Science East's Michael Edward does some research on the smartest animals you will find in your backyard.
Of the many animals your backyard is likely to host, the smartest do not include cats and dogs
Nathalie Sturgeon · CBC News
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Quite a few different animals bringtheir personalities to atypical backyard—paranoid squirrels, barking dogs, empathetic crows, rummaging raccoons, haughtyfelines, silent mice, bashfulrabbits—but which ones are the smartest?
After getting the question from a young, eager scientist, Michael Edwards, the director of strategic initiatives and exhibits at Science East in Fredericton, did some digging.
He discovered that the three smartest animals people might find in their backyard would not includethe average cat or dog, he revealed onShift New Brunswick.
1. The crow
According to Edwards, crowshave a level of complexity that other animals don't often exhibit.
"They use non-verbal communication, which is not common in a lot of a lot of animals," he said.
Crows develop complex social groups before they mate, and they mate for life. Theirgang-like social groups are useful in helping them practise their empathy. Crows console sad fellow crows.
Next time a murder of crows shows up in the backyard, and it looks like a group meeting, it is.
2. The raccoon
Raccoons are the second smartest animal and they enjoy the nightlife and are extremely strong.
"They are also good at problem solving," he said. "We're building smarter raccoons every day."
By creating barriers, and trying to keep raccoons fromgetting at food, humans actually encourage the animals' problem solving behaviour, leaving backyards vulnerable to being taken over byraccoon overlords.
These bright and lively animals also wash their food.
3. The squirrel
"They are good at overcoming what has been done," said Edward. "They are good at problem solving, they`re good at getting into stuff, and they have really good agility."
That agility comes in handy as they try to dash across busy streets and avoid swerving motorists.
And if squirrels sometimes do appearparanoid, they are. They will fake hiding food so that other squirrels won'tgain access to their stash.
With files from Shift NB
