Pearls before swine: Animal cognition study says pigs may be smarter than we think

These animals love food, know where all the best eateries are, and selfishly try to keep the best treats for themselves -- and no, we're not talking about humans. Or apes. We're talking about domestic pigs.

Thank goodness for something redeeming about these porky little swine. According to the New York Times, a recent study in the science journal Animal Behaviour presents evidence that domestic pigs can learn how mirrors work and use the reflected images to scope out surroundings and find food.

Pig cognition is a relatively new area of study; other researchers have found that pigs can deftly remember where food stores are cached and how big each stash is relative to others. The New York Times summarized another one of the findings:

[Studies have] shown that Pig A can almost instantly learn to follow Pig B when the second pig shows signs of knowing where good food is stored, and that Pig B will try to deceive the pursuing pig and throw it off the trail so that Pig B can hog its food in peace.

In the study presented by Animal Behaviour, seven out of eight pigs primed with a mirror found food reflected in the image. Naive pigs shown the same reflection looked behind the mirror for the food. The study abstract predicts, "The results may have some effects on the design of housing conditions for pigs and may lead to better pig welfare."

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 52: Stay tuned ...

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Diane Haithman. And this is her "head shot": That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

As of last Friday, I am no longer a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times. Ergo, this is the last chapter of "The Heidi Chronicles" for L.A. Unleashed. I'd like to thank the blog for unleashing an obsessed doggie stage mother, and providing a forum for documenting the approximate first year of Heidi's attempt to take Hollywood by storm.

I'd also like to thank Heidi's fans and her entourage of one, Layla the Labrador mix, for sticking by Heidi through thick and thin. However, I visited Layla and her parents, Jim and Irene Dorsey, recently and Layla seem thrilled to enjoy a little quality time without Heidi, just this once. Recently, the patient Layla has been somewhat taxed by the many canine guests at the Dorseys, including small and frequent visitor Kiki Newberg, a Norwich terrier cute enough to get away with murder one.

But I encourage Layla, Kiki Newberg and all of your dogs to be sure to tune in for "Don't Walk on the Grass," the Nov. 1 episode of "Desperate Housewives." Heidi and I are waiting to see whether our background appearance in a restaurant scene made the cut.

And despite my own recent career change, let it be said that Heidi fully intends to continue her pursuit of Hollywood stardom.

Darren the waving goat: Your new YouTube sensation

A U.K. goat named, rather inexplicably, Darren (really? a goat named Darren?) is becoming a worldwide superstar for his ability to perform an impressive trick: waving to his fans while standing on his hind legs. 

Darren, an Anglo-Nubian goat, makes his home at White Post Farm near Nottingham, England, where he lives alongside not only other goats but also sheep, pigs, cows, llamas, donkeys, ponies, chickens and even wallabies and deer.  According to Metro U.K., Darren spent months perfecting his signature trick after seeing a visiting group of children wave when they left his pen.

Now the goat performs his trick with gusto, much to the delight of visitors to White Post Farm, a popular destination for school groups.  Farm staff caught Darren waving on video, uploaded it to YouTube -- and voila, a star was born. 

According to Anthony Moore, the farm's marketing manager, Darren enjoys the adulation his strange talent brings him, but his fellow farm-dwellers are more jealous than impressed.  "All the other goats have worked out it gets him extra attention and food, so now they've started trying to copy him," Moore told Metro U.K. "He loves it."

RELATED:
Strange marketing campaign of the week: Buy a truck, get a goat
Goats do the yardwork at Google headquarters
Your morning adorable: Fainting goats

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: deepsympathy via YouTube

Jeepers creepers: Bedbug-sniffing dogs save the day

Trained dogs sniff out drugs in schools, detect bombs in airports, and even chase geese away from golf courses, but now trainers are focusing their efforts on another type of smart canine: bedbug-detection dogs. 

