Do Animals Communicate With
Each Other, and Humans?
It was a warm, sunny day in the spring. A large brown hen had brought
her chicks outdoors. She was scratching in the dirt in the barnyard. The chicks were
imitating her. Suddenly, the hen made a clucking noise. When the chicks heard her, they
ran to her.
It was a cool fall (autumn) day. A young male bear was looking for a
good place to live. He saw a cave and went to look at it. But when he got near the cave,
he saw a tree with deep scratches on it. Those scratches were high above his head. The
bear decided to look for another cave.
Several female deer were grazing in a field with their fawns. One of
them raised her head and looked toward the road. A large dog and a man with a gun were
walking into the field. None of the other deer had seen the man and the dog. But when the
deer who had seen them put her tail up, all of the deer and their fawns ran into the
forest.
What happened? Why did the little chicks run to their mother? Why did
the bear decide to move on? Why did all the deer run into the forest?
When the hen made the clucking noise, she was telling her chicks that
she had found food for them.
When the bear saw the scratches high on the tree, he knew that they had
been made by a bear that was much bigger and taller than he. He knew he was in another
bear’s territory.
When the first deer showed the others the white hair that grew under
his tail, she was warning them of danger. Though they hadn’t seen the hunter and the
dog, they recognized the signal.
We read that communication is giving or exchanging news or information.
Although these animals couldn’t read or write, or speak a human language, they were
communicating. Scientists have found that almost every species of animal has a
communication system.
Animals exchange information about food, about territory, about danger
and safety. They express fear, hunger, anger, pleasure and recognition.
Animal messages are not always expressed in sounds. The scratches on
the tree were made by a larger bear who was saying: “This is my territory”.
Other animals may mark their territories in different ways. Rabbits
have scent glands under their chins. When they rub these glands on stones, for example,
the smell that remains tells other animals that the territory is occupied by a rabbit.
Some other animals communicate by touching. Lions, tigers and other
members of the cat family show friendliness by rubbing their heads or necks together.
Colour is sometimes very important in animal communication. Some kinds
of fish change colour when they are angry or frightened. A peacock displays the
beautifully coloured feathers in his tail when he wants to attract a female.
Chimpanzees are monkey members of the ape family. Some scientists think
that they do not only look almost human, but are the most intelligent animals on earth.
Zoologists who have studied chimpanzees in their native territories
have listed about twenty different sounds that the animals make. They aren’t sure what
the sounds mean, but they realize that chimps can communicate with each other, like many
other animals.
But other scientists believe that many monkeys, chimpanzees first of
all, can communicate with humans as well.
A Russian woman, Nadezhda Kohts, had lived with a baby chimp in her
home for three years (from 1913 to 1916). She discovered that the chimp understood what
she said to him, but he never tried to repeat what he heard.
In 1931, Gua, a female baby chimpanzee, went to live with a human
family, the Kellogs. Donald, the Kelloggs baby, and Gua were about the same age and they
played together. Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg talked to both of them, but only Donald learned to
speak. Gua understood English, but she expressed what she wanted to say by using gestures.
When she was hungry, she climbed into her chair; when she had enough to drink, she pushed
her cup away.
In the 1940s, Cathy Hayes, a journalist, and her husband, Keith, a
psychologist, lived with Viki, a very intelligent female chimpanzee.
They had studied all of the latest teaching methods, and they thought
they could teach Viki to speak. After many years, Viki had learned to say “mama”,
“papa” and “cup”, but she didn’t really understand what the words meant.
Finally, she learned to use pictures to ask for what she wanted. She showed a picture of
candy when she wanted a candy, for example.
Later, Beatrice and Allen Gardner taught their chimp, Washoe, to
communicate with gestures. They used American Sign Language. All of Washoe’s teachers
taught themselves American Sign Language, and they always used it when they were with her.
Washoe was given rewards when she made signs, so she learned quickly. “Open” was one
of her favourite signs. She used it for refrigerator doors, kitchen cabinets, jars of jam.
Soon she learned to put signs together to say what she wanted to say. She often signed
“please out” and “come open”.
When Washoe was four years old, she had a vocabulary of 130 signs. She
tried to use signs to “talk” to other chimps, but they seem not to understand her
language. Probably because they were not taught American Sign Language properly by
qualified instructors?
However zoologists, psychologists, linguists and other scientists are
still working with chimpanzees. In 1961 a chimpanzee was sent into outer space. No one
knows how much we can learn from chimpanzees.
Here, now, comes a funny story.
In the Berlin zoo, a short-sighted visitor who was watching the antics
of the chimpanzees, put on his spectacles to read a notice that was exhibited there. A
monkey promptly descended on him and snatched away the spectacles, so he had to get
someone else to read the notice for him. Can you guess what it was? It read: “Do not
lean over the barrier. The monkeys may steal objects – particularly glasses”! Just
fancy that!
Exercises:
I. On reading the text find in the word search below the English
equivalents to:
 1.
кролик
2. олень
3. медведь
4. собака
5. рыба
6. курица
7. лев
8. цыплята
9. тигр
10. шимпанзе
11. птица
12. кукушка
13. черепаха
14. корова
15. верблюд
16. павлин
How many names of animals can you find in the text?
II. Looking through the first part of text again find as many second
forms of irregular verbs as you can. But note: the second and the third forms of some
irregular verbs may look the same, but very often a preceding verb shows you if it is the
second or the third form of the verb in question.
There must be 11 forms. Write them down and explain your choice.
Answers: was put, made, heard, ran, saw, got, were, did, grew, read
III. Read the first part of the text again and answer these questions
(or write out the answers from the text).
1. What was a large brown hen doing on a warm sunny day?
2. What was a young male bear looking for on a cool fall day?
3. Where were several female deer grazing one day?
4. Why did the hen make the clucking noise?
5. Why did the young male bear know that he was in another bear’s
territory?
6. How did one deer warn the others of danger?
7. What have scientists found?
8. What emotions do animals express? (4)
9. Are animal messages always expressed in sounds?
10. How else can animals communicate?
IV. Read the second part of the text and answer these questions:
1. What are the most intelligent animals on earth?
2. Can they understand different languages? How can you prove your
answer?
3. Can chimpanzees sometimes speak? Can you prove it?
4. Are some chimpanzees able to communicate with humans with gestures?
5. Do you believe that chimpanzee will ever talk logically?
6. Can you give an example proving that chimpanzee can communicate?
V. Read the following short text and learn it by heart or retell it in
your own words.
There is an old belief that the cuckoo is first seen each year in
England on April 20. Perhaps because of its loud, strange call, or, perhaps because of its
lazy habit of laying eggs in the nests of other birds, the cuckoo is an object of
contempt. The English word “cuckoo” also means “foolish”.
The American cuckoo is not like the bad-mannered European cuckoo which lays its eggs in
other birds’ nests. It takes care of its young ones. But there is an American bird that
has the bad habit of the European cuckoo. This is the cow-bird that lays its eggs in other
birds’ nests.
By Natalya Predtechenskaya
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