Smartest animals?

soothsayer

Hehehehheehe...Nah, I don't. (at least I'm not aware if I do). I just live in a old house in a rural area.

Originally posted by jrod
Dolphins are way cool. They have sex and ride waves for fun, cant say that about chimps

Sorry to be contradictive, but there is a species of chimp that indulges in sexual activity for what can only be percieved as pleasure, as it involves maturbation and homosexual relations, so cannot be for reproductive purposes.
But also it does depend on your definition of "smart" Sure dolphins are great at imitation, but how good are they at creative thinking. But then it would be comparing them on our level of intelligence and thought processes. Yet we could also be percieved as the dumbest as we are the only species on the planet that kills not for food, defense, or territory but simply for the pleasure (or whatever drives a murderer) of the act.

Okay, then... familiar with H P Lovecraft's story about this old home (I think it was a castle in England)... the cats would go crazy at night, hearing scratching noises coming from a basement wall...

Turns out there was an old passageway, leading through Roman and Druid temples...

Don't remember the name of the story, though. Alot of rats in that one. Well, human degeneration, too.

*Sigh*... smartest animal. No one took me up on the mice thing (well, I guess rats count)... so I'll also add Bigfoot/Yeti/Sashquash/yadda... I mean, it must be pretty smart to avoid us all these years, right?

Originally posted by feygan
Sorry to be contradictive, but there is a species of chimp that indulges in sexual activity for what can only be percieved as pleasure,

I thought only dolphins and shrimps did that? (well, I did heard this a LONG time ago...)

Originally posted by m0rbid

Originally posted by feygan
Sorry to be contradictive, but there is a species of chimp that indulges in sexual activity for what can only be percieved as pleasure,

I thought only dolphins and shrimps did that? (well, I did heard this a LONG time ago...)

Nah there's a chimp/monkey (not sure which) that can be seen in some zoos indulging in carnal activity very frequently. They tend to be quite an attraction for vistors.
Here you go. Their Bonobo's (pygmy chimps)
www.blockbonobofoundation.org...

[Edited on 26-12-2003 by feygan]

Originally posted by soothsayer
Okay, then... familiar with H P Lovecraft's story about this old home (I think it was a castle in England)... the cats would go crazy at night, hearing scratching noises coming from a basement wall...

Sorry!!! I don't know how, but I just noticed your post. Yeah, I think I read the story a while ago. I love Lovecraft's litterature.

Hearing scratching during the night is just usual stuff here. The mices are running around everywhere, in the ceilling, the floor and in the walls. They keep waking me up the night, and sometimes I have to bang on the wall so they stop scratching.

I haven't discovered any passage in my basement tho...

Maybe no one read the document you read about mices?
Maybe you're right. Afterall, they often are used for laboratory test and stuff, and they go thru labyrinthe etc etc... They must not be so dumb after all...

About that bigfoot think, it would be right too. If the thing exist, it must be damn ingenious to not have been caught yet. (if it hasn't been)

Originally posted by m0rbid
How about rats?

I've heard that they're one of the most adaptable animal on earth. If somethign really big happenned, and involved radioactivity or anything really hazardous, they would probably have more chances of outliving it than us, humans.

Personnaly, I don't think they're so brilliant. I have rats in my house (well..they're actually mices, but I call them rats, because there presence is unsollicited...and I hate them...and rats sounds more "threathening" than mices...cuz they are threathening...they eat all the #ing wires that there's in my room, so I always have stuff to randomly stop working...damn rats...) and, we went from mouse trap to rats poison. (bromone I think).

And I just keep feeding 'em, and the more I put the more they eat. Are they dumb or what? Don't they know I'm trying to kill 'em all? Why do they keep eating it? (are they tired of eating wires? lol..) And last but not least, when will they #ing die and run out of babies??? Can the poison become uneffective on 'em?
Do I have mutant rats in my house? Will someday the huge rat from TMNT appear and kick my ass? (j/k)

( I don't really expect awnsers to all thoses questions...)

I know this is a little off topic but just a cpl ideas on ridding your self of the rats.

My friend had a problem with them one time.
He tried all kinds of stuff but the problem never seemed to go away.
Someone suggested sending in a cpl non-poisionous snakes.
At first he was apprehensive about having snakes loose in his house, but decided it was better to have two snakes loose than rats.
We got two King snakes.
They were let go inside the walls at different locations in the house.
After three weeks there was almost no more rodent activity, but we were now faced with capturing these two snakes but not too early.
We waited another week and a half thinking maybe they would come out when there was no food left for them.
Wrong.
So we smoked them out with whatever was left of the rodents. Both snakes turned up right next to where they were released in to the walls.
One was not in too good of shape with some bite marks by his eye.
Rats can put up a fight.
Anyway, Problem solved! 2 years now and no rodents.
Maybe worth the try, if you can stand the thought of snakes in your walls.
To me it's better than rats.

