Motus Mentis

7 Comments

1. Kevin Kim says

   Wordless interaction with wildlife often evokes a feeling of saintliness. In the woods, as long as we behave ourselves, we are all Saint Francis.

   Posted April 3, 2016 at 10:05 pm | Permalink
2. Harold says

   From the abstract to a study:

   We used a common garden approach to examine the response to novelty and problem-solving abilities of two populations of black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). These populations originated from the latitudinal extremes of the species’s range, where we had previously demonstrated significant differences in memory and brain morphology in a multi-population study. We found that birds from the harsh northern population, where selection for cognitive abilities is expected to be high, significantly outperformed conspecifics from the mild southern population.

   Thank God nothing like this ever occurred with humans!

   Posted April 3, 2016 at 11:04 pm | Permalink
3. Malcolm says

   Yes, Harold — thank God we dodged that bullet! Just imagine the consequences.

   Posted April 3, 2016 at 11:37 pm | Permalink
4. Whitewall says

   Peaceful scene.

   Posted April 4, 2016 at 7:12 am | Permalink
5. Bill says

   I’m envious that you found one that tame. Our birds here aren’t.

   You and Harold can take your tongues out of your cheeks now.

   Posted April 4, 2016 at 7:47 am | Permalink
6. Epicaric says

   What a way with words you must have: you have him eating from the palm of your hand.

   Yes, it goes without saying that someone had to say it.

   Posted April 4, 2016 at 8:21 am | Permalink
7. Malcolm says

   Kevin, you’re quite right about that. Of course, I’ve “wordlessly interacted” with many a mosquito, etc., without said effect, but in a situation like this the feeling is as you describe. I think it must be due to creatures that you would expect to fear or attack you showing, instead, their trust and acceptance.

   Posted April 4, 2016 at 10:01 am | Permalink