November 5, 2006
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SUNDAY GOOD NEWS
On
a damp November morning when it seems the world is rejoicing in the
news that someone is going to hang (OK, it’s Saddam Hussein), the
religious/political right is dealing with yet another sex scandal (OK,
it was just a massage on speed), and elections are influenced by
“botched jokes” (OK, it was just John Kerry), I’m glad to have the
charming news that elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror to
offset all that garbage. It took weeks for the researchers at the Bronx
Zoo in New York to set up the huge mirror safely in a pen with three
female Asian elephants – Maxine, Patty, and Happy. Now usually when
your basic cat or dog sees itself in the mirror it thinks it’s seeing
another animal. In fact, humans, chimpanzees, and dolphins have been
considered to be the only creatures who realize they’re looking at
themselves in this situation up to now. When the three big girls at the Bronx Zoo
peeked in, two of them did at first try to climb up and see
behind the mirror, but then they settled in for some good old preening
and primping behavior like sticking their trunks in their mouths to
explore. The Real Test though was when a big X was painted on
their heads in white paint (another one was painted in invisible paint
to rule out scent as a marker) and Happy reached up and repeatedly
touched it. The other two didn’t pay attention to it but the scientists
say that isn’t remarkable because elephants don’t do grooming (i.e., picking things off each other or themselves)
like chimps and humans so they maybe didn’t give a darn. I don’t know
what Happy is thinking about today – the mark on her head or what’s for
lunch. I’m just glad she doesn’t have to listen to the rest of the news.
Deep Thought:
“If you ever catch on fire, try to avoid seeing yourself in the mirror,
because I bet that’s what really throws you into a panic.”
Today I am grateful for: Pretend worlds
Guess the Movie:
“Why didn’t you take off all your clothes? You could have stopped forty
cars.” Answer: It Happened One Night, 1934.
Winner: thenarrator. 
The Apologist
by Ralph Nader
The
baying pack of belligerent draft dodgers – Messrs. Bush, Cheney and
Limbaugh – were out in verbal force this week against John Kerry. The
Senator miscued a joke about Bush by reading without the “us” in the
line, “You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President
Bush.” The missing of the “us” word gave the messianic militarists an
opening to demand that Kerry apologize to the U.S. troops for his
“insulting” and “shameful” remarks. (Rest of article here.)
Comments (21)
For some reason I’m always happy when they find out that the “lower” animals are capable of far more than we give them credit for and elephants being able to recognize themselves in a mirror makes me strangely happy.
That is very fascinating! My oldest son (autistic) was deathly afraid of mirrors. When he was four or five, I finally resolved to conquer his fear. I wrapped him in my arms and held him on my lap in front of a mirror, talking softly to him, reassuring him that mirror was only a reflection nothing more. It took 15 minutes, but I finally got him to look; it was but a glance. He quickly looked away, and whispered, his voice tight with fright, “What if the boy in the mirror moves but I don’t?” I wish I had the internet then, I would have looked up what I told him to be sure I had it right. I explained a mirror was only glass with shiny paint on the back, it would reflect back the light, nothing more. In the dark you couldn’t see as much because there was less light. That helped. Growing braver, he took longer, sideways looks. Later, we did other mirror exercises, reflecting light from the sun to another wall. Still for years, he’d turn his head whenever passing a mirror, and walk quickly past it. He told me they still startle him momentarily, but he no longer has any phobias about them.
Why are we always surprised to discover the intelligence of other species. Humans sure do dumber stuff than most any other animal I can think of…
“It happened one night” ?
My reality TV show? Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Limbaugh, Hastert, Boehner, DeLay, O’Reilly, et al go to Baghdad and patrol as a combat team for six months. Let’s watch these brave boys in action…
it is good news to read something different…
It Happened One Night indeed!
Hmmm, wonder what the elephant is thinking….and yes, I do believe animals can think.
*sparkle
I read that story, too. How wonderful!
Hope you are having a nice weekend.
that’s neat about the elephants!
glad to know we aren’t the only ones grooming around here! *smirk*
I loved the elephant story, too.
the elephant story is neat
That was indeed the good news of the week. The other good news is that we only have to endure 2 more days of political TV/Radio and telephone harassment. Thank God for next Wednesday!!
humans have sold animals short for too long..they will find (if taken the time how much more intelligent they are). i liked the story.
now that is coool news
what an interesting thing to learn.i know elephants are remarkable animals.
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rofl
Yep, the news is always so interesting. I can barely bring myself to watch or listen to it. I try to get a good dose once a week or so.
cool!
i had a moment of happiness when i considered that there was only one more day of enduring political ads/nonstop news before elections. i say moment because as i was watching the news, they began to talk about the next presidential election and potential candidates. it’s sorta like christmas decorations showing up the day after halloween. the difference is that i have more faith that santa knows what’s on my list than in my politicians having any clue/care about it.
thanks for the news….=)
Nice to know that there’s something newsworthy out there that doesn’t involve slander, sex scandals, or extortion. I’d like to think that the focus on the negative stuff is a product of the media industry, not a reflection of the state of the world, but I’m not too hopeful.