Kings are not big enough to eat large rats, but they will devour their babies and run off the adults.
Kings are also known to eat other snakes so if there is any other wild snakes around they will probably eat them too.
I would imagine you would welcome all the snakes you could handle if your rat problem is as bad as it sounds.

If you don't like the snake idea try using potent incense (alot) and burn them somewhere where the smoke will travel thru the guts of the house. Who knows maybe you will kill a few with the smoke or atleast drive them out in to the wild where birds and cats can get to them.

Sorry for being off topic
L8R
BAKED

thanks for your input Baked.

I think I could handle the idea of having snakes in my walls. I think they would probably be more quiet than thoses pesky mices. And they probably won't eat my wires, so that's all good . I always wanted to have a pet snake anyway, so maybe if one is still alive when everything is over I could just keep it.

You know, we used to have cats, and back then we were having a lot less rodents. But I turned out to be allergic to cats, and we got rid of 'em.

Maybe I'll try the snake. I don't how much it would be effective tho...Our house is 3 stories, so I don't know if they would be able to travel from floor to floor. And we don't have big rats anyway, only small mices. The problem is we're not sure how they get in the house, and we live next to a forest and a river, so there will always be mices outdoors anyway...

Thanks for the suggestion.

King snake is a good pet too.
I had an Albino California King.
I was his seccond owner and he came with a foul additude. (albinos usually do)
After getting use to me he calmed down a bit.
He bit me a few times but the bite didn't hurt.
They seem to always be hungry, so they will probably take care of your mice.
The mice might even leave because they know the snake is there.
Happy to help!

L8R
BAKED

DOGS! no doubt.
They trained man to take care of them forever.........

I would say Bush, He's almost capable to read.

No seriously,

The Dolphins are pretty smarter than him

Actually a certain naturalist believes wolves are the smartest next to humans. (can't remember his name)

here you go , here's a link to a site which has a chart showing how to work out the intelligence of different animals.

serendip.brynmawr.edu...

I think Cat's are ... they know how to manipulate and get their own way. They do as they like, and are always doted on and are adored and loved regardless of how fussy and annoying they can get with us humans. Maybe they're actually aliens here to check us out

Saphhire

That would explain why sometimes they just sit and stare at us for hours... I always thought they were weird for doing that.

Try with a dog, stare at him in the eyes, and he'll get bored in a mather of seconds...

Originally posted by m0rbid
Saphhire

That would explain why sometimes they just sit and stare at us for hours... I always thought they were weird for doing that.

Try with a dog, stare at him in the eyes, and he'll get bored in a mather of seconds...

Morbid your right, my cat does that all the time as though she's trying to figgure out what i'm thinking. she's always got this sly look on her face, argh that bugs me

I think that we need to learn how to talk to the animals then we can ask them questions and see how smart they are.

if we found out that some animals were a lot smarter than we thought, would we stop eating them?

Sapphire

Yeah, my previous cats used to do this all the time too.
But when they did, I was the one who was trying to figure out what were they thinking. I can't believe they just stare at us and nothing goes throught their mind.
They must be thinking something, else why stare at us for such a long time??? I mean, I know they're cat and not humans, but when I stare at something for a long time, it's usualy because I'm thinking of something, or my mind is wandering elsewhere, but anyway, I rarely have my mind completly empty in such moment... I mean unless I do so voluntary... Anywya, cats are weird.

THENEO

Some people already claimed to have that ability I think. Sadly they must have been ridiculised. I don't think it's impossible to do, but it must require a hell-a-lot of practice and study. I think some wicca people practice similar stuff.

Pantha

I don't know, but fishes and chickens's betta become really and I mean REALLY intelligent before I'm gonna stop eating 'em lol... Like intelligent enough to not get kill, else I won't care if they can solve math problems and teach me to speak Chicken-ese... (j/k)

i think a dolphin has an estimated IQ equal to that of a below average human (65-75 if my memory serves me well [which it probably doesnt due to massive dope intake]). but i have also heard chimps are the only other animal that can recognise themselves in a mirror... dont forget there are different types of intelligence so my vote goes to chimps and dolphins who are second after [most humans