Smart Animals

There are often good reasons behind animals’ actions

The Runaway Hen ADRIANTO WIDYADHANA

It is not fair to think that chickens make duller pets than dogs. Scientifically, this may be the case but in real life they, too, manage to surprise you.

I live in a small village called Dawukan on the island of Java, Indonesia. We have a small flock of five hens and seven roosters, two turkeys and two ducks. We keep them in a small barn right next to our house.

One day, during the dry season of 2015, we went to the barn to feed them and only counted four hens. The one that was missing was our eldest; we’d had her for three years and she is one of my favourites. Her name is Putih, which literally translates to ‘white’ in Indonesian because of her feather colour.

I called my father and we began

to search. We spent a full day searching the entire village but could not find her anywhere. Heartbroken, I went home wishing her the best of luck in the outside world.

The next morning, I went about my daily routine and found a wonderful surprise. There, pecking at the barn door, was my beloved hen, and she was not alone. By her side stood a very handsome rooster.

A Very Wily Dingo LAWRENCE CLARKE

As a boy of 12, I had a pet dog that was three-quarters dingo. The dingo is a native Australian wild canine that has earned the possibly unfair reputation of being both cowardly and cunning. The word ‘dingo’ is now an established part of the vernacular as a substitute for ‘coward’.

I’m not sure which applied to my two-year-old four-legged friend, Homer, but on several occasions I observed instances of both. These occurred when he accompanied me to the local ferry wharf in Balmain, Sydney, where I liked to fish and he liked to swim.

There was a grocery shop adjacent to the wharf and in it resided a large German shepherd. To get to the wharf it was necessary to walk around a long curving fence at the end of which the wharf and the shop would come into view. Homer clearly valued his hide more than he did his swim because as we neared the point where the shop could be seen, he would begin to walk tiptoe as though sneaking up on a quarry. At the end of this stealthy approach, if the German shepherd was spotted, he would immediately about-turn and head back home, tail between his legs. It could have been cowardice; I prefer to think it was animal cunning. A very smart dingo!

Good Fences Make Brave Dogs LINDA SMITH

Our family dog Bunny, a Jack Russell cross, goes to a gap in our back fence every afternoon. On the other side is an alleyway, and Bunny waits for a black Labrador who passes each day at 3.20pm.

As he passes, both dogs participate in a round of aggressive barking and growling through the small gap, and then stalk away.

One afternoon I spotted Bunny hiding behind our shed, his tail between his legs and his ears down, as the Labrador marched past the fence as usual. It was then I realised that I’d left the gate open.

Apparently, Bunny only shows his aggression behind the safety of a closed gate!