And that raccoons pick locks, crows know physics plus more amazingly intelligent animal behavior.
See the touching video of Shirley and Jenny, two elephants who hadn't seen each other for over 22 years.
1. Raccoons pick locks
If you’re planning a whimsical animal burglary, you’ll definitely want a raccoon anchoring your squad.
In a bizarre 1908 study by ethologist H.B. David, raccoons were able to pick complex locks in fewer than 10 attempts, even after the locks were rearranged or flipped upside-down.
Various studies conducted from the '60s to the '90s found that raccoons also boast an impeccable memory, able to recall solutions to tasks for up to three years.
Bonus fact: Thanks to their broad hearing range, raccoons literally hear earthworms moving underground. (How this will benefit you in your heist is for you to determine.)
Not only can crows recognize faces to differentiate between predatory and benign species, they also understand basic physics (like this lab crow who mastered water displacement to maneuver a treat within reach).
They have been known to change entire migration patterns to avoid farms where crows have been killed in the past, and may even memorize city garbage routes so they can snag the inevitable food droppings on trash day.
Cool, calculating, and known to harbor a grudge, crows shouldn’t be compared to gangsters, per se, but we do feel obligated to remind you that a group of them is called a murder.
Pigs may as well be man’s best friend, according to a 2015 paper from the International Journal of Comparative Psychology.
Like dogs, pigs have been shown to understand emotions, demonstrate empathy, solve mazes, learn simple symbolic languages and, most adorably, make best friends. For some skills, the youngest pigs even put our youngest humans to shame.
In an experiment where wee British piglets had to use mirrors to divine the path to a hidden bowl of food, piggies as young as six weeks old learned the concept of reflection within a few hours—a milestone that takes baby humans several months to grasp.
Thanks to The Readers Digest for this very informative and interesting article.
See the touching video of Shirley and Jenny, two elephants who hadn't seen each other for over 22 years.
1. Raccoons pick locks
In a bizarre 1908 study by ethologist H.B. David, raccoons were able to pick complex locks in fewer than 10 attempts, even after the locks were rearranged or flipped upside-down.
Various studies conducted from the '60s to the '90s found that raccoons also boast an impeccable memory, able to recall solutions to tasks for up to three years.
Bonus fact: Thanks to their broad hearing range, raccoons literally hear earthworms moving underground. (How this will benefit you in your heist is for you to determine.)
2. Crows know physics
They have been known to change entire migration patterns to avoid farms where crows have been killed in the past, and may even memorize city garbage routes so they can snag the inevitable food droppings on trash day.
Cool, calculating, and known to harbor a grudge, crows shouldn’t be compared to gangsters, per se, but we do feel obligated to remind you that a group of them is called a murder.
3. Pigs use mirrors
Like dogs, pigs have been shown to understand emotions, demonstrate empathy, solve mazes, learn simple symbolic languages and, most adorably, make best friends. For some skills, the youngest pigs even put our youngest humans to shame.
In an experiment where wee British piglets had to use mirrors to divine the path to a hidden bowl of food, piggies as young as six weeks old learned the concept of reflection within a few hours—a milestone that takes baby humans several months to grasp.
Thanks to The Readers Digest for this very informative and interesting article.