Play, joy, happiness...............

When I watch the bunnies cavorting (see video - previous post) it intrigues me to consider what they might be feeling. I do know that Simon experiences the world somewhat differently than I do because he...for example....has a sense of smell that is many times more sensitive than mine. He is much much smaller, he detects light much better than I do, his field of vision is much larger than mine....and on and on.

Does this mean we don't feel similar emotions? Marc Bekoff is a scientist (Ethologist) and author that has written a number of books about animals and emotions. I ran across a video of him talking about these issues and found it to be very interesting. The video is pretty brief, 6 or 7 minutes and well worth watching......there is a quick shot of his office....and I felt quite at home because it looks much like my office (clutter as an art form).

Years of graduate school and academia have left me cognizant of the value of a scientific approach to apprehending the workings of our world. Not only that, in the world of science can be found folks that are terrific human animals and great teachers (lots of jerks and dolts too). Marc Bekoff is a good scientist and one of the terrific human animals. Give a look and listen to him talking about animals, emotion and play.

I have read several of his books and can readily recommend them for their solid research and scholarly approach to understanding more about the animal folks with whom we share this planet. He also writes a blog called Animal Emotions over at Psychology Today (referenced on this blog site) that is excellent.