Animals and Communication

Interesting and even surprising studies have been made about how animals communicate with one another, and some of their interchanges are surprisingly detailed. Inter-species connection seems rare and very limited; blue jays sounding the alarm in the woods, for instance.

The 1956 children's novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians has a rather extensive canine conversation network with messages relayed through barking. Despite their intelligence, they never developed a system to communicate with humans. Interestingly, there are videos of animals seeking out humans and making known their needs for help.

Barking corgi, Flickr / xan latta (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Animals can make themselves understood to each other to some extent, but a bonobo and a chimpanzee will never discuss the physics of coconut spinning. The Creator gave many animals the ability to communicate for their survival. There are studies of communication between animals and humans.

Notice that it has to be initiated by people. Animals left to their own devices have no language accomplishments or sophistication. After all those alleged Darwin years, it seems they would have come up with something. Humans were created in the image of God and our communications are far more involved and intricate — yet even people married for years continue to learn to understand each other in deeper ways.

While animals may not speak our language, they most surely communicate with us when we watch their cues. But for some people, simply picking up on cues is not enough.

Though the concept is far from new, researchers and pet owners display a growing fascination with the ability to communicate with our furry friends and other creatures in the animal kingdom.

Advances in technology allow us to attach small microphones on creatures such as penguins and chipmunks to record their chatter. Ever-advancing AI programs then use that recorded data to map and attempt to translate animal languages.

To read the entire article (and about how a corgi tattled), visit "Speak!" Although not about animals, you may also like "Language Itself Testifies of the Creator."