How Animals Talk: And Other Pleasant Studies of Birds and Beasts [Paperback]

William J. Long (Author), Marc Bekoff (Preface), Rupert Sheldrake (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2005

The classic and original text that first explored the telepathic methods of communication of wild animals

• Based on years of detailed field observations, first published in 1919

• Written by the famous American naturalist who was the first to study telepathy in the wild

• Forewords by biologists Rupert Sheldrake, who has spent 15 years researching the unexplained powers of animals, and Marc Bekoff, the editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior

Many sources have commented on the silent communication abilities of pets, but never before and not since the first publication of this book in 1919 has the subject of animal telepathy in the wild been so fully researched. How Animals Talk explores the phenomenon of vocal, silent, and even motionless communication among animals. From crow talk to instant herd communication, author William J. Long theorizes that animals are much more intelligent, emotional, and moral than we have traditionally thought and that their ability to sense the presence of other living beings is an innate ability shared by humans as well. Based on many years of field observations, this classic text contains numerous examples of animal behavior that defy conventional explanation.

Long believed in the importance and validity of anecdotal evidence. He recognized the dangers of conventional research in reducing animals to mere numbers and how the cold third-person prose of scientific study can objectify animals, distancing "us" from "them." His findings on the impact of our presence on animal life--and the cost that we pay in separating ourselves from animals, who help define our place in the natural world--may be more relevant today than ever before.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The classic book on animal telepathy."
(Rupert Sheldrake, author of Dogs that Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home )

"William Long presages numerous areas that are 'hot topics' in the study of animal behavior and discusses a staggering array of animals. His refreshing and open view of animal behavior shows how much we really do know about animal emotions and consciousnesss when we open our hearts to the amazing and mysterious animal beings with whom we share the Earth."
(Marc Bekoff, editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior )

"Keen observation, patience curiosity, and detailed descriptions are key to Long's anecdotal evidence about the behavior of various animals; wolves, mink, fox, and several variety of birds. His technique is exactly what has been advocated by field biologists today. Whether or not the reader agrees with him on the subject of animal telepathy, the book is full of insight that rings true for anyone who has lived with or made a study of the animal kingdom."
(Pamela Crossland, TCM Reviews )

"In a time when the closest thing to reading natural signals is to correctly anticipate when the light will turn green, Long offers a refreshing visit to the natural world right outside your window."
(Spirit of Change, Winter 2006 )

". . . demonstrates a Gaian sensibility that will certainly resonate in the hearts and minds of modern pagans. . . . This book is highly recommended."
(Barbara Ardinger, Facing North, Jan 2007 )

From the Back Cover

NATURE / SCIENCE

"William Long presages numerous areas that are 'hot topics' in the study of animal behavior and discusses a staggering array of animals. His refreshing and open view of animal behavior shows how much we really do know about animal emotions and consciousnesss when we open our hearts to the amazing and mysterious animal beings with whom we share the Earth."
--Marc Bekoff, editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior

Many sources have commented on the silent communication abilities of pets, but never before and not since the first publication of this book in 1919 has the subject of animal telepathy in the wild been so fully researched. How Animals Talk explores the phenomenon of vocal, silent, and even motionless communication among animals. From crow talk to instant herd communication, author William J. Long theorizes that animals are much more intelligent, emotional, and moral than we have traditionally thought and that their ability to sense the presence of other living beings is an innate ability shared by humans as well. Long explores numerous examples of animal behavior that defy conventional explanation, and seen in the context of his work, unexplained human abilities such as telepathy and premonition seem normal rather than paranormal.

Long's findings are based on many years of field observations, He believed in the importance and validity of anecdotal evidence, pointing out the dangers of conventional research in reducing anmals to mere numbers and noting how the cold third-person prose of scientific study objectifies animals, distancing "us" from "them." Biologists Rupert Sheldrake, who has researched the unexplained powers of animals since 1988, and Marc Bekoff, cofounder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, introduce this classic text and praise Long for his innovative research style and unique observations. They affirm that Long's understanding of the impact of our presence on animal life--and the cost that we pay in separating ourselves from animals, who help define our place in the natural world--may be more relevant today than ever before.

