Jim Nolman Reading #1
By James Rowan (06/10/10 15:12:15)
Jim Nolman's texts are extremely interesting. I feel that today, his way of thinking about animals is much more prevalent. He wanted to get into zoology so that he could help animals and our relationships with them, especially because we have invaded so much of their territory and forced them to try and coexist with them. When he was a kid, most zoologists just studied the anatomy of animals, reducing them to mere piles of flesh and bone, not ever thinking about any intelligence or feelings that they may have. I have always had a connection with animals, and I think that growing up on a farm has allowed me to connect with animals that most people never encounter in their lives, let alone on a day to day basis.

I love the fact that he discovered his relationship with the turkey in Mexico purely by accident. Some of the smartest animals have the worst reputations. I have found pigs to be some of the most intelligent, loving animals. They are easy to make a strong bond with, which makes it that much harder when the animals are being raised for a 4-H program. Anytime I approached the barn, the pigs would hear me coming and starting grunting in unison. As lame as it sounds, I would just grunt "pig, pigpigpig" again and again, all of us performing some guttural type of melody.

I would have loved to have the opportunity that Nolman had when he got to go and visit the turkey farm. It would be interesting to get that kind of response from such a large group of animals and see what kind of melodies would elicit the best responses. It is hard to get access to groups of that size. Most animals do not exist in large groups today like they used to because of human development and environmental regulations do not allow you to approach many groups that do exist. Going to a large farm that raises animals for commercial consumption may not be the easiest thing to do and may not appeal to that many people, but it is a great way to interact with animals on a large scale.

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