We as humans think we're pretty smart. We are also cocky. We think we're amazing because we have opposable thumbs and large brains. Ha. Drop us into the middle of jungle and see if we're smart. That's when you find out how relative it all is. All the creatures that live there know how and what they need to get by. They are smart in their own way.
Dateline: Last summer.
I got up one morning during a beautiful weekend morning and was sitting here drinking my coffee and doing computer stuff. It slowly became aware of a raucous noise coming from the vicinity of the sliding door leading to the deck in the back yard. I walked over there, and just outside the door was a blue jay sitting on something, screeching at me. He was obviously trying to get my attention. Anyone that knows our back yard knows we get lots of birds, not the least of which are the Blue Jays (yesterday I counted 5 at one time). What's funny is that they seem to be one of the more skittish of the bird varieties we get out there. They usually scatter when someone goes out the sliding door, even though the feeder area is 40 feet or so away. I guess this particular jay was the duly-elected spokesman for the rest of them that day. What was he saying? He was obviously telling me to fill the feeder! That was a smart bird.
Dateline: This morning.
After I got up and walked into the kitchen, I turned on the coffee pot and walked over to the back slider and looked out, surveying the scene. A few various birds, pecking away at stuff on the ground under the feeder. I walked over to the computer and sat down, waiting for the coffee to brew. When it was finished I walked back into the kitchen, and there just outside the sliding door, was a little bird, maybe a Chickadee. He was looking at me. He hopped back a few steps, then forward again and stopped. Then he repeated it. It was a classic case of when Lassie tried to tell Timmy that someone had fallen into the well (I don't know why they didn't cover that damned well--Everybody seemed to fall into it). This was the spokesbird for this morning. Although much quieter than a Blue Jay, he got the job done. I filled the feeder. Suddenly, all was harmonious with nature.
Epilogue:
We humans may be smart, but so is everything else. You just have to be aware. We watch "our" birds a lot, and we see what they do, how they interact, and notice lots of differences in the way they do things. The same thing goes for the squirrels that visit us. There is one that hauls the hanging corn cob up to him hand-over-hand instead of climbing down to it like the others. Yep, creature smarts.
0 comments:
Post a Comment