Show Page 18— The Herald Journal Logan Utah Thursday April 4 1996 — how they talk to each other Studying hippos said Krueger who is using the research for his master’s thesis it Bowling Green State University Barklow has visited the zoo at least By Michael D Sallah The Toledo Blade TOLEDO Ohio the hippos — If you could talk to seven limes since 1994 Most of his work has taken place in central Tanzania where he has recorded hundreds of hours The Toledo Zoo’s hippoquarium is drawing more than just visitors these of hippo sounds in the Great Ruaha days It has become a research tool in an area rarely explored before: the language of hippopotamuses For two years scientists have been observing the hippos in the exhibit as well as recording their sounds “We’re talking about groundbreaking research into the way these animals talk to one another” said Tim French curator of mammals The research led by Massachusetts biologist William Barklow is featured in cover story in this month’s a Smithsonian magazine The article includes an interview with Toledo Zoo handler Steve Krueger 39 as well as some of the breakthrough experiments being conducted at the hippoquarium “With hippos there’s more that goes on than meets the eye” said Krueger 39 the zookeeper who has joined Bait-lo- w in the research Since 1994 Krueger and Barklow have videotaped the hippoquarium’s resident couple Cupid and Bubbles as well River since the late 1980s In 1994 Toledo Zoo officials learned about the study in an article Barklow wrote for Wildlife Conservation magazine “I called him and we talked about it” said Kreuger “He had heard about our hippoquarium and was excited about 10-pa- ge as recording their grunts groans and even “eerie squeals” with an underwater microphone Krueger is entering the sounds into a computer that produces spectrographs or visual shapes of the sounds That way he can compare patterns to see whether the creatures use common "words” By looking at the hippos’ actions researchers hope to get an idea of what they're saying Steve Krueger a zookeeper at the Toledo Zoo's hippoquarium makes Bubbles the hippo open her mouth Krueger is conducting research on hippo communication For instance Barklow theorizes that a common “clicking" sound is emitted hy the creatures to let other hippos know of their location in the water This summer the two men hope to set Shakespearan scholar becomes cougar tracker EDITOR'S NOTE — Whan aha'i In the ndar dish a woods shs'i Hcanod to woman wNh an uncannily kaan ays tor tha tailtala signs of an animal's prss-sne- a Sha calls harsslf a "cataholle” aNudng to her apodal Inters In tha big cats especially cougars Meat Susan Moras animal trackar By Wilson Ring Associated Press Writer JERICHO Vt (AP) — For more than 20 years Shakespeare- an scholar Susan Morse has fowled the wilds of northern 'errnont looking for animal signs Like the Indians who preceded her she knows the scratches on the trees and what animal made them — bobcats bears deer fishers raccoons otters coyotes and the occasional moose knows the scratches on the trees and what animal made them Morse is an animal tracker She form "Walking through the woods with Sue is like walking with a radar dish She misses nothing” says Kevin Hansen of Sacramen- to Calif who with Morse’s help has written a book about counts “She is just amazing” Morse knows where the bears feed on beech nuts and cherries and which trees are used bjr mother bears to baby-si- t their young She even has a name for an elderly celibate fox that lives near her Jericho home Renard There is an area she calls the d cliff where bobcats have raised litters of kittens One thing Morse hasn't found in Vermont are the tracks of cougars or mountain lions catamounts puma or whatever name one wants to use to describe the big cat For that Morse makes periodic trips to the Western states and Canada where her expertise as a cougar tracker has made her famous "I’m a regular catabolic" Morse says She bridges the chasm between wildlife academounmics and the present-da- y tain men who roam the woods looking for the same animals but for a different purpose “I think you have to accept the fact that Sue is rather unique” says Harley Shaw a retiied wildlife biologist from Arizona who gave Morse a start tracking cougars ia the early 1980s "There is no doubt about it when die decides to learn about it die gets it done Not many trackers have degrees in Shakespearean English Morse has little formal wildlife training But she has spent countless hours on her own studying academic wildlife literature and in the woods the "dirt time” woman” In spite of her love for cougars Morse stays in Vermont rather than moving west to be closer to their present-da- y range “Culturally I like it herenT Vermont” she says “There is a healthy attitude toward the land” Morse 47 grew up in Pennsylvania prowling the woods near Philadelphia She says her family instilled in her both her love of the outdoors and books record the scenario “This is something that can’t he done in the wild because the water is too murky and visibility is not very good” “We have a long way to go” he said “We are just trying to categorize some of the sounds now” Pet owners know animals feel think AP Special Features : Any pet owner will tell you that animals needed to learn the meaning of and feel but traditionally scientists have think brothe depressions scrapes and thought otherwise — until recently dissidents aniken plants that tell her which mal