Originally published at: https://gizadeathstar.com/2024/05/the-orangutan-that-makes-its-own-medicine/
First off, before we get down to business, I want to thank everyone for your Easter well-wishes and patience this last week. Some of you thought that I was ill or away, because the blogs we’re appearing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays as usual. What happened was another technical glitch as the button on my…
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From the headline, I thought maybe you were referring to this guy, whom is about to have a field day experimenting on earth’s population the next five years. 
It strays off topic, but I couldn’t help myself.
Please forgive me.
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I am withdrawing from my statements above, because I found evidence to the contrary. I watched the video several times, and the order of assistance in which the older dog taught the puppy, left no doubt in my mind that there is more going on than instinct.
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What are your thoughts about the deer with a very injured mouth who came to my window looking for my help? I put a homeopath atop food I fixed that I thought she might be able to eat. This went on most of a summer until she could eat somewhat normally again. I could tell you about cougars and their sense of teasing humor. Or a bear that led me into the forest on a trip I won’t forget. Hard to think it wasn’t purposeful. But then, I’ve seen Sasquatch so there you go.
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It could be you, exuding calm and peace in your aura, that make the animals trust you.
I personally, make it a point, to discourage animals to approach me, so the events you described never happen to me.
I do it to certain humans too, it works.
But what about the animal caught in a trap, fighting its rescuer?
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Cool. We may be watching an episode of ‘The Hundredth Monkey’ in real time.
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Dogs are smarter than ( too) many of us already 
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or, does the dog think it is going to be slammed on the floor, like the plush, if it eats the treat?
My favorite, are the two puddles with the bibs, 
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Poodles rarely top any lists of mine,but agreed; they are winning right here.
Treats are on the way
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Thank you for sharing your beautiful experience in nursing the deer. We would have done as you did.
(A couple of years ago, a deer came to our home during a severe drought, and collapsed very dehydrated. We gave him water. After which he returned regularly during the worst of the drought, and knew he could find water and safety with us.) I’m a believer in extending compassion to all creatures. I see deep intelligence and mystery in them all, regardless what species. We love to observe animals and connect with them directly in friendship when unique occasions arise where we sense a mutual curiosity in the other creature to engage with us. This often starts with eye contact, and reading what is in the eyes. You seem to be inclined in that way too! We hope that your deer friend has healed. At the very least, your help has led to a lasting bond of friendship, that will bring deep joy to you, as well as to your deer friend.
I don’t think humans have a monopoly on “intelligence”. That’s a conceited narrative that we’ve all been fed by our institutions to justify enslaving and exploiting others, which, without these narratives, we would not do instinctively. From what I’ve observed, wild animals seem to have more intelligence in terms of being able to care for themselves than humans do (which leads to some deep questions about the early history of mankind). Humans seem to have (quite easily) given over our own sense perceptions and instincts to narratives, which, to me, is an intelligence-reduction operation. (It seems to me that many instinctual responses have been almost completely muddled in humans: narratives now seem to take the place of appropriate responses to basic food instincts, sex instincts, sheltering instincts, maternal and paternal instincts, fear instincts, trust instincts, socialization instincts, danger avoidance instincts, etc.). Instead of heeding our senses, we listen to some narrative which tells us what to do or think, regardless how unnatural or irrational, or even how dangerous.
In your case, instead of listening to the standard narrative that we’ve all been fed (i.e., to avoid contact with wildlife), you responded to a plea for help from a deer, as you saw what she asked in her eyes. No words necessary. And you responded to a deep sense of empathy and desire to help a fellow being (I think this is a natural human response that our society has tried to dull out of our psyche). It seems to me that your intelligence is operating at a high level, in that you’re able to communicate through the eyes, past the language barriers, because you take the time to look at and be in the presence of other creatures. (Your bear and cougar experiences would undoubtedly be interesting as well).
Some insightful Quotes from page 71 of Food for Freedom (Will Tuttle), where he talks about narratives that empower rulers; as contrasted with natural human inclinations to assist both animals and people: “…we see that the underlying suggestion of a hidden cabal feeling entitled to rule humanity continues to this day. It is important to guard against the sense of superiority that often arises in false spirituality, where we develop an inflated sense of ourselves, especially in regard to animals, or to other people who can be deemed inferior. Our herding culture conditions us relentlessly into these kinds of harmful attitudes, and with spiritual practice and awareness, we can free ourselves from them, and reconnect with our inherent compassion for others. …Our heart is naturally filled with a sense of kinship with others, even as we see they are not ‘others’, in the sense that we see that we share the same source. This realization is the foundation of authentic morality, kindness, and spiritual awakening. We inherently delight in helping others as best we can…”
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Fair enough and good points all… though I have to say that Shiloh I’ve not ever seen eat any grass anywhere near where I’ve seen other dogs in the neighborhood, nor anywhere near her own “dos”
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Thank you for posting this thread. I love anything having to do with animals!
