15 Animals That Are Probably Smarter Than You: Part 1

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I found this article on Reader’s Digest—I was intrigued by the title—and wanted to share it!

From Reader’s Digest:

Think humans are the smartest animals? Raccoons pick locks, crows know physics, and bees hold democratic dance-offs.

Smart species

We humans take a lot of pride in our brains and our supposed “dominance” over the other creatures of the earth. But the animal kingdom is full of brainy creatures who would surely blow even the smartest humans away with their intelligence and skills if we gave them the chance. Case in point: Think things like dancing, cheating, and even sleight-of-hand are human inventions, exclusive to Homo sapiens? Think again. Get ready to marvel at some of the smartest animals on the planet—some of which will surprise you!

Raccoons pick locks

If you’re planning a whimsical animal burglary, you’ll definitely want a raccoon anchoring your squad. In a bizarre 1908 study by ethologist H.B. David, raccoons were able to pick complex locks in fewer than ten attempts, even after the locks were rearranged or flipped upside-down. Various studies conducted from the ’60s to the ’90s found that raccoons boast an impeccable memory, able to recall solutions to tasks for up to three years. Bonus fact: Thanks to their broad hearing range, raccoons literally hear earthworms moving underground. (How this will benefit you in your heist is for you to determine.)

Crows know physics

Not only can crows recognize faces to differentiate between predatory and benign species, they also understand basic physics (like this lab crow who mastered water displacement to maneuver a treat within reach), have been known to change entire migration patterns to avoid farms where crows have been killed in the past, and may even memorize city garbage routes so they can snag the inevitable food droppings on trash day. Talk about some of the smartest animals! Cool, calculating, and known to harbor a grudge, crows shouldn’t be compared to gangsters, per se, but we do feel obligated to remind you that a group of them is called a murder.

Pigs use mirrors

Pigs may as well be man’s best friend, according to a 2015 paper from the International Journal of Comparative Psychology. Like dogs, pigs have been shown to understand emotions, demonstrate empathy, solve mazes, learn simple symbolic languages and, most adorably, make best friends. As some of the smartest animals in the world, the youngest pigs even put our youngest humans to shame. In an experiment where wee British piglets had to use mirrors to divine the path to a hidden bowl of food, piggies as young as six weeks old learned the concept of reflection within a few hours—a milestone that takes baby humans several months to grasp.

Octopi are master escape artists

True prison-breakers of the sea, these tentacled creatures have proven time and again their talents for popping lids off screw-top jars, compressing their bulky bodies through slit-small holes, and climbing impossibly out of aquarium tanks to their freedom. Otto, a German aquarium octopus, was even known to throw rocks at the glass and spray water at overhead lamps to short-circuit the annoyingly bright lights (on more than one occasion). Add to their rap sheet the innovation of assembling shelters from coconut shells, and there’s no denying cephalopods will one day be our overlords.

Squirrels use sleight of hand

If you’ve ever second-guessed yourself while trying to remember an online account password, know that you have stooped to sub-squirrel intelligence. According to a Princeton University study, grey squirrels are capable of remembering where thousands of nuts are buried—for months at a time. They’ll even use subterfuge to trick would-be nut takers; in a 2010 study, squirrels who knew they were being watched dug fake caches for their nuts, making a show of digging holes and patting them over with dirt while hiding their precious nuts under their armpits or in their mouth until they could find a more suitable hiding spot elsewhere.

Dolphins cheat

Dolphins are often cited as the second smartest animals on Earth due to their relatively high brain-to-body size ratio, the capacity to show emotion, and impressive mimicry of the dumb apes who research them. Now, findings from the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi suggest dolphins may also be the second-sneakiest animals on Earth. When dolphins at the Institute were trained to pick up litter in their tanks and exchange them with trainers for fish, one dolphin named Kelly discovered a way to game the system. By hiding scraps of litter under a rock in her tank, Kelly discretely tore single sheets of discarded paper into multiple pieces, then turned them in one at a time to maximize her fishy reward. Kelly’s clever deception, it seems, was no accident; researchers say she did it all on purpose.