has been there and when “She is that unique person with field knowledge and book learning that is so rare to encounter” Hansen says “I would hold her up to people with PhDs I would call her a modern renaissance microphones and video cameras to have spoken up for the animals The belief that beasts have thoughts and emotions is called anthropomorphism Kevin Cook wrote in an article in Cosmopolitan but to traditionalists who believe animals are purely instinctual reflexive beings that's a dirty word scientifically speaking “It's natural for people to empathize and identify with other life forms” British naturalist James Scrpell said “It is the essence of sign of feeling our humanity” Stephen Frantz vector bionomics and IPM specialist at Wadsworth Center in Albany NY one of the nation's top authorities on rats bats and other nocturnal species said “The idea is that everything nonhuman from an insect to your pet kitty is pretty much a mental blank” During his studies at Pennsylvania State and Johns Hopkins universities Frantz was trained to see animals as mindless machines cause-and-effe- pain” Other anthropomorphic examples came easily to him “Take the subtle communication between a blind person and a seeing-ey- e dog” he said “I thought it a little absurd to call that dog a robot” Among the first to question the establish ment view was Donald R Griffin a Rocke- feller University biologist Griffin gained scientific immortality by discovering the radar bats use in flight He then switched careers devoting himself to convincing other scientists that beasts were not mechanical ct “This traditional view bothered me” Frantz said “It seemed unscientific to say lab rats didn't suffer since they showed every beings But the climate in the 1960s was not conducive to a woman studying the outdoors ‘I wasn’t getting the opportu-lay- s nities in this field" she In 1969 she transferred to the University of Vermont where she graduated three years later She studied English literature because she liked it Her master’s thesis wu about King Lear Over the years she has worked i has elevated animal tracking once the private domain of hunters and trappers to an art rock-face- um using dark barrels to see whether the “clicking” increases as the two hippos run into obstacles The scientists will use underwater years on the communication between dolphins birds and whales it is just starting on hippos said Krueger She studied forestry for two years at Penn State University Like the Indians who preceded her Morse “bobcat brownstone” a up an obstacle course in the hippoquari- coming here” Barklow even had some of his questions answered here For some time be had heard “clacking” from the hippos in Africa but could not figure out why they were making such sounds By talking to Krueger he soon learned the sound was from the ritual tusk clashing that occurs during courtship In fact Krueger last saw the couple spar with the tusks last summer Bubbles the female became pregnant and gave birth to a baby just two weeks ago But because of complications during birth the baby died about 20 minutes after it was born “He died of shock from trauma” said Krueger “It’s too bad because I was hoping to record some of the interaction between the mother and the baby” While research has been performed for Levi's Silver Tab fashion jeans as a forester landscaper stone For your casual comfort in four different fits: classic relaxed loose and baggy Available in liTt medium and dark blue black tan geen and white sizes 28-4- 2 wall builder and teacher Now ha expertise is being called on more and more She teaches a course on track- ing at Burlington College and leads groups on tours of her mountains one of the most pristine wild sections of Vermont “Ten years ago you couldn’t sell a course on tracking” she says “That interest has exploded in the last five Men's Levi's 20 denimoff years” For the last year Morse has been executive director of Keep- shorts Levi's ing TYack Inc a nonprofit orga- nization dedicated to habitat protection It's the first stable $35-$4- Reg 550" employment she's had in years 5 relaxed-f- it Save on shorts and Silver Tab” shorts in 9” 11 and longer 13” styles In Keeping Track also educates the public about the importance of wildlife habitat conservation through field workshops track and sign survey training and blues black tan white and' green shades sizes 28-4- 2 t school and community presentations “Today the Vermont landscape has never looked better in the last 100 vears” Morse says "We could ruin this place in the next 20 years” The organization is now work- 20 off Levi's shirts 5 The perfect Reg Levi's to companion jeans and shorts Long and short- -’ sleeved styles knits and wovens in solids stripes and $18-$4- ing with eight towns and has signed on with 10 more It is also running separate programs in New Hampshire New York California and Arizona “We are not doing an inventory of all animals” Morse says They are specifically interested in bob- logo prints sizes cats bears fishers otters and minks “The carnivores at the top of the food pyramid have the greatest needs” she explains "We are interested in endangered spaces not endangered species We cant afford to wait It flies in the face of reason to wait until the crisis of preventing extinction overwhelms you” !Z Sk all srow ynd Satuww 10 Oran a rMi AM-- 9 pm N Sat Law CM I Lmi DnwvKWN wi ZCMI risiwurw in L tm np n tut L' (hopt Sat 579-6fi- S Sctjkw 10 am -- 7 pm) Cickto Sunday |