Amimals...smarter than you think....

[kinyonga]

And we humans are learning from them...

Geophagy...
"Parrots will eat soils containing minerals that bind plant toxins effectively. In fact, they are quite selective in choosing the most effective soils for their purpose."...and..."Antler-growing deer eat soil rich in calcium and magnesium."...
http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/8_2 Dirt As Food Pica Geophagy.htm

"The desire to eat chalk, clay, or earth in particular, is known as Geophagy and doctors often attribute this with lowered calcium and mineral levels."...
http://www.yogawiz.com/blog/home-re...iency-in-children-geophagy-pica-disorder.html

"Eating clay is the parrots’ way of living with the alkaloids of seeds."...
http://www.highlightskids.com/Science/Stories/SS1201_parrotseatDirt.asp

Self medicating....
http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/animal-self-medication.cfm

"Primates found popping prenatal drug"...
http://www.primates.com/lemurs/self-medicate.html

Food selection by the white footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) on the basis of energy and protein contents...
http://article.pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/ppv/RPViewDoc?issn=1480-3283&volume=79&issue=4&startPage=562

 

[Carlton]

Funny,

I've never thought animals were less "smart" than humans. Their knowledge and intelligence is simply tuned to serve different needs than ours. Behaviors like these might have taken many generations to develop (those that found ways to combat toxins survived and those that didn't didn't) and a lot of individual animals of those species didn't survive. Did that make them less smart? Who knows.

Thanks for the links! I love stuff like that!