Every so often there are stories about people being rescued by animals. A drowning man was rescued by a seal who pushed him to a sandbank, scuba divers were rescued by dolphins. Dogs die to save their owners, unprovoked birds attack to defend their young....

We think we are the top of the pile, but sometimes animals show an awareness which is amazing. Do animals know more than we think? Any thoughts out there?

Animals are more intelligent that about 99% of humans.

I actually prefer them to humans.

There is no doubt in my mind that animals think, learn, love, fear like we do.
Intelligence can be shown mostly emotion and reaction. Just because they do not possess speach or the facial muscles to smile like we do does not mean that the animal is not smiling or watching out for you.
I have 4 ferrets. They're tiny and cute, and obviously cannot show facial expressions. But when you look at them, you always know if they're happy, sad, angry or scared etc. You know they love you just as you love them.

You have to remember that Human Beings ARE animals themselves. We are no different, we posess the same thought patterns and instincts. The difference is only evolution selected the primate.

It is the same whit me and my Guinea pigs! They even know when they get food!
And when they know that, they scream at me! Like pigs!
This is a question i always wondered: If dolphins had hands, could they then build things?

Beavers build things.
So do birds. And apes. And lizards. Why not dolphins too?

Humans are animals, and we're intellegent. Dolphins are intellegent. Chomps are intellegent. Gorillas are intellegent. Gibbons are intellegent. Orang-utangs are intellegent. Whales are intellegent. And cats are sneaky

No we're not.

And I can point you to a thread that proves it!

You're right!
Intelligence certainly seems to have its holes.

... and I can't spell "intelligent"! Sorry

Animals are intelligent, in the concept of there environment. Birds need shelter they built a safe habitat, Dolphin doesn't need a place to live because it constantly moves but it needs to find food and has an odd reproduction pattern which they have to follow if they don't want to be alienated form your group.

All animals have a form of intelligence which accommodates to the environment, the more your prey is crafty the more you have to be. The more your predator is strong the more you have to find was to avoid it.

This leads to why the "king of all animals" is also the dumbest, because humans don't have those kind of challenges, the way of life of prey or be prey is under us and we don't give a flying ****. Although imbedded in human's own "animal within", they use there abilities of hunter to become more competitive and there abilities of hunted to be able to "bundle" in community much like groundhogs or seed eating birds.

Animals have great instinct, and great senses like hearing and smelling.
When it comes to "intelligence" however, animals are stupid. Let's face it.

Humans are capable of concrete and abstract thinking, creating art, appreciating art, advanced problem solving, and comprehending multiple languages.
Animals are capable of none of that.

We are also capable of learning from past generations and building on their knowledge.
Look how far we've progressed in the last 1000 years.
Look how far animals have progressed in the last 1000 years.

I meant within context of the species. Obviously the average human is incredibly stupid.

Does the above comment include you Talon?
I confess it includes me.

No, my IQ is well above average.

Although true intellegence lies only with the Einstien's of the world... they might well be another species from the rest of us they are so advanced

It's the Scotland gene.
Sadly, with great intelligence comes a slight downfall, they all appear red in colour when viewing from a distance greater than 15 feet.

Who? The splattered victims of the fall?

Obviously.

I think the only smart people in this world, are the people who know that people are stupid.

Ya animals are intelligent and friendly on rye bread, with some mayonaise

I have a family of crows that live in a tree at the back of my house. Most mornings I put out scraps for them. One in particular has realised that if bread is hard the best thing to do is to dunk it in water in the bird bath to soften it. He also has developed a method of gathering all the food together in a small heap. After eating what he wants he then scratches a hole in my lawn and buries it, carefully covering it with soil and leaves and stamping it down. This is for later.

Have you ever watched seagulls collecting shellfish, flying to a great height and then dropping them on to stone to break them open?

As for squirrels - they will work for weeks perfecting a method of getting food from inaccessible places.

I think this is intelligence - maybe different to ours, but intelligence non the less.

I think animals are like humans , as in you have your smart ones, your average ones and your dumb ones.

Living in the mountains I've encounted many ( wild ) animals that have shown great intelligence in order to get what they want.
We had a cockatoo who use to knock at our back door for a piece of bread each day, he gave us a shock when we went to see who tapping at the door.

Nice!

I think Dr. Lector would think the same thing.

animals are intellegent.
whenever im pouring more catfood into my cat's bowl, he always nudges my arm to make me pour more in, which obviously demonstrates some knowledge of physics.

My cat does the same thing with the catnip. He'll push the back of my hand while I'm giving it to the others (I give it to them out of a bowl).

My dog used to know the difference between when she was going to have her toenails clipped, which she hated, or when she was going to get a treat. The treats were in the same place as the toenail clippers, but before we went, she always knew whether she was going to get a treat or a pedicure.

Animals can be smart, and alot of the responses they have a learned/taught. I believe anything can be taught has a form of intelligence... exept maybe a few people I've met....

No Moe, not you....although you must pay.

Animals are indeed intelligent.

Well, at least some of them...

I side with the "ome are smart, some are dumb" statement, as I have a cat we refer to as "special."

He picks fights with cats three times his size, hides under tables thinking he's invisible. (Where he butt still sticks out. He really does think he's invisible.) He tries to act sneaky but always gets caught(and beaten up). He runs if you approach him wearing any type of shoe. He acts like he doesn't know you, even though you've lived with and babied him for over a year.

Just a 'special' kitty, I guess. :)