Terri Goon & Axel
We’re learning about interspecies communication here at Animal University, but how do animals communicate with each other? Chances are good they communicate with each other in all the same ways we communicate with them, minus the speech. So feelings, emotions, energy, telepathy, visions, smell etc.
Linked here is a study done concerning anxiety and whether or not it’s contagious. Intuitively I would say yes and I am not very happy that scientists needed to scare a number of voles for this study, but the study is interesting none the less.
Groups of voles, when together, were frightened more regularly by an owl, than were individual voles. The individuals, when frightened, were only stressed in an amount expected from their individual profile. In mixed company of male and female voles, the males were less anxious then with males alone.
“It’s not a question of being more or less afraid,” says Prof. Eilam. “Under threat, members of a social group will adopt a common behavioral code, regardless of their individual tendency towards anxiety.”
We see this in horses all the time in a field (again, making me question why scaring voles was necessary!). One horse spooks and they all spook. But if there is a particularly stable or experienced horse who others will look to for a reaction and she doesn’t spook, the others will all look to the original spooker like he/she were a loon.
I have one horse, Princess, who communicates strongly through feelings vs. body language. I cannot tell you how many people have told me to “look out!” because Princess was on a tear only to reassure them that no, Princess will let me know when she’s upset about something and it won’t be seen in her ears or eyes, but felt through my entire insides.
Two years ago I had one of my most joyous days with Princess. One of her old owners had found me on the internet and she wanted to know if she could come for a visit. We walked together across the field towards Princess who “looked” mad and cranky and dangerous. But that woman who had known Princess when she was just a young girl laughed and ran up for a big hug. Princess remembered and loved her back in all the ways that she does and not a one included ears up. What a joy it was to meet someone else who knows and loves her inside out!
Princess is a feeler. Other horses feel her when she is scared and feel her when she isn’t. The herd will feel from Princess whether to laugh at a spooker or not. You won’t see her actually see it, but you will feel her eyes roll!