Bees hold dance-offs

Honeybees have evolved what we call “swarm intelligence,” with up to 50,000 workers in a single colony coming together to make democratic decisions. When a hive gets too crowded in springtime, colonies deploy scouts to look for a new home. If any scouts disagree on where the colony should build its next hive, they argue their case the civilized way: through a dance-off. Each scout performs a “waggle dance” for other scouts in an attempt to convince them of their spot’s merit; the more enthusiastic the dance, the happier the scout was with his spot. The remainder of the colony votes with their bodies, flying to the spot they prefer and joining in the dance until one potential hive reigns #1 bee disco of the neighborhood. Alas, if only Congress settled their disagreements the same way. Also, you shouldn’t be afraid of bees. (Unless you’re allergic, of course.)

Elephants don’t need Facebook

In case you’ve forgotten, elephants have incredible memories. They’re able to recall specific routes to watering holes over incredible stretches of terrain and over the span of many years—and they never forget a friend, either. In 1999, an elephant named Shirley arrived at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Immediately, a resident elephant named Jenny became animated and playful. It wasn’t love at first sight; Jenny remembered Shirley from when they performed briefly in a circus together—22 years earlier.

SOURCE: READERS DIGEST: By Brandon Specktor and Brittany Gibson

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Published by pat frederick

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114 thoughts on “15 Animals That Are Probably Smarter Than You: Part 1”

  1. Morning All.
    we slept in a little. woke up to wet decks so it must have rained last evening. gray and dim out there again…almost a whole week without a day of sunshine. getting depressing!
    i hope we hear from katharine today!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Morning, Pat! I agree – wish Katharine would check in. The sun hasn’t yet breached the horizon here but it’s clear all around. Highs today, tomorrow and Monday 90, 89, 85 but plummeting to 69 for Tuesday. After that low 80’s for a couple of days, then in the 70’s – as with all their predictions, that can and, no doubt will, change. But it’s the usual fall pattern. Wheezer definitely prefers the plain tuna – tucks in immediately and doesn’t leave any.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. Feral cats aren’t usually so picky – they will normally eat whatever they can get but, after 2 years of getting fed, he is getting a bit more discriminating…..’cause he knows he can now! They are NOT stupid! LOL

          Liked by 1 person

  10. sunnydaze

    sunnydaze

    September 28, 2024 12:58 am

    Gr8 news My bipart bill 2 strengthen penalties 4 contraband cellphones in fed prisons passed Senate unanimously Cellphones in prison r deadly weapons tht allow inmates 2 operate criminal networks frm behind bars DOJ+IG+Senate all agree this needs 2 stop Now time 4 HOUSE PASSAGE

    — Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 26, 2024

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Patience

    September 28, 2024 1:14 am

    Reply to  Patience

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump
    ·
    3h

    Comrade Kamala Harris,
    who allowed
    almost 14,000 MURDERERS

    to freely and openly roam our Country,

    is now making a Speech in Douglas, Arizona,

    trying to say
    she did an OK job with the Border.

    She didn’t!
    She is the Worst Vice President in History,
    and the Worst Border Czar in History,

    and people are dying
    every day
    because of her.

    SHE HAS GOT BLOOD ON HER HANDS!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. nwtex

    September 28, 2024 2:40 am

    Roseanne makes the crowd go wild.💥💥💥💥💥

    “They stole that election in 2020. They gave us g*ddamn COVID so we’d send in those mail-order ballots and all that bullshit and the post office cheated too. Everybody in this country cheated us out of our president in twenty-twenty.… pic.twitter.com/DUFdBep9CW

    — Leah Rain ✝️🇺🇸🎸🏝️ (@LeahRain77) September 27, 2024

    Liked by 1 person

        1. Well, things were waaaay different back then, before the “gay” contingent went full-on crazy! That aspect – having a gay daughter – was sort of outside the norm at the time.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. did her daughter come out on the show?
            darlene married david didn’t she?
            the boss at the restaurant, then partner in their diner and their friend nancy were gay but i didn’t know darlene came out. we stopped watching before then i guess.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. She did eventually, IIRC. That was soooo long ago – it’s still showing on some obscure station on DTV but that’s not one I consider worth recording.

