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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Homeless feeding questioned Disc golf course coming to Cave Junction park Human remains found in burning trailer Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt Cecil, Stricker to face off again in mayor's race Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Fallen White City firefighter to be honored at national service Barn fire may have been human-caused Emergency services Inmates to get mental health, addiction treatment Missing Medford man found safe in Sweet Home Politics and Elections Cecil, Stricker to face off again in mayor's race Commissioner candidates Talbert, Roberts duel for endorsements Falls: Jackson County sheriff's race isn't over Former sheriff calls Winters' retirement decision 'very wise' Will 'GMO effect' shape election? Education EP school district launches new app Striving to make the grade Fresh produce goes home with Jackson Elementary families State mandates eye exams for kids 7 and younger Eagle Point School District goes silent on gun issue Environment Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt Josephine County ballot measure would ban commercial and government pesticide use Low water exposes Emigrant Lake's past Wagner Creek work would restore streambank Deer-killing disease won't taint meat for hunters State news Nation - World Obituaries Calvin Schaefer Norma Mae Prilliman Elizabeth Anne Jones Jesse Jay Gilchrist Lorraine Antcha Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Sports Latest Stories South rebounds with rout of Roseburg Ashland drops MWL boys match to Churchill Hay rallies Pirates past Henley Gadget play gives Grizz win over Comets GP dashes North’s hopes Varsity 541 College Sports Stanford cruises past Washington State High stakes for No. 12 Oregon, No. 18 UCLA Raider men win handily Raiders shut out Eastern Oregon Georgia star Gurley suspended for alleged violation Pro Sports Gordon-led Royals beat Orioles 8-6 in ALCS Donovan hits post in US swan song Birdie binge puts Laird in front at Frys.com Giants-Cards: Here we go again in NLCS Colts hold on for 33-28 win over Texans Community Sports Business Latest Stories Ranchers offer livestock exchange Lithia buys Clovis dealership Blog: When Life Gives You Lemons... Medford airport has busiest September ever County hopes to spur renewable energy Real Estate News Lithia buys Clovis dealership Rental vacancies increase Jackson County real estate sales, prices continue rebound Pallet Wine Co. expands in downtown Medford Medford's Pixel Productions moves to new quarters People In Business Transportation Lithia buys Clovis dealership Agriculture Ranchers offer livestock exchange 1-800-Flowers CEO: Labor shortage an issue for Harry & David Pallet Wine Co. expands in downtown Medford Opinion Latest Election Letters, Oct.11 Another View: Congress must act on firefighting budget Letters to the Editor, Oct. 10 Matthew T. Mangino: Trials, pleas and the burden of proof: A search for justice Our View: Talbert is the right choice for commissioner Editorials Another View: Congress must act on firefighting budget Our View: Talbert is the right choice for commissioner Our View: Cheers and Jeers Our View: Measure 86 would allow a prudent investment Our View: Top-two primary would empower more voters Letters to the Editor Election Letters, Oct.11 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 10 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 9 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 8 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 7 Guest Opinions Mt. Ashland is responding to community concerns Siskiyou Plus Spring Bear Hunt: What lies beneath? Guest Opinion: Who's to blame for 2014 wildfires? Guest Opinion: Measure 91 will snuff out local tax measures Is Ashland taking over Jackson County elections? Lifestyle Latest stories Nibbling away at the Earth Community blog: Listen Like You Mean it! Community blog: Listen Like You Mean it! Name that wolf Community blog: Battered, fried bhaji bring street food to the table Food Community blog: Battered, fried bhaji bring street food to the table Community blog: Kicking it off, a game, a season, or a pint (How about all the above?) Apples and pears make great autumn duo Community blog: Cardamom makes proverbial pairing with pears New owners bring new philosophy at 2Hawk Home and Garden How to create a fashionable painted floor cloth Dear Monty: 7 prepping tips for home showings Harvest your frost-tender tomatoes for storage Fall is a good time to plant certain perennials Start now for a bowl of winter sunshine Health Community blog: Listen Like You Mean it! Community blog: Listen Like You Mean it! Dr. Murray Feingold: Take precautions to prevent home accidents Health Watch: Make TV time workout time Community blog: Do We Need Steps For Health? Hiking Biking Faith Religion Briefs Religion Briefs Religion briefs First Church of Nazarene plans cleanup Religion briefs Milestones and Achievements New Arrivals Still stifling laughter 40 years after 'Young Frankenstein' New Arrivals Wedding New Arrivals Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Agave offers tasty tacos Call for musicians Works in progress A stylish take on baroque Southern Oregon Music Festival returns to downtown Medford Theater Randall Theatre presents 'Blithe Spirit' A tribute to a great lyricist 'Mrs. Mannerly' is a matter of manners There's no accounting for poor manners Friends of Jim Giancarlo remember Ashland theater icon Music Benefit for Nita Day at The Wild Goose Cafe in Ashland Call for musicians A stylish take on baroque Southern Oregon Music Festival returns to downtown Medford Rogue Valley Symphony season debut combines virtuosity, emotion Community Events Works in progress Southern Oregon Pride Festival celebrates diversity Greater Medford Multicultural Fair Volunteers needed for Downtown Art + Sound Medford's Third Fridays Dining Agave offers tasty tacos Asian cuisine for all seasons at Misoya Bistro Spoons 'Get Giddy' at Porters Jacksonville's Thai House is everything good Thai should be Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW Human remains found in burning trailer ... Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt ... Fallen White City firefighter to be honored at national service ... Human remains found in burning trailer ... Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt ... Fallen White City firefighter to be honored at national service ... Some dogs have a 1,000-word vocabulary Ashland-based author travels the globe to gain insight on animal behavior; talk set at SOU The American working farm collie who answers to Buckaroo let out a loud bark to announce strangers had entered the comfortable home. By Paul Fattig MailTribune.com By Paul Fattig Posted Feb. 19, 2013 @ 12:01 am Updated Feb 19, 2013 at 11:41 AM By Paul Fattig Posted Feb. 19, 2013 @ 12:01 am Updated Feb 19, 2013 at 11:41 AM If you go --> What: Presentation by Virginia Morell, author of "Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures" Where: Music Recital Hall, Southern Oregon University, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashl... » Read more X If you go What: Presentation by Virginia Morell, author of "Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures" Where: Music Recital Hall, Southern Oregon University, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26 Sponsor: Jackson County Library Foundation's Southern Oregon Arts & Lecture Series. Tickets: $20 each with proceeds going to the foundation. See www.jclf.org or call 541-774-6572 » Social News The American working farm collie who answers to Buckaroo let out a loud bark to announce strangers had entered the comfortable home. "Yes, we know somebody is in the house, Buck," Virginia Morell quietly tells the well-groomed pooch. Buckaroo and Nini, a calico cat, share the historic house with Morell and her husband, Michael McRae, both writers and world travelers who have made Ashland their home base for a quarter of a century. Morell may not know precisely what is on Buckaroo's mind, but she can hazard a good guess. She is the author of "Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures," which is being formally released Feb. 26. The book sells for $26. The 291-page hardback published by New York-based Crown Publishers takes the reader around the globe to learn from noted scientists such as Jane Goodall who have spent their careers studying animal behavior. The book is chock full of scientific evidence that rats giggle when their tummies are tickled, that crows develop their own tools, that elephants mourn and some dogs have a 1,000-word vocabulary. Morell will discuss her book at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, at Southern Oregon University in Ashland as part of a fundraiser for the Jackson County Library Foundation. "In the 20th century, there was this denial that animals had emotions other than anger or fear," Morell says. "You would never suggest that an animal might be disappointed or loves you." If you did, you were accused of being sentimental or anthropomorphizing — attributing human thought to animals, she says. "They would say you were projecting all these different things," she says. "Yet if you watch dogs' faces, they are extremely expressive." She is quick to observe that biologist Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory, cites the expressions of dogs and their behavior in his book "On the Expressions of Emotions in Man and the Animals." "It was always one of the first examples he turned to to compare and show there was some kind of an evolutionary continuity," she says. "There are biological reasons for our expressions. They have a history to them. That's the best way to think about it." There is no doubt dogs are master face readers when it comes to humans, she says. "Buck will sit there and study our faces," she says. "He's learning all our expressions and corresponding emotions." Indeed, he perks up when McRae, 66, a former editor with Outside magazine, stands up to take him outside to the yard for a romp. McRae is author of the 2002 book "The Siege of Shangri-La: The Quest for Tibet's Sacred Hidden Paradise." Nini is a no-show until halfway through the interview, when she darts out of a room, apparently en route to the kitchen for a snack. "Nini means 'what's her name' in Swahili," Morell says as the feline slips around the corner. Morell, 63, was reared in Ontario, Calif., where her family kept a few hairy creatures around the house, including a dog named Penny. "I remember doing a Girl Scout project on caring for your dog and pets," she says. "I taught Penny tricks for the project. "I loved Dr. Doolittle when I was little," she adds. "We all had that fantasy of talking to the animals." However, as a science and natural history writer, she doesn't write about fantasy. Her previous books include "Ancestral Passions: The Leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings" and "Blue Nile: Ethiopia's River of Magic and Mystery." She also co-wrote with Richard Leakey the book "Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Natural Treasures." She also writes for National Geographic, Science and Smithsonian magazines. After she wrote a lengthy article on animal minds for the National Geographic magazine, she began looking for material for a book on how animals think. "I was looking for scientists who had done something very new and unexpected," she says of those who study animals large and small. Such as Nigel Franks, who stirred up a scientific storm with his finding that ants teach other ants. "I tried to find things that surprised me," she says. Or Stefan Schuster, a neuroscientist at the University of Bayreuth in Germany who has discovered the sophisticated mental abilities of archerfish. "The researchers I met, they truly, truly want to know what it is to be that animal," she says. "They don't want to do it by projecting themselves inside that animal. They just want to know what is inside that brain and how that mind works." What she discovered is that animals have cognitive abilities, from feelings to self-awareness. "I think many of us have this idea that animals are kind of bumbling around in the wilderness, not really aware of themselves or their surroundings," she says. "But, if you think about it, it would be a very tough way to make a living if you were just drifting through life. "I think at some fundamental level their experience in the world is not going to be that dissimilar from ours in the sense they have families and offspring and like to play," she adds. She acknowledges it is difficult for people to look at a fish with its immobile face to come to the conclusion it is feeling anything. Yet she notes that many provide parental care, communicate with each other, build homes and compete for mates. "Animals have places to go and things to do," she says. Writing the book changed the way she looks at animals. "The idea of going fishing again, to pull a trout out of the water, I don't know how much joy there will be in it for me anymore," she says. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 541-776-4496 or email him at [email protected]. By Paul Fattig MailTribune.com By Paul Fattig Posted Feb. 19, 2013 @ 12:01 am Updated Feb 19, 2013 at 11:41 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. 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