[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I think this is quite likely.

The point is that we mystify that which we don't understand. For what it's worth, I kind of like the mysticism. It makes things interesting. But by the same token I think it's silly to see some strange behavior on the part of animals and automatically make the HUGE leap to describe it by saying "it's the spirits of the dead!"

I totally agree that we have a need to mystify what we don't understand. We feel we MUST assign these things greater value. I guess its sort of our arrogance that if we don't understand it, it must be "greater" than our intellect therefore it has to be mystical or not of this world. "Ghosts" really are a neat idea, I just don't believe the spirits of the dead "visit us' or are "not at rest". YMMV.

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

FWIW cats have exceptional eyesight, smell and hearing - way beyond what we're capable of. They may have other sensory awarenesses we don't even know about too....

I've read that a dogs sense of smell is more akin to a human's sight in terms of its ability to differentiate nuances. Now, that may be accurate or it may be just another example of human's need to explain or quantify something that is essentially unquantifiable as none of us has ever "smelled" as a dog can smell. I'd certainly agree that bats and (differently) porpoises have what we liken to sonar. So perhaps cats and dogs have their own subtle "senses' we cannot relate to.

I just think we LOVE to get "all afire" over things we want to believe that are ridiculous. By the way, add the "Boggy Creek Monster" to my previous list of mystical creatures stalking us.