              Liked by 1 person

  13. Fox reported this earlier today:

    Just The News: “The Israeli military announced Saturday that an airstrike it launched in Lebanon has killed Hassan Nasrallah, the man who led Hezbollah for more than three decades and built it into a fearsome terrorist organization.

    Nasrallah was killed Friday when Israel bombed a complex where Hezbollah leadership was meeting near Beirut, Israeli officials said. “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world,” the Israel Defense Forces said on the X social media platform.

    Other Hezbollah leaders, including Ali Karki, the commander of its Southern Front, were also killed in the attack, Israel said.

    Hezbollah did not immediately confirm the deaths. But the Lebanese Health Ministry said that six people were killed and 91 injured in the strikes.

    Iran condemned the bombing, calling it a “blatant war crime,” as it vowed to stand by Hezbollah. “Israel is crossing Iran’s red lines, and the situation will become serious,” a senior Iranian official was quoted by NBC as saying.

    Nasrallah has led the Iran-backed Hezbollah since 1992 during an era when it engaged in significant hostilities with Israel and conducted terrorist attacks across the globe.

    The United States designated Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 under then President Bill Clinton. Hezbollah is a “political, military, and terrorist organization capable of conducting attacks worldwide,” the Director of National Intelligence says on its site of designated terrorist organizations.”

    Liked by 1 person

  14. “An Update On President Trump’s Early Voting Progress In Pennsylvania: Why The Keystone State Is “Key” To Secure Victory This Year”

    Paul Ingrassia, Sep 27, 2024

    EXCERPT: “We are now within the 40-day window until Election Day – and all eyes are on the Keystone state.  Over the next couple of weeks, both President Trump and Senator JD Vance have multiple rallies scheduled in Pennsylvania, including one in Butler County scheduled for October 5th. There the President will make his much-anticipated return to the town in which he nearly lost his life three and a half months ago.  The time between the fated Butler rally in July and the President’s return trip is 84 days, more than twice the period of time left until November 5th. 

    So the clock is really ticking. As of today, to the extent mainstream polling at all can be trusted (not much) the President would garner over 270 electoral college votes, and hence, win the presidency.  This of course will all depend on the President keeping a safe lead ahead of Kamala Harris in each one of the critical “sunbelt” battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina – and either winning Nevada, where he is currently ahead, and Nebraska’s third congressional district, where polls suggest he lags, or taking Pennsylvania, a “tossup” rapidly trending rightward.

    Of course, there are multiple ways to 270 (and beyond) for President Trump, which includes crisscrossing through Wisconsin and Michigan, both key to his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton – or picking off a longshot state like Virginia, Minnesota, New Hampshire, or potentially New Jersey or New York, all states that have been largely written off by pollsters and thus have scant data, but could nevertheless be ripe territory for an upset.

    All that said, however, given the lack of polling in those other states, we are reduced to mere speculation.  And speculation, at this late stage, deals with far too many unknown unknowns to pin down a winning strategy – at least from the standpoint of political forecasting, especially with this little time left.

    Granted, forty days in politics is tantamount to many lifetimes.  But, as it stands, Pennsylvania has already begun issuing applications for mail-in ballots, and at least nine of sixty-seven counties statewide have even commenced early voting – and a few of those counties, including Philadelphia, have even opened the doors to early, in-person voting.

    Accordingly, we have a ton of data already to crunch about Republican performance and can compare these data sets with 2020’s final results to determine whether Donald Trump can expect to see, at this still early date, positive trends in his favor. 

