Tag animal communication

How to Chat Chicken

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How to Chat Chicken
Dr Nick Crumpton, illustrated by Adrienne Barman
What on Earth Books

Zoologist Nick Crumpton clearly enjoyed writing this splendidly quirky book on creature communication, for which he uses a chatty, matter-of-fact style.

Beginning with primates – chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, night monkeys and common marmosets – he focuses on the wonderful sounds these animals make to let others of their kind know they need food, investigate something new, want others to stay clear of them,

want to make friends, want a mate or are defending their territory. If your garden is frequented by a fox at night you could listen very carefully through an open window and you might just catch the ACK-ACK-A-ACK-ACK-A (This is my garden) of a fox indicating to another fox to vamoosh.

Not all animal sounds are vocal however. Some animals including grasshoppers and leaf cutter ants use a process called stridulation. Grasshoppers stridulate to advertise their whereabouts in order to attract a mate; leaf cutter ants stridulate when they want help from their nest-mates.

Then there is echolocation; dolphins use CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK when they want to find their prey or to indicate they want to play.

Some creatures, dogs for instance, use pheromones (special chemicals) to communicate. I had to smile at the description of lampposts being used as ‘doggy chat rooms’.
And can you believe, there is even a form of animal dialect: the squeaks and clicks made by naked mole rats sound slightly different depending on which colony they are from.

There’s a concluding explanation of the science behind the sounds, a meet the author and the illustrator spread, a glossary and an index.

The book is very visual: Adrienne Barman’s playful cartoon style illustrations work really well with the written text. Add to primary school collections and home bookshelves.

Curious Creatures Talking Together

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Curious Creatures Talking Together
Zoë Armstrong and Anja Sušanj
Flying Eye Books

It’s common knowledge that humans spend a considerable amount of time communicating with one another in various ways, mostly though not always using words, but less well known is that all manner of animals communicate wordlessly by means of movements, sounds and smells.

In this latest Curious Creatures book, Zoe Armstrong presents in her relatable style, some of the ways this happens in the animal kingdom. Many times I’ve stood in Bushy Park and watched what the two hikers in the highlands of Scotland are witnessing: two stags roaring, stamping and bellowing. This happens during the mating season when males compete for females and one wants to prove himself stronger. Having described their mode of communication, the author briefly compares their actions with ways we humans might sort out a disagreement. I especially like this feature, which is part of each section.

The next couple of spreads present examples of other creatures that communicate by means of visual signals, the peacock spider being one. I love the description of the male’s dance vibrations as ‘rumble rumps’ ‘crunch rolls’ and ‘grind-revs’. 

The book continues with spreads each focussing on in turn, sound signals, 

chemical ‘smelly’ signals, tactile or ‘touching messages’. There’s also a spread on ways some domesticated animals communicate with humans and finally comes a reminder that if we pay close attention to signals from animals, we can discover what they want, need and perhaps, feel, and thus develop empathy with them, which should emphasise the importance of protecting the world’s fauna and treating them with respect.

Anja Sušanj’s vibrant illustrations augment the text and will help to entice children into exploring the information. A worthwhile addition to primary class collections and libraries.