Some of the anecdotes and mildly amusing, and some are no doubt puzzling, but the writing is awful. Not sure who he thinks his audience is, but I can't imagine anyone enjoying that writing style. ( )

This book looks at a wide variety of animal behaviors that baffle or surprise people, because they display a level of intelligence and ingenuity that we like to reserve for ourselves. Most of the incidents described here are encounters wild animals have with people in captive settings, not in the kind of measured experiment scientists use for proof. So it's anecdotal evidence, things we can only surmise and guess at what they might really mean in terms of how much the animal actually understands. I was actually expecting a lot more stories, but appreciated what I got- the author takes pains to examine the background of each incident presented, and goes into depth considering all the implications and possible explanations. There are stories of animals using deception, offering comfort, using tools in new ways (at least not seen by humans before), communicating across species, hiding their intentions and negotiating for rewards. The discussion ranges all over- sometimes I got impatient when it seemed to veer off topic (away from the animals), but the author always had a point. Orangutans and octopuses are held up as key examples of intelligence but the book also features squirrels, orcas, elephants, dolphins, chimpanzees, starlings, dogs, horses and more.

from the ( )

I wrote an essay for my Chemistry class about intelligent behavior in octopi and this book was amazingly helpful. It's where I got my inspiration and many of the books and scientists Linden mentioned throughout were further assistance in my research. This book was incredibly interesting and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in animal behavior or cognition whether for research or for pleasure. ( )