Talk with the Animals

August 11, 2025
Owl Feather Farm, San Juan Island

If we could talk to the animals, learn their languages

Maybe take an animal degree… -Rex Harrison, Dr Dolittle, 1967

Talk with the animals

We share Owl Feather Farm with two equines—a Polish Warmblood, Cereus, and a Shetland pony, Cocoa—and our darling Weimaraners, Bleu and Simon. We all talk all the time, and there is much for humans to learn from our animal friends. They show us dozens of ways to communicate, and their messages are simple, genuine and elegant.

Like us, they kiss and laugh and greet and ask, cry and complain and sigh. They also listen, not just to our words, but to our thoughts. They read our expressions and body language, and mirror them back. And if we humans reflect on the meaning of these non-human abilities, perhaps we can find a better place for ourselves in the universe.

Our canine companions, for example, have taught themselves over the past 30,000 years to smile at us—yes, the ungainly dog grin is the goofiest expression you can imagine, their side lips curled up hilariously, but it’s uncompromisingly heartfelt. They also have learned to wag their tails and developed new facial muscles around their eyes to look winsome while they listen to us or woeful when they are soliciting hamburger.

Talk with the animals

Cereus and Cocoa—aka Mr Big and Coconut—conjure up a wide array of nickers, burbles, sighs and more to tell us what’s what… messages ranging from “Thanks!” to “It’s 7pm, where the heck are you?”

And they all learn that one must adapt communication to the recipients. Horses and dogs express affection and greeting among their own kind by nipping and nibbling, which is fine but… Their hides are tougher than ours. So all four of our boys have taught themselves to nip us gently, or not at all, no matter how excited they are that we came back from a day away, or that there might be a biscuit in our pocket.

As for hearing our thoughts: Anyone who has lived with animals and paid attention knows this phenomenon. Is your cat scheduled to go to the vet? Believe me, she knows. On a day that Bleu’s girlfriend Bunny is coming over for a play-date, which makes him deliriously happy, he starts watching the front door expectantly around noon… though we’ve said nothing out loud.

The lesson is that all living beings seek connection, and find ways to achieve it. So while Nature has designed us to connect most easily with our own kind, we humans often use words to complicate this more than necessary. But our animals offer clarity, if we just pay attention.

Talk with the animals

We can walk with the animals, talk with the animals

Grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals

And they can squeak and squawk and speak and talk to me!

Now, how about talking to the trees… They’re our companions too.

—Eric Lucas

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