End Of Week 2 Blog

While reading and annotating the TIME articles on animal behavior, my perception about animals has changed quite a bit. I would always feel sad for them before, but now that the topic is being put to light again in class, My knowledge has also increased on animal behavior. I didn’t expect to learn that they had so many little tricks up their sleeve in terms of survival. I have a pet cat at home, and I always see him all over the house. Some days he is in a better mood than others and he acts independently for most of the things he does. My perspective has changed towards him because I can see the signs of what he wants to do after reading that article comparing dogs and cats. I had some sense of knowledge that animals have emotions, but I didn’t know that they would have so many similar traits and thought processes compared to humans. For example, a quote that I found that proves animals experience emotions says “ Mothers not only carry dead babies; they’re very careful with them” (Kluger, 59). I thought that this quote shows how much animals can show grief like humans. Another quote that I found was about how animals form friendship, specifically mares. “She found that pairs of mares would establish strong bonds, and those bonds endured throughout her study “ (Kluger, 46). I believe this quote shows that animals have the ability to form bonds and maintain those bonds over time.

In Safina’s prologue, his main idea throughout is how much humans resemble animals. He drives the question of referring to animals as “who” rather than it. He describes how animals know who their enemies are, who their family and friends are, and when to challenge the existing order. Comparing the animals career arc to a human’s he comes to the conclusion that us humans do the same things in our lives. When I read “Why Birds Matter” the author’s idea was how birds have a meaningful history of living on earth just as much as humans. These ideas come up in Safina’s prologue when he mentions that “humans are animals” (Safina ,1). Safina brings up the idea of animals knowing who they are, something that was also reviewed in the TIME articles we read. These articles went through research involving animal behavior and cognitive abilities and comparing them to humans. Safina’s main idea in the prologue is in support that animals have a mind and behave in similar ways as humans.