i have heard many stories of how man and animal parted paths. one of my favorites is the story of the great seperation. long ago, man and animal spoke the same language, the words of the earth. together we lived in harmony, eating off of the land and giving respect to our friends. then one day, man deciede to eat his friend. from that point on, we lost the ability to speak the language of the world and the respect the animals used to give us.

on another note: having many animals in the house (3 cats, 3 guineq pigs, turtle, squirrel, hedge hog), i have ample opportunity to observe animals learning many things. one story that i would like to share involves my oldest cat, Poe. (the horror author, not the teletubby) Poe was running randomly? around the house and accidentally stumpled upon a child toy piano (the one that strikes the hammer against the bell) and was startled to hear it make a sound. so he experimented, rather methodically too, with what buttons made what sound and why sounds didnt come from the side of the box. this experientation went on for about 15 minutes until another cat walked by and noticed. at this point, Poe saw the other cat and i can only suppose he played a recital for him. he reared up on his back legs and struck at the keys with both paws, much like he's seen me do with an upright piano. mind you, the cacophony that erupted was very reminiscent of einsterzende neubauten or some other industrial band. but he tried and that really impressed me.