    A few numbers already stand out: voter registration efforts by on-the-ground grassroots activists, like Scott Pressler, and organizations, including the RNC and TPUSA, have made inroads in chipping away at that once formidable lead the Democratic Party commanded not too long ago in the Keystone state….”

    https://paulingrassia.substack.com/p/an-update-on-president-trumps-early

    Liked by 1 person

    1. everywhere i see up here, the Trump signs and displays outnumber the harris ones a billion to one. but that’s up here–we’re red up here. the trouble zones are south and that’s where they steal it.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I never see political signs here unless it’s someone running for our District but even that is rare. And, again, the only signs I saw in Norfolk were for locals running for the City Council but I also don’t go into any residential areas.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Robert W Malone MD, MS, Sep 28

    Former Trump chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and War room host, is still a political prisoner of the Biden-Harris government.

    “On Friday, The National Pulse posted this letter from Steve Bannon, whom I consider a personal friend. Thanks to the National Pulse, acknowledging that we have not obtained specific permission to repost.”

    DANBURY, Connecticut, September 26, 2024 –Victory is at hand.

    “Recent shifts in the few reliable polls in key districts and swing states show that hard-pressed Americans are decisively rejecting the phony “politics of joy” and the empty promises that define the Harris campaign. People are seeing through the word salad rhetoric, recognizing it for what it is: hollow.

    To date, the Harris campaign has offered no real solutions to the struggles Americans face: inflation, rising crime, and weakening national security. These topics can’t be masked by feel-good phrases, celebrity endorsements, or as many Oprah interviews as you want.

    Harris has peaked. The momentum is now on our side, and this is the time to capitalize on it.

    If the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement focuses all of its efforts on a massive get-out-the-vote and ballot-chasing effort in the crucial days and weeks until November 5th, we will win and win big.

    The stakes have never been higher; this is the opportunity to take back control. We are not just fighting for a win; we are fighting for the future of America. A victory of this magnitude means sweeping control of the House, Senate, and the Presidency. With this trifecta, we can destroy the policies that have harmed Americans and put the country back on track.

    The reality is that there is no significant group of “undecided” voters left regarding the candidates themselves. People know where they stand when it comes to President Trump and his opponents. What remains unclear for some is whether they will actually participate in the voting process.

    These are the individuals who will decide this election. With relentless effort and personal contact, they will break our way. It’s our job to engage with them, ensure they understand what’s at stake, and motivate them to cast their ballots.

    President Trump risks his life daily to save our country. Every day, he faces tremendous opposition and challenges, but he continues to fight for the American people.

    Through your work, show him that you have his back. Let’s demonstrate our commitment to this cause by putting everything we have into these final weeks. Remember: Victory is at hand.”

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Red State: “After years of disruption and vandalism, consequences have finally arrived for “Just Stop Oil” protesters. I’m not just talking about some motorists throwing them out of the street either, as satisfying as that usually is. This time, actual prison sentences were handed down. 

    In October 2022, two women entered the National Gallery in London and threw soup onto a famous Van Gogh painting. They then glued themselves to the wall while ranting about climate change. Video of the incident went viral at the time. 

    Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, were arrested for their deeds, though it wasn’t immediately clear any real punishment would be handed down. Now, nearly two years later, the two soup aficionados will be eating a lot of it behind bars. Plummer received two years while Holland got 20 months. 

    The response from “Just Stop Oil” was priceless. Instead of defiantly proclaiming the sacrifice was worth it to save the world, they cried foul, suggesting the punishment was far too harsh for the crime.

    https://x.com/JustStop_Oil/status/1839648995200704932

    “Just Stop Oil” is a cult. It takes impressionable people and convinces them that if they don’t break the law and make the lives of other people miserable, life on Earth will cease to exist in relatively short order. Being brainwashed doesn’t give a person the right to block streets and damage priceless pieces of art. That’s a lesson these lunatics have been loath to learn over the years. I don’t know if this will change the calculus for them, but it’s necessary nonetheless. 

    The judge who oversaw the case wasn’t kind in his sentencing remarks.

