Animals everywhere, some on two legs, but also furred, feathered, finny, and we are so like all of them….
Forester Peter Wohlleben is clearly a lovely being, and no wonder the wild animals birds and insects in his forest allow him to come close and observe
This book is subtitled Love, Grief and Compassion, Surprising Observations of a Hidden World. Its tenet is that we are not as different from other life forms as we may think. And I must say the ‘Observations’ wonderful and fascinating as they are have never really seemed ‘Surprising’ ones to me
Those of us who do take delight in the natural world and perhaps thought a bit about evolution have probably pretty much suspected that if physical structures take millennia to evolve – for example, from light sensitive simple organisms to the complex structures and variations of the eye – then ‘feelings’ ‘instincts’ and, yes ‘reason’ intelligence, self-awareness and language itself did not just arise with homo sapiens.
When those of us who ascribe quite complex emotional nuances to non-human animals, are accused of anthropomorphising, it has always seemed to me that those who make that accusation are guilty of a solipsistic, rather arrogant view of the world. Not to mention, a simplistic one, separating Homo sapiens from other species. Perhaps one could say that it is precisely that kind of disconnected attitude which leads to us thinking the planet is ours to abuse. (End of Rant)
Wohlleben is a connected-to-other-living-forms type of person. Some of them quite surprising. He even find such lowly creatures as weevils worthy of respect and consideration.
Clearly not weevils but adorable little Wild Boar Piglets
His writing style (translated from the German) is wonderfully down to earth and engaging, but he’s doing far more than telling delightful encounters of clever, grumpy, courageous, faithful, altruistic animals he has observed and loved. He is citing a lot of scientific studies that have been made, which show evidence of the complex emotional lives of other species – 100 papers are cited and referenced.
The challenge, of course, for us is a moral one. Much of our behaviour towards other animal species is predicated on our own sense of difference and superiority. Not to mention holding similar views about other members of our own species, with all the sorry history of slavery and exploitation that led to
So many little and big snippets to enjoy in this – I was probably more delighted to find complexity of emotion in much simpler animals than mammalian and avian (I’m afraid I’m remarkably species favoured towards the feathered and the furred)
For example, that hormone oxytocin, which has been described as ‘the love hormone’ – levels of which rise in pregnancy, and also in sex, and increase when people touch each other with good intent – for example, hugging increases it – well, here’s a thing – oxytocin is also produced by fish!
What about altruism in bees? Bee colonies need to keep themselves warm over winter
If it gets really cold, the insects huddle together and form a ball. It’s warmest, and therefore safest, in the middle – and, of course, this is where the queen must be. But what about the bees on the outside? If the exterior temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius, they would die of cold in just a few hours, so bees inside the ball are kind enough to take it in turns to give the outsiders the opportunity to warm up again in the dense, seething mass
Some might scoff at that ‘kind enough’ but Wohlleben is not one who thinks that mankind alone shows complex connections, behaviour and ‘emotion’
This is a delightful, light-hearted, but intensely serious book.
When people reject acknowledging too much in the way of emotions in animals, I have the vague feeling that there’s a bit of fear that human beings could lose their special status. Even worse, it would become much more difficult to exploit animals. Every meal eaten or leather jacket worn would trigger moral considerations that would spoil their enjoyment……I am suggesting that we infuse our dealings with the living beings with which we share our world with a little more respect, as we once used to do
I received this from Amazon Vine UK
It has been ably translated from the German by Jane Billinghurst, who also translated Wohlleben’s earlier bestseller, The Hidden Life of Trees
Lady Fancifull 
Lovely review of what sounds like a fascinating book. I share your view that homo sapiens is not ‘special’ just another kind of animal. I have observed many behaviours in my animals that can be variously described as capricious, loving, considerate, sharing, grumpy. It is crazy to think other creatures do not feel. I suspect you’re right that a large part of this is seated in arrogance and a desire to be special. I remember once having a discussion about the theory of evolution and someone of a particularly religious bent expressed their disgust with the theory along the lines of ‘the Bible tells me I’m descended from Kings, not apes’. I thought this spectacularly arrogant, because it’s implicit that apes are something ‘lesser’. I have never thought that. Different, yes. Special in their own right, yes. Extraordinary, yes. I’m honoured to have such a close connection to another species, but it’s sad to say that no everyone feels it an honour.
Such a thought-provoking review. Thanks!
