Maybe Your Pet Does Understand You

If you go to Russia hang on to your blini. There are roving street packs in Moscow. They aren't interested in your wallet. They want to separate you from your snack. You may think you can resist these criminals, but these dogs have your number. A cute ragamuffin specially selected for its looks will come up to you with soft whimpers and pleading eyes. Their goal is your snack. Their weapon is pure cuteness.

While all dogs are cute your food pickpocket will be a little extra cute. Scientists have concluded these animals know which ones are cute enough to beg. They also somehow manage to communicate that the cutest ones should beg for food. They live in a cutthroat urban world where only the strongest survive. As a result, these dogs are applying incredible ingenuity in their daily living.

These dogs aren't alone. Across the world are displaying feats of complex thinking and creativity. Every pet owner knows their pet is a genius, but some animals are something special. These are five times animals have been more intelligent than anyone thought possible.

Otters are Environmentalists

Humans everywhere are taking steps to combat the effects of climate change. Human beings and the superhero of the sea. Otters are taking action in the fight against global warming . They have become the forest rangers of the sea.

Global warming is causing problems for everyone. Including otters. Massive amounts of sea kelp have died off due to temperature changes in sea kelp forests. Sea urchins are content to live off the sea kelp that drops to the bottom of the ocean in normal times. The die-off left them without enough food to eat. They were forced to leave their homes in search of food. This led to them eating the forests themselves instead of waiting for what fell to the bottom.

Confronted with a smorgasbord the urchins gorged. All this eating created wastelands where there was no more kelp. These areas are littered with bloated sea urchins swearing off two for one sea kelp deals.

While Otters enjoy a smorgasbord as much as the next guy they didn't go to these wastelands. They did eat three times as many sea urchins but only in areas that still had sea kelp to save the forests.

This isn’t the only sign of intelligence that scientists have discovered in otters. They are one of the few other species that use tools, and they also play a mean game of basketball.

Squirrels Obey Traffic Laws

Oklahoma is a state where most people obey traffic laws for pedestrians. Most people and one squirrel. There is a squirrel in Oklahoma who thinks traffic laws are common sense. He is a local sensation because he obeys traffic laws when the roads are busy in his hometown. Squirrels in Oklahoma might be more intelligent than some people from my hometown, but they aren't a special breed. Most squirrels are intelligent. They put on elaborate shows to hide food and use their tails to signal other squirrels.

Octopi Are Our Future Overlords

It’s hard to pick one amazing feat when it comes to octopi. These animals are essentially immortal. If that wasn't enough, they don't need a brain. They have a body of neurons that can think without the brain's help.

The internet is overflowing with stories of amazing acts by octopi. It's hard to pick the most intelligent of a super-intelligent species. If one accomplished something that a human couldn't accomplish he may be head and tentacles above his brethren. If you or I got trapped in a bottle it’s very unlikely we would get out until our captor let us out. Not so with an octopus. They've successfully opened jars from the inside.

Ravens Just Wanna Have Fun

When you think of intelligence you don’t usually think of the ability to play. After all, it’s built into most species when they are young. Ravens go above and beyond most animals when it comes to playing. They are one of the few species known to create their own toys. They have even been known to play games like keep away with animals from other species. Why do I feel like the ravens are having more fun than the animal they are playing with?

Dog is a Vocabulary Whiz

The internet is full of stories of amazing dogs. My own sister had a dog that knocked on the door to get inside. My sister's dog may have been smart, but she wasn't the smartest dog ever.

The award for the smartest dog ever goes to a border collie named Chaser. This spoiled dog owns over one thousand toys. While her ability to con her human is impressive what is even more impressive is the fact, she knows the name of each toy. She also knows words for a wide variety of other objects and will bring them when asked.

She may not be smarter than a fifth-grader, but she is smarter than a three-year-old. They usually have a vocabulary of about 1,000 words.

This is only a tiny sample of incredible intelligence shown by animals. Even bees are being shown to have problem-solving skills. They may look silly in YouTube videos but watch out. If one dog has a vocabulary larger than a three-year-old who knows what your pet knows.