How Can Animals Understand Each Other?
The animals can communicate with each other. They pass on messages with sounds and signs. They can, however, not talk to each other. Among the human beings the communication is not thoroughly by the word of mouth. We have expressions to indicate anger. The difference of opinion we indicate through shoulder’s shrug. There are other gestures with hands, shaking the head and nodding to convey our feelings. The animals too make noises and sounds to convey.
The chicks respond to the danger signal, floated by mother hen. Making a loud noise or crouch down alerts the young ones to assemble. The neigh of a horse or pawing the ground is a “message” to other horses. Some animals can follow very slight signs or signals given by other animals. When a bird flies up to a branch of tree and look around, the other birds do not move. A bird flying in a certain way, can tell it is about to fly off and the others may follow.
Dogs too communicate. They bark, howl, growl, snarl and whine. The lifting of their paw, baring their teeth are some other signs. The other dogs understand the meaning of these sounds and signs.
Animals communicate not only with sounds and movements, but with smell too. The animals living in herds mostly depend on smell to remain together. We all know how dogs recognize each other by smell.
Apes are considered among the intelligent animals. They too, do not have a better “language” to communicate than the animals. They make sounds and expression of face to communicate feelings of anger, joy, or hunger. They do not have words like of human speech.
The human beings have to learn how to talk; the apes and other animals know their ‘language’ by instinct. They will make the right kind of cries and sounds and expressions even if they have never seen another animal like themselves before.
Birds, however, do learn their way of singing, in parts. This is the reason why a sparrow brought up among the canaries will try to sing like one. It has been learning the wrong ‘ language’.