    In his sentencing remarks, Judge Hehir said:  “Your culpability is at level A. You did reconnaissance and planning and talked to a journalist. Your harm is at category 1, which means extreme harm to society.”

    He indicated that conscience was not a mitigating factor and that “The action you took was extreme, disproportionate and criminally idiotic given the risks involved”. He continued  “There is nothing peaceful or nonviolent about throwing soup. Throwing soup in someone’s face is violent.” 

    Addressing Phoebe he said “You think your beliefs entitle you to do anything. I was treated to a lengthy exposition to your political views. The suggestion that you and others like you in a democracy are political prisoners is ludicrous, offensive and idiotic. You have no remorse and you are proud.”

    The key phrase there is, “You think your beliefs entitle you to do anything.” That is the paradigm these “activists” operate under. The fact that others have a right to go to work, get to hospitals, and enjoy their lives doesn’t register with them. Doomsday cults do not care about other people. They only care about their delusions of grandeur. 

    For context, “Just Stop Oil” is demanding all fossil fuel extraction be ceased by 2030. What would happen if they accomplished that goal? Millions upon millions of people would die, with the highest death tolls being in underdeveloped nations in places like Africa. Fossil fuels power the world. To think that can be stopped in the next five years is absurd and dangerous. If anything, these two women got off easy.”

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Easily manipulated because they no sense of self-worth – they’ve never accomplished anything and are just looking for attention and relevance.

        Liked by 2 people

          1. There you are! Hope you weathered the storms w/o too much damage. Problem is, schools don’t teach the children HOW to think but WHAT to think.

            Liked by 1 person

            2. you know, i had a history teacher who gave mostly essay tests. he used to tell us that regurgitating facts was not a measure of intelligence–applying what you’ve learned and being able to use that information to defend your views was. as long as you could defend your opinion with facts, you got an A.

              Liked by 1 person

  17. Oh, this is cute – a map of “America’s Drunkest and Driest Counties.” You can hover over various areas and it will bring up the info for various cities:

    Pierce (I think they’re just showing the county seats around the state – but I expect it would be about the same in my town): 19.49%

    Madison, NE (where Mom lives): 20.67% are excessive drinkers

    22.1% of NE residents are excessive drinkers.

    https://intoxistates.com/

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Story: https://www.wave3.com/2024/09/19/oldest-home-depot-employee-country-lives-louisville/

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – JoCleta Wilson has the distinct honor of being the oldest Home Depot employee in the entire country, and she lives in Louisville. Two mornings a week you’ll find her at the Westport Road Home Depot from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. ”That’s when I’m 100%. After that, you only get 50% of me,” she joked.

    Wilson was born in Louisville in 1924. She turns 100 years old this Oct. 4. She started working at Home Depot two years ago. “That is because I want to communicate with people,” she said. “If you are not working, you lose your art of conversing,” Wilson said. “I’ve retired three times. Each time was 10 years, and I’ve gotten so sick of myself, I couldn’t stand it.”

    She spent much of her life dancing and traveled the world with the June Taylor dancers. To this day, she still has the moves. Wilson danced and sang on stage at the age of 94. She performed the song, “If My Friends Could See Me Now.”

    The mother of four owned the Louisville Dance Academy for nearly 40 years. She still drives, and her artwork received an honorable mention at this year’s Kentucky State Fair. She was willing to share a few of her secrets.

    “For one thing, don’t sweat the small stuff,” she said. She drinks a little wine, with a lot of water. “I put a lot of emphasis on posture,” Wilson said. She tests herself against a wall. “And if I’m slouching, I correct it.”

    Her mother lived to be 99 years old. Wilson bought a piano at 90 and is teaching herself. Her life hasn’t been easy at times.

    ”I’ve had cancer three times,” she said. “COPD, Emphysema, and I have a pacemaker. But you can’t sweat the small stuff. So, I just don’t think about it,”

    One thing she won’t do is clean her house. Wilson said she pays someone to do that. ”I didn’t get this old without getting smart,” she said. Wilson says she’d consider dating, but he must be younger than her. ”Especially has to be able to dance,” she said. “And a good leader because I can follow.”

