[ExI] daredog

[spike]

...On Behalf Of Olga Bourlin
	Subject: Re: [ExI] daredog
	
	
	Gotta love the comments people leave, e.g.:  "dogs are very
intelligent, more intellegent (sic) than most humans."
	 
	Sigh.

	

Ja, people do get silly with that notion.  If they really wanted to push for
it, they could argue that it depends on how one measures intelligence.  In
the usual IQ test, clearly we humans have every advantage, but consider the
task of chasing a frisbee, leaping off the ground from a run and catching
the thing in one's mouth.  Many dogs can do that, but I have yet to see a
human do it.  Clearly it takes significant mental function on the part of
the dog.  

I have seen seagulls catch french fries out of the air, seen a seagull carry
a pebble to a height, drop a pebble then swoop down and catch it again,
which is a hell of a trick when you think about it.

Here's one that blew my mind, a family of orcas work together to create a
wave to knock someone's lunch off of an ice floe:

(Sensitive types move along please.  There is something to see here.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyfOp_keW0A

This demonstrates several cool things that beasts do: several orcas worked
together to get a meal for one, and they somehow communicated the idea to
each other.  Here's the same video with some explanatory chatter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3xmqbNsRSk&NR=1

spike