It's been a busy weekend at Redstart Farm. The weather was cold, cold and windy, then rainy and windy, then just plain cold this morning at one below. But the snow melted enough so that it's not too deep to work Will on sheep, so Friday, Saturday and Sunday Will and I got to work together. We hadn't worked in quite awhile, the snow being far too deep for so long, and the month off appeared to have changed the relationship between Will and Redford, the ram. A few months ago the ram confronted Will and Will did exactly what he should have: when Redford walked straight up to Will and sniffed his face, Will lunged forward and air snapped, just enough to back Redford off and take charge. However, on Friday afternoon, things were different. This time Redford put his head down and charged Read More
Comparative and Canine Cognition; Don’t Sleep, There are Snakes
I just finished Everett's book Don't Sleep, There are Snakes, and a more thought-provoking book I can't imagine. As I mentioned in my earlier blog, the author spent much of his life over the last 30 years with a hunter-gatherer tribe, the Piraha, in the Amazon basin. Everett began his work as a missionary and a linguist; his work with the Piraha changed his faith, but not his dedication to studying language. What makes the book so interesting is his discussion about what the Piraha culture has to say about the derivation of human language. Everett is very clear: he argues persuasively that both Chomsky and Skinner got it wrong (in relation to language). In brief, Chomsky argued that language is innate in humans, and that there are universal 'laws' of grammar that are passed down Read More
Brain Dead over Holidays, Great Book
Jim, Will, Lassie and I are having a heavenly break over the holidays. Lots of time off, lots of movies, lots of snow shoeing and, for Jim, endless shoveling. For the first time ever I am contemplating getting a snow blower. Boooo.. another machine, another something that breaks down and won't respond to positive reinforcment. Yeah.... less back breaking work for Jim, and less time for me looking out the window worrying about him. I do some myself, but my back is pathetically problematic so I don't do much. (Car accidents, 15 foot falls off of hay wagons, fainting in the hot sun and breaking your tail bone turn out to be things that are bad for your back. Who knew?) I am reading a book sent by one of my sisters (Wendy Barker, a brilliant poet and creative writing professor, if I do Read More
Jealousy versus Fairness in Dogs Part 2, Amazing Dog Video
Your comments have been so interesting about the 'fair' and/or "jealous" issue that I thought I'd respond in another post for everyone to read. I've included some of your comments, because they add so richly to the discussion. First off, I agree with many who've commented that we need to be very cautious about making interpretations from the results of this study. The bottom line is that while the dog's responsiveness degraded, as expected, if the food reinforcement was taken away, it degraded faster if another dog was observed receiving reinforcement. That was the "inequality aversion" that the authors mentioned (and yes, I believe it was the media that added "fairness" and "jealousy." The dogs also could receive one of two rewards, brown bread or sausage. While a similar primate study Read More
Alex and Me; Animal Intelligence and “Thinking” in Animals
I read Alex and Me over the weekend, and highly recommend it. The book is about author Irene Pepperberg's life, both as a scientist and as a parrot owner, with Alex, the African Grey Parrot. I've known of her research for years, and (full disclosure here), consider her a friend, so I can't pretend that I'm completely objective. But if you are interested in animal intelligence, animal communication and/or what parrots have to teach us about the minds of non-human animals, this book is for you. Irene, whose first real friend was a parakeet, left a promising career in chemistry to jump into the controversial field of "language" in non-human animals. No field better illustrates that, although the process of science is objective, scientists aren't. That is often a good thing: scientists are Read More