Today, L.A. Times reporter Bob Drogin wrote about the hard-working animals who sniff out infestations of real-life bedbugs -- those tiny, blood-sucking pests that leave itchy, painful welts -- in apartment buildings, hotels and office buildings so people really can sleep tight. This pest problem has become more than just a childhood scare tactic: Bedbugs are very real.

Many pest-control companies are now purchasing the dogs from two main trainers in Florida, who sell the dogs for up to $9,500 each. The dogs receive treat rewards whenever they alert for bedbugs, so experts caution against some exterminators whose dogs report false alarms, allowing the company to tack on extra charges.

We hope that this means the old adage will soon become a meaningless good-night saying once again.

Read the full article here, or look through the photo gallery of bedbug dogs on the prowl.

-- Kelsey Ramos

Photo: Sara, a lab trained to hunt bedbugs, poses after checking an apartment in Jersey City, N.J. Credit: Michael Nagle / For The Times

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 51: Waiting on Wisteria Lane, Part 2

Last week, you read about our first day on the set of “Desperate Housewives,” cast as background actors, “Neighbor with Dog.”  As happens frequently in the TV biz, some of the extras called that day didn’t get used – but were asked to come back the next day. We learned that, for a background actor, everything is always is subject to change.

This time, instead of getting lost on the way to Wisteria Lane, a van picked us up at the parking lot at Gate 3. I had learned from our van experience the day before that, when nervous, Heidi turns into a very large lap dog -- so this time I was careful to get into the vehicle before the dog to make sure she didn’t once again surprise some other actor with a free lap dance.

We were whisked straight to the costume and makeup-and-hair trailers.  There, we met one of our new friends from the day before –  Lauren Hicks, who had won out over the competition for the “Busty Waitress“ role and had brought along the requested assortment of fancy bras to complement her low-cut white top.

My more conservative outfit – and Heidi’s bandanna – met with approval, but I had to leave Heidi in the care of another actor while I went into the trailer for a hair makeover. I sat one chair away from series star Marcia Cross as hairdressers fluffed her long red locks, and super-glued mine into a chignon that could withstand El Niño.

Then it was back into the van – today not headed to Wisteria Lane, but to a different set, an upscale outdoor cafe.  Apparently, “Neighbor with Dog” was about to become “Restaurant Guest with Dog.”

Your morning adorable: Rooster gives a high-five

Poor chickens often get a bad rap. While they're sometimes seen as unintelligent little grain-eating automatons, many are actually capable of putting those tiny little brains to use with tricks more commonly seen being performed by dogs.

Evidence: Foghorn Leghorn, the rooster wunderkind who knows how to give his owner a high-five (well, truthfully, more of a low-five).  OK, it's not rocket science -- but considering his brain is about the size of a human fingernail, we're suitably impressed.

In fact, some dog trainers even practice clicker training on chickens, rewarding the little guys with food when they perform behaviors their trainers wish to reinforce. In this way, chickens can be taught to flap, squawk and even perform more intricate tricks on command!  (These performing chickens have a leg-up on our own terrier mutts, both of whom ran from the room in terror when we attempted to get them used to the sound of the clicker.) All of this just goes to show, we suppose, that it's not the size of your brain, but what you do with it that counts.

RELATED:
Your morning adorable: Celebrating chicken athletes the world over

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video credit: coreyguidry02 via YouTube

Princess the camel won't pick Eagles games in protest over Vick

There's a camel in New Jersey who has a talent in choosing the winning team of pro football games. Last year Princess of the Popcorn Park Zoo accurately predicted the winners of 17 of 21 NFL games, including choosing the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Super Bowl.

But to protest the Philadelphia Eagles' recent pickup of convicted animal abuser Michael Vick, Princess, who once belonged to heiress Doris Duke, won't entertain any games involving the quarterback's new team.

How does the camel choose her winning teams? According to the Associated Press, John Bergmann, the zoo's general manager, picks a game scheduled for that week, then he writes one team's name on one hand and the other team's name on his other hand. Bergmann then puts graham crackers in his hands and whichever hand the 2,600-pound animal licks first is the team she has chosen. 

