Animal Talk

“My cat is sitting on top of my desk, waving her tail and looking at me intensely, making strange sounds. What is she trying to tell me?” Jane Roberts investigates. Scientists have always been interested in how animals communicate and they are doing a lot of research in this area.

Most animals communicate by smell; they produce chemical substances called ‘pheromones’. Scientists have found out that rats can identify other rats: their age, sex and size, just by smelling their urine. Ants spread pheromones to guide other ants to a food source. Bees not only use pheromones but also dance to tell the other bees where to find food. For example, if a bee flies straight upwards, it means they should fly directly towards the sun.

We all love to listen to birds singing, and recent research has shown that lots of other animals also use sound to communicate. There are some male frogs who make two-part calls: the first part is a mating call and can only be heard by females. The second part is a warning call and can only be heard by other male frogs.

There are many animals, like bats, whales and elephants, that communicate with sounds that we can’t hear. Their calls produce waves that travel through the ground, water or air. Elephants probably receive these calls with their feet or trunks. We still don’t know much about how whales hear. However, some ecologists believe that loud noises from ships may be obstructing whales’ communication.