Of Many Things

You be good; see you tomorrow. I love you”—the final utterances of Alex, a 31-year-old African Grey parrot, to his significant human, Irene Pepperberg. The story of Alex’s life and death, his cognitive accomplishments and learned skills not only made headlines but “revolutionized the way we think of bird brains,” noted Diana Reiss, a psychologist at Hunter College in New York City. As Verlyn Klinkenborg pointed out in The New York Times (9/12), the value of Pepperberg’s and others’ scientific research “lies in our surprise, our renewed awareness of how little we allow ourselves to expect from the animals around us.”

As we approach the feast of St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4), we are reminded of the valued place of animals in God’s creation—and in the human heart. According to the This article appears in October 1 2007.