Laugh all you want, but if you could pick NFL games accurately 81% of the time, you'd be laughing all the way to the bank.

Related:
Michael Vick to be eligible to play beginning third Philadelphia Eagles game of the season
Michael Vick to work with Humane Society on its campaign against dogfighting

-- Tony Pierce

Photo: John Bergmann, general manager of the Popcorn Park Zoo, and Princess the camel use graham crackers to make a football game prediction. Credit: Associated Press

Metallica: Not just for metalheads anymore, monkeys are fans too, a new study says

Animals prefer silence or sounds of their own species to human-made music, according to a new study published in the Royal Society Biology Letters and reported by the Discovery Channel. For some reason, that incites images of gorillas shaking their fists, screaming, "Will you kids turn down that goshdarn racket!"

What's even more interesting is that researchers found monkeys reacted calmly to Metallica's music, an apparently surprising discovery.

There appeared to be little explanation as to why the primates enjoyed the heavy-metal music. We're tempted to offer some guesses pertaining to the comparative intelligence of metalheads, but we don't want to insult any of our valued readers (or, for that matter, monkeys).

The research still doesn't explain why members of two different species can appreciate Metallica and why we cringe every time someone plays "One" on "Guitar Hero."

-- Mark Milian

RELATED:
Bonobos use specific sounds (like barks and grunts) to describe food, say researchers
'Backstreet Boys' cockatoo shows researchers that dancing parrots really have rhythm

Photo: Metallica performing at the Forum on Dec. 17, 2008. Credit: Lawrence Ho / Los Angeles Times

Rooks show there may be some truth to Aesop's fable 'The Crow and the Pitcher'

New research shows not only that rooks, crow-like members of the corvid family of birds, not only have impressive reasoning skills, it also shows that one of Aesop's fables may not be just a story after all.  

In the well-known fable in question, "The Crow and the Pitcher," a thirsty crow is confronted with a problem: A pitcher that contains water, but at too low a level for the bird to reach. The clever crow hatches (no pun intended) a plan and puts it into action, dropping pebbles into the pitcher until the water is raised to a level at which it can drink.

Researcher Christopher Bird of the University of Cambridge (who has previously made headlines with his bird-intelligence experiments -- and yes, that's his real name) and his colleague, Nathan Emery of Queen Mary University of London, found in their recent study that the fable isn't far from reality. 

For the study, they offered wax worms to four rooks, each of whom was raised by hand and five years old. But even if you're a rook, there's no such thing as a free lunch; the birds had to work for their food.  Bird and Emery placed the wax worms in narrow beakers partly filled with water, but at a level too low for the rooks to reach the worms.  Next to the beakers, they placed piles of stones. 

Cats know what they want, and a new study shows they know how to get it by purring

If your cat knows just what to do to convince you it's feeding time, a new study will help explain the scientific reason why.  For the study, to be published in Tuesday's edition of the journal Current Biology, researchers identified and examined a particular type of vocalization they termed "solicitation purring."

Solicitation purring "is producing the low fundamental frequency and its harmonics by muscular activation ... but also voicing a cry, probably with the inner edges of the vocal folds, which is then superimposed on the sound's frequency spectrum," the study's lead author, Karen McComb of the University of Sussex, told Discovery News. 

The resulting purr is not just any purr but also contains the hint of a more high-pitched cry that, the researchers suspect, reminds cat owners on some level of a crying human baby.  Most important, the researchers found, solicitation purring was effective in conveying urgency to human listeners.

The researchers learned that cats produce the solicitation purr only when they're with a human they know well.  "Remember, these cats have years to train up their owners," McComb told U.S. News & World Report. "They learn to dramatically exaggerate this cry embedded within the purr because it proves effective in getting their owner to respond."  So in order to conduct further testing, it was necessary to have cat owners record their pets' vocalizations.