WILLIAM J. LONG (1867-1952) was an American United Church of Christ minister and a well-known naturalist of the early twentieth century. He is the author of over twenty books, including School of the Woods, Secrets of the Woods, and Brier-Patch Philosophy.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Bear & Company (September 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591430569
• ISBN-13: 978-1591430568
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,606,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional except for..., July 6, 2006

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Star Tulip (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Animals Talk: And Other Pleasant Studies of Birds and Beasts (Paperback)

The prior review by Getty explains overall content of the book wonderfully, so I will refrain from adding to an exceptional review. However, there is one area that was not mentioned that brought my review down to four stars.

I understand that this book was written almost 100 years ago, and people interacted with nature a bit differerently. Hunting was accepted and needed, and I understand that. However, Long writes a great deal about stalking, flushing, tracking, calling, and killing animals. He never mentions if he's killing for meat, but there are occasions when he tracks and tries to kill animals, such as wolves, that he clearly will not be eating. One example - he mentions how he kills crows when he can, for they ravage the nests of the beneficial birds who keeps gardens healthy. I found this irritating: the man feels his killing as many crows as he can is acceptable, for they destroy the birds that are beneficial to man.

I could not understand how this man, who is obviously very connected to nature and animals, could kill so easily and makes so little mention of it. I was confused, and frankly, dismayed many times as I read Long's accounts in the field, often with rifle in hand, ever ready to call a moose with his developed calling skills and then shoot the animal.

I had a hard time in places in the book due to Long's choice to hunt and kill the animals he also found so interesting, animals he clearly respected. However, in one of the later chapters, he mentions how he does not approve of killing animals, yet throughout most of the book, he never went out without his gun, often using familiar animal calls to attract animals, so he could shoot them, not just observe them. It felt contradictory. He particularly had no remorse for shooting crows and related his actions with what felt like self-satisfaction and justification.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting and Life Changing, February 20, 2006

By 

Dr. Richard G. Petty (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How Animals Talk: And Other Pleasant Studies of Birds and Beasts (Paperback)

This book, first published in 1919, is quite remarkable.

William Long was a pioneer in the then new field of animal behavior. Though he did not call it that: he was simply a naturalist who had a great love of Nature.

The book is broken into three segments. The first is "How Animals Talk." Second is "How to Know the Wood Folk," and finally "My Pond, A Symphony of the Woods." The first section is nothing short of an essay on his observations on telepathy in both wild and domesticated animals. He describes something known by a great many of us who live with animals: they often seem to know when we are coming home unexpectedly. This was written almost 80 years before Rupert Sheldrake began to generate some empirical evidence to support these observations, which he published in a number of research papers and in the book Dogs Who Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, which I also recommend very highly. Long also describes experiments that appear to demonstrate that animals know when they are being looked at. Sheldrake has also gathered data showing this to be a real phenomenon. (See if you can wake a sleeping dog or cat by staring at them: the results are often remarkable!).

William Long talks about an African term - chumfo - that is a kind of super-sense that we and all creatures are said to possess, which is a perfect coordination of all the other senses. Something in which animals excel, and humans often do not. But this is superseded by the ability of animals to sense events at a distance. After the terrible tsunami at the end of 2004, there were multiple reports of wild animals having run to high ground before the tsunami arrived. I spent several days checking the reports to see if they were just an urban legend, but they appeared to be absolutely true. I put these observations in the same group as animals being used in China to issue earthquake warnings, and the reports in this book by William Long.

What Long is telling us in this book, and what Sheldrake's experiments seem to confirm, is that unexplained abilities like the sense of being stared at and telepathy are not paranormal, but normal, and part of our nature. Clearly if only one species had telepathic or supersensory abilities, it would have such a biological advantage that it the balance of Nature would be overturned. Not so if all animals have these abilities to some degree.

This is handsomely produced book replete with several color paintings. In addition to the text, there is a forward by Rupert Sheldrake and a Preface by the eminent animal behaviorist Marc Bekoff from the University of Colorado.

This book is enchanting and if you drink in its wisdom, it could be life changing.

Highly recommended!