Anyone that has a dog in their family is aware of the animals ability to show emotion. People often think it is because dogs are somehow trained to be the way they are. It has been my experience that all animals show emotion if you take the time to observe their behavior in several settings. I have seen emotions in some wildlife species that have been quite startling.
I helped rescue a dove that was fresh from the egg. I was able to feed it and care for it. Teach it to fly and find food on its own. The dove was released and while it returned for a couple of weeks on a daily basis, eventually the visits grew shorter and finally they did stop. About 2 months later the bird did come for a visit and brought with it it's mate. Both birds got very close to me and the one I had raised stood very tall and would look at it's mate, then look at me for my reaction. I was very proud and blessed that this bird chose to share this part of it's life with me. I try to avoid being anthropomorphic about the interactions but I do recognize emotions. I have seen pleasure, fear, love, confusion, sadness, pride, frustration and more. Perhaps just because they cannot communicate with the human species they seem to do just fine in their own niche and their reactions also cause reactions in other species. I would love to examine the depth of animal behavior that has yet to be discovered.