    Wilson’s outlook, creating a fulfilling, long life, is something we can all follow. She has even written a cookbook called Make Them Think You Can Cook with recipes she collected during her time dancing around the world in supper clubs. Part of the proceeds she gave to Special Olympics Kentucky, as she had two children with special needs, one has since passed.

    Home Depot is planning a birthday party for her at the store.”

    Like

  19. “A Michigan autoworker just told Trump to his face that she wasn’t in support of him in the beginning, but her son made her do research, and she finally realized the truth.

    “I’m sorry I was not for you in the beginning, but my son told me I sounded ignorant and I needed to educate myself on you.”

    THAT WAS SWEET! I hereby proclaim her son as the greatest son in Michigan son history”😂😂😂

    https://x.com/BehizyTweets/status/1839813385333940427

    Liked by 1 person

  20. EXCERPT: “In a documentary called Vindicating Trump that opened Friday in about 850 theaters nationwide, conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza hired investigators to imagine ways dishonest political operatives might be able to sway an election.

    One of their solutions was simple: run blank ballots through a copy machine, or simply purchase thousands of them online, both of which the investigators claimed to do with ease in the film. 

    One investigator is seen phoning a voting registration office and asking whether it’s legal to make duplicates of his mail-in ballot, and the voice on the other line says that it is.

    Another investigator is shown purchasing 1 million names of registered voters for $35 so he can easily identify likely non-voters whose names and forged signatures could be used on the duplicated ballots.

    In an interview with Just the News,  D’Souza called the segment one of the more shocking elements of his new movie.

    “We told our investigators, ‘Don’t just tell us you can make ballots, go make ballots. Prove to us these are ballots that can be cast without being detected.’ And they did,” D’Souza said. “It’s mind-blowing, to be honest.”

    It’s familiar ground for D’Souza, who previously made 2,000 Mules, a documentary that explored allegations that Democratic operatives were stuffing ballot boxes during the 2020 election in which then-President Donald Trump lost to then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden….

    …..The film also includes a news clip of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying on CNN, ”I can make the argument that President Biden is a much worse threat to democracy” than Trump. 

    It also includes a clip of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg saying on television: “Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”

    https://justthenews.com/nation/culture/dsouza-new-film-vindicating-trump-focuses-how-operatives-might-be-able-steal

    Like

  21. Just The News: “Congressman Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., introduced legislation earlier this week that would allow vaccine manufacturers to be sued for vaccine injuries. The End the Vaccine Carveout Act, also called H.R. 9828, would get rid of liability shields for Big Pharma. 

    “Although federal bureaucrats and Big Pharma insist that vaccines are safe, there is an unfortunate lack of science regarding the safety of vaccines,” Gosar said in a press release. He added that currently it is very hard to hold vaccine manufacturers accountable if an individual gets injured from a vaccine. 

    Gosar cited the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which he claimed “created a special immunity carveout for Big Pharma.”

    “My legislation strips away current immunity provisions unfairly shielding Big Pharma from the harms caused by their products and allows those injured by vaccines to pursue a civil lawsuit in state or federal court,” Gosar concluded. “Big Pharma doesn’t deserve a get-out-of-jail-free card for injuries caused by their harmful vaccines.”

    Like

  28. Patience
    September 28, 2024 12:09 pm

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump

    Even the LameStream Media
    is mocking
    Comrade Kamala Harris

    for her pathetic attempt yesterday

    to justify her HORRIBLE performance at the Border.

    14,000 CONVICTED thugs and slimeballs
    who have committed MURDER

    have been allowed to enter our Country,

    totally unvetted and unchecked,
    and roam free to KILL AGAIN…

    And they will kill again, over and over,

    and wreak havoc like never seen before.

    We don’t know anything about them.

    Kamala is a FOOL

    to have let this happen to our beautiful USA.

    It is totally unjustifiable, there can be nothing worse!

    She should be IMPEACHED

    for what she as done to our Country!

