Though animals do not possess the g

Though animals do not possess the gift of words, there are whole languages of signals, scents, and sounds that communicate both information and the state of their senders’ emotions that we as human beings are just beginning to learn how to read. There are a great many ways of marking territorial borders. Sometimes an animal identifies its hill or simply leaves some sign that means, “I was here.” Birds and mammals that are feeding often keep in contact with one another by small sounds. Migrating geese keep up their rhythm of honking, especially when flying through clouds or fog, and elephants keep in contact by a low rumbling. Animals recognize members of their own group by colors, pattern, or (as ants do) by scent. Species have their own rich vocabulary, especially of scents, concerning the relationships between male and female, of courtship and mating, of parents and young. Even an octopus has a repertory of colors that surge across it, denoting fear and other feelings. Many crabs, fish, and lizards “speak” to one another by means of colors, gestures, and movements.

Touch is important, and personal contact can be a way of communicating. A lion lies with one huge paw slung across another lion, and zebras and wild horses nuzzle against other members of their herds. Monkeys and apes are commonly observed tirelessly picking bits of dirt out of one another, but some form of bodily care of one animal for another, called grooming, occurs in many mammals and birds.

Just as “one picture is worth a thousand words,” a ceremony or ritual can take the place of an act itself. The way a wolf stands holding its head, ears, and tail while looking directly at another says “I am stronger, more self-confident than you! –and a fight to prove it is avoided. A chimpanzee comforts another by patting its arm; an elephant gives many a caress with its sensitive trunk.

A social group is a unit that would crumble into fragments if the parts were not united through communication.