All of the essays have one thing in common, they all deal with observing animals. And with their observation comes at times interaction. They might “mingle” with these animals. Or the observers would just sit there and do what they are supposed to, observe.Our race, is naturally curious and interested in the unknown.
In other words what we do not know or understand we try to understand. We try to understand our surroundings. In doing this, we would have gained knowledge. In Mowat’s essay, “Observing Wolves”, Mowat attempts to make first contact by urinating his “territory”. And he observes the wolves social structure. He know that the wolves are observing him as well in his essay.
And he wonders if they would act the way they do around humans. In Goodall’s essay, “First Observations”, Goodall makes actual physical contact with one of the chimpazees. But she does nothing to try to get closer to them. Instead she goes on a scientific approach towards the situation. She observes the chimpazees actually eating meat. She was extremely surprised because the rest of the world thought that chimpazees were vegetarians.
She also observed the chimpazees making the use of tools. Such as sticking a blade of grass into a termite mound to get at the insects. In Booth’s essay, “The Social Lives of Dolphins”, Booth draws a parallel between the lives of dolphins and the lives of chimpazees. He compares the two creatures showing their likenesses. With some minor differences. This essay is based on observations of another group as well, who were Conner and Smolker (undergraduate students 1982).
With the work of all the observers, it seem that even though we have been on this earth for a million years. We are now just beginning to understand it. The essays seems to say “We are beginning to understand ourselves.” .
