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Animals and mirrors
#1
They have been doing studies of animals seeing their images in a mirror. It is considered a sign of intelligence when you can recognize that you re seeing yourself in the mirror. Human babies do not recognize themselves at first.

There are a fair number of animals that do recognize themselves.
It is the ones that you would expect.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...s-science/

I wonder what they would find if they expanded the study to a lot of other animals. It would have to be animals that have good sight.

Dwarf hamsters have trouble recognizing a live hamster by sight. I doubt they could see a mirror.
Snakes sense heat and use scent clues. A mirror would be cold and scentless. It would have no meaning for them.
I might try a few of my animals with mirrors and see what results I get. First I will need a mirror.
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Catherine

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#2
Haha! The first time Misty saw herself in a mirror she barked and growled. I had put a mirror on the floor to stand against the wall while I was polishing a desk top. I heard her going on and doubled up laughing! Then, after that initial shock, she accepted her reflection, didn't ignore it, but looked at herself for a moment, then got bored.
She never barked and growled when meeting other dogs. She loved to meet other dogs -and other animals too (such as cows, horses, goats, sheep)
I think her reflection just took her by surprise, and she didn't expect to see another dog coming out of the living room wall!
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#3
Misty might have been startled by the sight of a dog that she had not seen or heard. I wonder if she realized it was her own reflection. Dogs might know and not care. Humans know it is their own reflection and we care about seeing ourselves. It sounds like dolphins care about what they look like. Trust magpies to know. They are very clever. If magpies know then crows should figure it out as well.

The whole thing needs more study. I know that elephants only recognized themselves when they gave them a big enough mirror.
I know self recognition is seen as a sign of intelligence, but lack of self recognition should not be seen as a lack of intelligence. Don't you agree?
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Catherine

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