..and animal cognition has changed radically in the last few years. The more we look, the more behaviors we find that animals weren't supposed to have, like empathy, problem-solving skills, and interactions between species and between animals and humans.

I hate to sound like a gloomy misanthrope after that cheerful story but, we humans are multiplying, our technologies are advancing, and our needs increasing at such a rapid rate that, in the long run, the poor animals have no chance. In my own area of central Pa. kids today will grow up in a landscape devoid of ring-necked pheasants, ruffed grouse (the state bird), frogs, toads, honeybees, swallows, monarch butterflies, or box turtles. This is the baseline now. Others could probably name more, but decades ago these were a common, if not daily, sight for anyone spending time outdoors.