When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson Page A
Authors: Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
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not only losing their young but also that they will be injured. Another brown bear Bledsoe observed. Big Mama, was alarmed when her two curious yearling cubs chose to investigate human observers, going after them uttering alarm calls until her cubs left the humans alone. Lynn Rogers, who studies the smaller black bear, says that when faced by danger, mother bears not only urge cubs up trees, but also discourage them from climbing smooth-barked trees like aspens in favor of rougher-barked pines (which are easier for small cubs to climb). Paul Leyhausen observed several mother cats who would allow their kittens to chase mice, but would interfere if the kittens went after rats. Tested away from their mothers, the kittens proved quite capable of tackling rats.
Mountain goat nannies vigilantly try to prevent their kids from taking dangerous or fatal falls. According to Douglas Chad-wick, nannies try to stay on the downhill side of their kids, both when the kids are moving about and when they sleep. Due to the exuberance of the kids, the nannies must watch constantly. Chad-wick notes of one mountain goat, "I could hear her literally cry out when the baby took a hard spill, and she would rush over to lick and nuzzle it, and then encourage it to nurse." The mother's cry is very like a human reaction to seeing someone fall, and it tells a perfect story of empathy.
A peregrine falcon father attacked one of his sons every time the young falcon came too close to human observers. Eventually the young bird changed his behavior, avoiding the observers afterward. The father's fear for his son altered the young bird's actions.
Social animals may fear for other members of the group. One experimenter decided to investigate the reaction of some young
FEAR, HOPE, AND THE TERRORS OF DRE4MS
chimpanzees to "a bold man" and "a timid man." The chimpanzee Lia avoided the bold man, but the chimpanzee Mimi fought him. One day the "bold man" bent Mimi's finger back until she screamed. Lia joined the attack, but stopped when she got punched (such is the elegance of experimental research). After that, Lia devoted her efforts to trying to hold Mimi back, by grabbing her hands and pulling her away. In a group of caged chimpanzees at Oklahoma's Institute for Primate Studies, a female chimpanzee with an infant, whose previous babies had been removed, became apprehensive when approached by scientists. So did the other chimpanzees in the group in nearby cages. In this case, however, it is not clear whether the other chimpanzees were actually fearful; they may have been merely hostile. The deep fears that being in a laboratory may occasion in an animal have never been the object of study. Possibly the ethical dilemma created by causing such fear is too transparent to be acknowledged by scientific scrutiny.
Tne Spectrum oi Fear
Fear at its mildest—a readiness to fear—may be characterized as caution or alertness and has obvious survival value. The alert worm hears the early bird coming and escapes. When this feeling intensifies it becomes anxiety, a painful uneasiness of mind. Psychiatry has made a good living from the fact that some people seem to be incapacitated by the degree of anxiety they feel, while others think their anxiety unnecessary or exaggerated.
Very great fear, like very great pain, can produce shock. The term shock has a medical definition, and there is no doubt that animals experience it. Hans Kruuk describes what looks like shock in wildebeest cornered by hyenas. These animals scarcely try to defend themselves once they have been brought to a standstill. They will stand in one spot, moaning, and be torn apart by the hyenas.
Pandora, a two-year-old mountain goat to be fitted with a radio collar, was trapped at a salt lick by wildlife biologist Douglas Chadwick and his wife. At first she made spirited attempts to es-
HUEN ELEPK-iNTS HEEP
cape. She tried to jump out ot the enclosure, hooked a horn at C>hadwick, and when tackled and
Mountain goat nannies vigilantly try to prevent their kids from taking dangerous or fatal falls. According to Douglas Chad-wick, nannies try to stay on the downhill side of their kids, both when the kids are moving about and when they sleep. Due to the exuberance of the kids, the nannies must watch constantly. Chad-wick notes of one mountain goat, "I could hear her literally cry out when the baby took a hard spill, and she would rush over to lick and nuzzle it, and then encourage it to nurse." The mother's cry is very like a human reaction to seeing someone fall, and it tells a perfect story of empathy.
A peregrine falcon father attacked one of his sons every time the young falcon came too close to human observers. Eventually the young bird changed his behavior, avoiding the observers afterward. The father's fear for his son altered the young bird's actions.
Social animals may fear for other members of the group. One experimenter decided to investigate the reaction of some young
FEAR, HOPE, AND THE TERRORS OF DRE4MS
chimpanzees to "a bold man" and "a timid man." The chimpanzee Lia avoided the bold man, but the chimpanzee Mimi fought him. One day the "bold man" bent Mimi's finger back until she screamed. Lia joined the attack, but stopped when she got punched (such is the elegance of experimental research). After that, Lia devoted her efforts to trying to hold Mimi back, by grabbing her hands and pulling her away. In a group of caged chimpanzees at Oklahoma's Institute for Primate Studies, a female chimpanzee with an infant, whose previous babies had been removed, became apprehensive when approached by scientists. So did the other chimpanzees in the group in nearby cages. In this case, however, it is not clear whether the other chimpanzees were actually fearful; they may have been merely hostile. The deep fears that being in a laboratory may occasion in an animal have never been the object of study. Possibly the ethical dilemma created by causing such fear is too transparent to be acknowledged by scientific scrutiny.
Tne Spectrum oi Fear
Fear at its mildest—a readiness to fear—may be characterized as caution or alertness and has obvious survival value. The alert worm hears the early bird coming and escapes. When this feeling intensifies it becomes anxiety, a painful uneasiness of mind. Psychiatry has made a good living from the fact that some people seem to be incapacitated by the degree of anxiety they feel, while others think their anxiety unnecessary or exaggerated.
Very great fear, like very great pain, can produce shock. The term shock has a medical definition, and there is no doubt that animals experience it. Hans Kruuk describes what looks like shock in wildebeest cornered by hyenas. These animals scarcely try to defend themselves once they have been brought to a standstill. They will stand in one spot, moaning, and be torn apart by the hyenas.
Pandora, a two-year-old mountain goat to be fitted with a radio collar, was trapped at a salt lick by wildlife biologist Douglas Chadwick and his wife. At first she made spirited attempts to es-
HUEN ELEPK-iNTS HEEP
cape. She tried to jump out ot the enclosure, hooked a horn at C>hadwick, and when tackled and
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