About 20 years ago, we visited a monkey zoo, Apenheul, in Holland. That was our last visit, ever, to any kind of zoo. While the little monkeys did roam around, the big ones were in enclosures. We got a glimpse of an orangutan, and the depressed look of hopeless despair he gave us hit us in our hearts. It was as if he were saying to himself: “oh boy, those awful humans are back looking at me, will I ever be free of them, is there more to my life than being looked at constantly by humans”. The little free-roaming monkeys seemed happy enough, but the larger ones in the enclosures looked depressed, even though some of them could go into an outdoor enclosure beside their indoor enclosures. Seeing that turned us off zoos.
Being an animal lover, I’ve had my nose in books about animals for some years. One author I’ve enjoyed is Jonathan Balcombe. In his book Pleasurable Kingdom, he wrote (p. 48):
" Humans have a patronizing tendency to measure the intelligence of other animals in human terms. Koko, the famous lowland gorilla and star matron of Penny Patterson’s The Gorilla Foundation in California, has mastered more than 1,000 signs in American Sign Language, understands several thousand English words, and scores between 70 and 95 on human IQ tests. The score places Koko in the human slow learner – but not retarded – category. And though these results are impressive, they give a blurry picture of gorilla intelligence. They are tests devised by humans for humans, not for gorillas. And when we piously conclude that Koko actually exceeds the ‘retarded human’ category, the indelible image is of a beast who doesn’t quite meet our lofty standards for brains.
But how would a lowland gorilla do if she were tested on things that are important to her, such as the ability to recognize native plants and to distinguish edible from inedible ones? Or to predict weather changes in the lush African jungles where lowland gorillas live? Or to guage the moods of other gorillas based on facial expressions, body postures, or their scent? By such measures, she would be a genius among humans. Gorillas’ evolutionary history and survival depend on these mental skills. Gorillas are intelligent at being gorillas. Similarly, a rat is probably no less intelligent than a rhino, but more to the point, a rat is intelligent at being a rat, as is a rhino at being a rhino.
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The same can be said of the minds of other animals. Each has its own intelligence, evolved to cope with the challenges presented by their lifestyle and environment. If we want to understand the workings of an animal’s mind, it helps to understand that animal’s habitat, diet, mating strategy etc. – in short, its ecological ‘niche.’ "
I’m not surprised that orangutans make medicine. We can learn a lot from them and other animals. I’m sure that much of our past and very rich knowledge of plant medicines was all but wiped out when our minds got hijacked by the global cabal that has been controlling our information.
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I would not eat Squid or Octopus again either. Nor could I eat a whale or dolphin because they are quite intelligent as well. I do feel guilty about eating pigs as they are just as smart as dogs in the opinion of those who actually spend time with swine as pets. Some vegans say they won’t eat anything with a face so faceless clams, Scallops , squid and octopus seem like they should qualify to those particular vegan tastes.
I hear some say the idea that squid and octopus may have arrived here by employing a passive form of interstellar space life travel like the ancient panspermia theory suggests ?
Do you think perhaps that the seas under Jupiter’s moon Europa may already have some intelligent octopus life . Writer Arthur Clarke’s fictional Space Odessy series suggests life of some sort is evolving there . Do you think it’s possible that any of the watery seas of other moons in our solar system may also be supporting some kind of Cephalopod life forms?
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As I have asked a lot of vegans in the past decades: What makes you so sure, that just because it doesn’t have a face it doesn’t bother being eaten?
Now , they found out that flowers and vegetables have" feelings" too.
In an experiment where they ripped petals off flowers next to an egg, the egg responded to this with characteristic movements every time.
If you were to be devoured by a human,would you prefer the destiny of an animal, who do have a rather quick death if everything is done in the proper ways.
Or would you rather be a carrot, ripped out of the earth,and dry out in a supermarket for a week before someone ended you in a grater?
Human beings sure took their time before they started having empathy with animals.
And now we recognize the pain of the animals we kill and it feels wrong for many of us to eat them.
But even though we have become better at seeing things from the animals point of view doesn’t mean that we are quite there yet understanding that all living things around us have the same lust for life and that its wrong to end it.
So maybe we should be better and bring back table prayers and truly value the food we eat a bit more.
Live more modestly and coexist with nature more.
Way too many of us are “supermarket slaughters”, we don’t really pay it no mind
as long as the food is all sliced and packaged,but if we were to slaughter the animal ourselves, many would have a problem with it.
There we go, a good case for “laboratory” food…now we have think about, “Do cells have feelings?”
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Because it has been vegans bringing up the subject.
I feel its a completely natural response to being told to stop eating animals, cause they are conscious, to ask how someone can be sure this only apply to lifeforms with faces.
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The deer are monsters, eating all my clover!!
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