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Lessons from animals Original sources unknown. The turkey and the bull A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey “but, I haven’t got the energy.” “Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull. “They’re packed with nutrients.” The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the trees. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon a farmer promptly spotted him, and shot the turkey out of the tree. Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there. The birds and the milk In England at the turn of the century, milkmen used to deliver their product to customers’ homes in uncapped bottles. Birds, particularly the blue tit and the red robin, learned how to siphon off the cream that rose to the top of the bottles. Between the two world wars, dairy distributors began capping the bottles with aluminium seals. But during the 1950s, the entire blue tit population had learned how to pierce the seals. Robins, on the other hand, were completely stumped. Blue tits learn as a species because they are networking birds, moving from garden to garden in flocks of eight to ten for several months. They teach each other, passing knowledge from individual to pair to group. Robins, by contrast, are territorial. They stake out turf and prevent others from settling on it. This limits the opportunity to share knowledge that would benefit the entire species. Lesson: Learning is a social activity The Gorillas and the Banana Story An experiment was conducted with four gorillas moved into the same cage. When the gorillas were first introduced into the environment, the experimenters would lower bananas into the centre of the cage. When the gorillas went after the food, all were hosed down with a high-pressure water hose. Even if only one went after the food, all received the same treatment. As expected, soon the gorillas did not go after the bananas when they were lowered into the cage. Behaviour was trained and reinforced. Now, the experimenters replaced one of the gorillas. When the bananas were lowered into the cage, the new gorilla, of course, started toward the free meal. The other three gorillas knew what would happen, so they quickly jumped the new gorilla, keeping him from causing the dreaded response of water. Although perplexed, the new gorilla quickly learned not to go after the food lowered into the cage, and to jump any other gorilla that did the same. The experimenters continued by slowing replacing each gorilla one by one. The result was the same: the new one went for the food the others jumped him. Soon the experimenters had replaced all of the four original gorillas. Keep in mind that the high-pressure water hose had not been used since the first four gorillas were together. But every time a new gorilla went for the food lowered into the cage, the others stopped him cold. The experimenters were able to go several generations away from the original four gorillas, but still the behaviour did not change. None of the gorillas knew why they shouldn’t go for the food, but they knew what to do if any one did. It was what was done before them, and before them, and so on. A proud tradition was born. Lesson: Behaviour is learned. The bird and the cat A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold; the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there; a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realise how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him! Lesson 1) not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy. Lesson 2) not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. Lesson 3) and when you’re in deep shit, keep your mouth shut! The crow and the rabbit A crow was sitting in a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?” The crow answered: “Sure, why not” So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit, and ate it. Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very high up.