    Liked by 1 person

  29. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I heard the loudest noise behind me! the loudest thump i ever heard! when i looked down on the ground underneath the window behind me, there’s a dead (i believe) female woodpecker.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. no…we have screens in on that side. it would bounced off to some degree. we think it hit the vertical wooden center between the double windows. but I’ve been peering out at it every so often and it has changed a little. maybe it is unconscious but not dead?

        Liked by 1 person

          1. if she was on the deck, i could at least see if she was breathing, but she’s down on the ground and it’s lightly raining.
            whenever a hummer hits a window i can monitor it closely but this one i can’t

            Liked by 1 person

      2. “Anyone looking into their French-Canadian roots will soon come across this term: fille du roi, or “daughter of the king.” Not to be taken in a literal sense, the Filles du roi were a group of some 700 unmarried women who were sent to New France between 1663 and 1673 by King Louis XIV to solve a gender imbalance problem, and ultimately help populate the new colony. They were called “daughters of the king” because Louis XIV paid for their recruitment, clothing and passage to the new world and offered dowries to the women when they married. They are also referred to as the “King’s Wards.”

        The misconception that the Filles du roi were prostitutes expelled from France is widespread in Québec, despite many French Canadians tracing their ancestry back to these women.

        This false belief stems from the Salpêtrière in Paris. Originally a gunpowder facility, the building was converted into a hospice for destitute women in 1656 by Louis XIV. It was truly a wretched place. Dirty, cold and overcrowded, the hospital was a dumping ground for women who were mentally ill, disabled, epileptic, poor or orphaned. It was also where authorities sent prostitutes to keep them off the streets of Paris. The Salpêtrière soon became associated with prostitution, or Filles de joie.

        When Louis XIV directed his advisor Jean-Baptiste Colbert to recruit women for the passage to Canada, the Salpêtrière in Paris was a natural option—the facility was overcrowded, and authorities were keen to offload some of its residents. We know that about 250 Filles du roi came from the Salpêtrière. They were personally chosen by two women who came from New France for the recruitment: Madame Bourdon et Mademoiselle Estienne.

        They were specifically looking for women who were young, average- or good-looking, single, smart, strong, in good health, and having good morals. Each Fille du roi had to produce a “certificate of good conduct” signed by their priest or a judge from their hometown.

        This stringent selection process makes it unlikely for known prostitutes to have been chosen, although some were sent to other colonies like Louisiana and the Caribbean. Most Filles du roi from la Salpêtrière were there because they were orphaned or very poor, with over half being paternal orphans and about 20% maternal orphans.

        Boudon and Estienne gave these women the choice to travel to New France. Despite the risks—arduous travel, a harsh climate, and potential native attacks—this opportunity offered an escape from their dire circumstances in France. How informed they were about the challenges they would face remains unclear. Whether they truly had a choice in the matter is also unknown….”

        https://www.tfcg.ca/filles-du-roi

        Like

  32. Something else about Big Pharma – just saw an ad targeting people with food allergies – Xolair is an injection that is “designed to significantly reduce allergic reactions from accidental food exposure,” taken 1-2 times a month. From all I’ve heard, anaphylaxis is one side effect of that very exposure, yet a side effect of this drug IS anaphylaxis!!! And a list as long as my arm of OTHER “possible” side effects that are even worse than the reaction itself! Starting at the age of ONE!!!!! SMDH

    Liked by 1 person

      1. She replied: “I’m okay, Filly. We had a powerful wind storm that blew power out all over Georgia. Slade, my brother-in -law, says a million Georgians are without power, us included, and it may be weeks before it’s restored here. Fortunately, Slade is a master Fix-it person, and he has a gizmo that recharges cell phones with a battery. Slade also has a generator, so gave me some ice from their freezer today.

        I spent all yesterday picking up sticks and debris in the yard. Couple of trees knocked down, but none near the house.
        Thanks for asking. Pray for other people, who are in worse shape than I am. I’ll pray, too.”

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  44. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

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