bills. The primary measure of value in the animal kingdom is food. Animals are highly motivated to acquire food; they will learn and do many things in order to get more and more. Therefore, food is normally an excellent reward.
Depending on the species, however, an animal has other motivating factors in addition to food. You may, for example, have considerable success training a dog using nothing but praise for a reward. Try this with a cat and see how far you get. I have seen rhinos go to great lengths to have their back scratched. I’ve witnessed an entire flock of flamingoes dance in tune to “Swan Lake” because the trainer had a deep understanding of what motivates flamingoes.
To continue with our dog example: Dog gets command or signal – dog sits – BAM – dog immediately gets reward of food treat and lots of praise. Two kinds of canine “currency” strongly reinforce the association.
Rewards and associations are tightly entwined both for animals and humans, and there are books devoted to the topic. For this article, however, I’ll distill the subject to the bare basics. There are three kinds of rewards – or consequences - an animal associates with any action:
Successful animal trainers understand and use all three types of rewards.
Animals Have a Very Direct Relationship With Their World
Humans live in an indirect world. We work to get money. We then use the money to buy food. We use forks and knives to put that food into our mouth. Sometimes we use money just to make more money. Vehicles take us from one place to another. We use lawyers and lawsuits to make a point. We use books to share knowledge and experience.
Animals, however, are in close, constant contact with their environment. It is a direct one to one relationship. They do not like to go through a third party to get anything. Food comes directly from the source and into the mouth with minimal interference. Herbivores rip from the bush; carnivores rip it from the animal they have killed. Territory is marked with their own urine or scent glands. Sounds and smells come directly from the source. Bats and dolphins sense sonar. Sharks and rays sense electrical impulses.
Because of this directness animals are very practical; they always try to find the most direct route to their desires. But most of the desires of captive and pet animals are supplied by us. At the same time we have removed most external stimuli. They do not have to hunt to find food, fight to rise to the top of the herd or pack, etc. Consequently humans are not only the most practical path to an animal’s needs, we are often the most interesting thing in their environment, too.
I believe this is where a lot of the supposed “sixth sense” of animals comes from. What appears to be animal telepathy between you and the family dog is actually due to the dog’s powers of observation. You provide food, water, shelter, punishment, and praise; you are the most direct route to just about everything in your pet’s life. And since their survival depends on associations, your actions are keenly observed. Being so rooted in the moment and so intimately related to their environment, animals are often amazingly perceptive to signals that we are not even aware of. The higher up the animal intelligence scale the more pronounced this characteristic is displayed.
Animals Feel Emotion – With Exceptions
I’ll end this essay with this most contentious aspect of animal life. Yes, they have emotions. And yes, I believe they have human type feelings. Exactly at what level or species in the animal kingdom you want to draw this line is very debatable. I believe it’s true for all mammals and birds, although I am hard pressed to imagine a shrew mole expressing grief. But I have personally witnessed this emotion in elephants. Those who study squids and octopus stand ready to provide many examples of cephalopod thought and emotion, and they won’t get an argument from me, but for most invertebrates the question is meaningless. (I have encountered yellow jackets, however, who convincingly expressed their outrage at my presence.) As for reptiles, amphibians, and fish I believe a case for anger or fear is possible.
For the most part, human type emotions are found in the birds and mammals. Fear is necessary for survival. Love is an ideal bonding glue to ensure offspring survival. I defy anyone to watch a pack of wolves or a herd of elephants and deny their genuine emotion.
But there is one universal exception: Animals do not feel guilt. The end justifies the means. Within the limits of behaviors common to an individual species animals will deceive, steal, injure, or kill to achieve what they want, and never lose a minute’s sleep over it. Some gray squirrels, for reasons still not entirely clear, attack and kill the infants of other squirrels. Male lions do not think twice about infanticide when taking over a new pride. Theft in the animal kingdom is epidemic! Ask any animal who has lost its hard earned kill to a larger predator or crafty scavenger.
In short, if you are looking for morality, you won’t find it in the wild. Morality requires an ethical sense of right and wrong. Our animal friends don’t bother with it.
In closing I ask you to remember that the animal kingdom is extraordinarily complex and varied. Somewhere between a protozoa and a blue whale you’ll find exceptions to these principles. And my observations are in no way an indication that I agree with the extreme views of the animal rights lobby to which I am very opposed.
Let this essay be a starting point for thought and imagination. The next time you look at an animal, whether it is your pet, a zoo specimen, or out in the wild, stop for a moment and attempt to understand the world through its perception. Imagine an existence without the concept of time and every thought expressed in a series of pictures. Think of living without a conscience. Try to imagine yourself riveted to an environment that constantly communicates to you without words, and your daily survival directly dependent on your ability to observe and apply the lessons you have learned. You may look at them differently.
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