Alex and Me

I heard an interview on NPR's Fresh Air today that I loved. LOVED. It was an interview with Irene Pepperberg, whose research I've been interested in for several years but have never studied in-depth at all. I originally learned of her many years ago, when I saw a television program highlighting her star student, Alex, the talking African grey parrot.

I immediately fell in love with Alex, especially when he stopped answering questions to interject, "I want dinner." She told him it was not dinner time, and he said, "I'm sorry". Alex learned to identify a handful of materials, distinguish differences in number and color, and count objects according to criteria, among other things. Since seeing that program, every time I've seen an African Grey in a pet store, I've stopped to interact for a few minutes. The intelligence in their eyes captivates me, and the curiously expressive gestures fascinate me. If I thought my lifestyle would allow me to properly care for one (they essentially become children), and I didn't struggle a little with keeping such magnificent birds as pets in cages, I would probably own one right now.

In any case, Pepperberg's research into the cognitive processes of birds and the learning or training process she describes with Alex fascinate me. I love that stuff! And I get this little voice telling me I should be interested in it for its human applications and potential contribution to improving humans' quality of life, even if indirectly. Yes, that's interesting to me as well, but NOPE, I just like learning about animals for the sake of learning about animals, and her research is particularly interesting to me, so imagine my excitement when I learned she's just published a memoir of her research called Alex and Me. Too bad I'm so poor right now, or I'd buy it immediately (hint, hint, *cough* *Christmas* *cough*).

So there you have it, I'm an animal nerd. But then, y'all knew that. :-)