Thank you bookbii. I have Wohlleben’s tree book on the TBR. And in some ways, that one really is ‘mind blowing ‘ making some science of why we may have venerated trees in the past. I have to say, that when ‘landscaping’ destroys trees, as happened to an area of semi wild space i know well, a couple of years ago, I was not the only one who felt ‘terror and grief’ in the landscape, as the programme of telling ( not coppicing) was carried out. Wohlleben talks about chemical communication through root systems. And of course chemical communication is what all life does, either within a single organism, or between members of the same, or different species.
As a vegan, I’m right there with you. I often think animals are better than humans anyway. And yes, I’m a bit of a tree hugger too – got mightily upset when a neighbour cut down an old pine for no good reason. it’s time we needed to extend a little more respect to our fellow creatures and our environment.
Indeed. And I think we get given so much back to us, by non-human animals and also, particularly, as far as plant kingdom relationships are concerned, by trees. There was a wonderful snippet on the Today programme this morning, about the practice of coppicing – which dates back to at least the Bronze Age. The coppicer interviewed was talking about a particular tree (i missed the location) which is 2000 years old. Had it been uncoppiced , aka ‘a maiden tree’ it would have had a normal life span for the species of a few hundred years.
When you think of what those ancient trees have experienced, it is genuinely awe-inspiring. They really are like some kind of portal into the past
This sounds lovely. I fear nothing is going to elucidate the inner life of my cats to me though – they remain a mystery. Although I feel less silly for describing one of them as looking ‘arrogant’ in a particular photo now (he does look arrogant)!
Cats deliberately work on maintaining mystery, if they think you might have the illusion of understanding them. Think you have worked out what food we like and which food we won’t eat?? They smirk, I swear, when the bulk purchase of new favourite food arrives, and then, when the bowls are put down, they do that scraping the cat litter action on the floor, to cover the smell of their waste, and walk away. Not to mention howl to be fed, but not with what you just bought.
You would think rescue cats would be grateful to be fed at all. But no, devotion just reminds them that once upon a time they were worshipped as gods. Tinned cat food even of expensive pedigree? How dare you! Bring me warm mouse….
It is so difficult to be any kind of a carnivore these days. I am conflicted. We don’t eat meat often, and when we do, I make sure it’s organic, free range, humanely treated, etc etc. And I grew up on a farm, naming and eating our food constantly. Anyway, I am impressed that cold fish have warm hearts (or at least a spritzing of oxytocin). Now, about snakes……
Hah! You’ve made me realise he doesn’t mention snakes at all. Perhaps he feels a shiver of hardwired distaste… I had friends who raised their own rabbits, ducks, chickens to eat. They also grew their vegetables. To me that IS actively engaging with the fact that (unless you are a plant) everything eats something. Factory farming takes us out of connection with that, and is the essence of lack of reverence
I read Wohlleben’s Hidden Life of trees. The rational thinker in me was delighted that all the amazing tree facts were ‘scientifically’ based, but I also kept thinking of folk tale forests and the beyond-natural life of trees in those stories and how that story life made even more sense with my new ‘scientific’ understandings.
Yes, I have dipped into trees, and will obviously be burrowing deeper. I love the combination of myth and a verification, in some ways, if the wisdom of a felt response to the world, by modern science. It only makes me more in awe of our ancestors!
I don’t understand how anyone who has lived with pets can be in any doubt that they have similar emotions to humans. I’m sure I’ve told you this before, but when my previous tomcat Trix disappeared, his sister Soxy went through grief exactly as I did. Am I anthropomorphising? Well, her hair started to fall out, which seems kind of like proof to me. And once she stopped moping for him, it grew back in again. Being speciesist (I’m sure that must be a word), I have a harder time believing that simpler creatures like worms etc ‘feel’ in the same way, but who knows?
I certainly don’t want to find out that cockroaches have tender feelings………
Since I now live near a pond, I’ve noticed bird personalities. The Canadian Geese are the original helicopter parents, but the depth of attentiveness depends on the individual goose. The inland gulls are noisy little brigands that like to steal from the geese, but mostly from the mallard ducks who are smaller, so the ducks hang around the geese for protection. No, I cannot figure out how they feel, but I can get a sense of their motives. So Wohlleben’s book sounds interesting.
I like your descriptions of the bird species!
Lovely post about amazing book. Animals feel the same as we do, plants as well. We are the ones who disconnected ourselves from the nature and slowly but surely are destroying our own home.
I agree Nikole. Humans are PART of the development of life forms ; we do not stand outside it. Not to mention the fact that as there are more cells within our body (numerically) that do not carry our DNA than those that do, individuals are in fact communities of coexistence . Opening up to other channels of communication than merely the verbal is an enriching delight