What do animals see in the mirror?Themself or another animal?

Nice discussion-rated:-) I am supporter of the idea that the animals has intelect, not just instincts. I will be curious to read more.

Hi Honey, wow this is very interesting to read that the elephant would actually do this. Oh yes I know that animals are more smarter than what people credit them to be. I believe that the majority of animals treat their friends and family a lot better than some human beings.

I have often wondered about that. When my cats look in the mirror, it doesn't seem to affect them. If they hear a sound of a cat on tv, it does. So, perhaps research is right about that. What do you think?

Hmmmmmmmm I am not to sure as Gissi seems confused when he looks in the Mirror lol I think he tries to figure out who it is hahaha but I think after a while of telling him that it is him he knows the first time he looked in the Mirror he was growling lol

This is very interesting. My dad has two turtles and once I put a cd on the computer with lots of turtles on it and do you know what happened? The two turtles were racing to the screen and they glued themselves on it as if to try to get near to their respective species on the screen. How cute was that? My dad managed to vieo it and I want to send it to my hubby. I thought that was really quite funny lol.

When the cats were kittens, they acted like the kitten in the mirror was a stranger. Later they tried to figure out how to get into the room on the other side of the mirror, still later they just looked at the room in the mirror. Funniest story. We had the mirror on the floor & a cat walked across it, then looked down to see a "hole" in the floor. She flew straight up in the air & did that leg blur thing that you see in cartoons!

I have always believed that animals can see reflections, and if you think about it, being able to see a predator, or even a tasty meal, reflected in the water from which you are drinking is a very good skill! I do know that one of my cats used to go beserk and nearly give himself concussion every time he caught sight of himself in a mirror. My birdies, however, could preen all day long!

i think they see other animals. i dont think animals really grasp the concept of a mirror, and they don't really know what they look like themselves. i remember that one of our family friend's cats would always hiss at the mirror whenever she passed, because she thought there was another cat there. but who knows...maybe i am wrong. some animals are really smart, but some are just really dumb.

Touching a mark over the image of its eye doesn't seem to be sufficient to show it sees itself. Elephants like over animals could well be disposed to investigate wounds or marks on other animals they see. I have known animals look behind the mirror to find the image or threaten it, which seems to indicate they don't recognise it as themselves. In fact it would be rather odd if they did recognise it as themselves since how would they know their own appearance? Hmmmm, an element of hokum in this experiment, thinks I. It reminds me of a psychology experiment which concluded that a survey of a certain age group generally held a particular psychological outlook, which happened to be pretty much what the psychologists held to be so. Later a philosopher examining the methodology pointed out that the study group had been chosen from university graduates and the adverts had been widely circulated in the psychology department, the result? The majority of the test sample were undergrad psychology students, so all the study showed is they had learnt something from their tutors - Doh! It is one thing to devise and perform an experiment another to understand what it measures. all the best urban

Well thats really weird, I think some animals would be smart enough to figure out it was themselves they were looking at but not others. My dog seems to try and fight with the dog he sees in the mirror, lol. And I was holding my cat one time and she seen herself in the mirror and started hissing then ran away. With my animals it either scares them or they think its another animal!

I can't say if my bunny will see something or recognize himself in the mirror. I better try this one. All bunny can think about is sleep and food, LOL! He will keep pushing his bowl whenever he is hungry. Whenever he heard me chopping some vegetables, he will keep hopping. Whenever he saw my girls, he will begin to scratch the door of his little barn house.

They must see another animal most probably since they don't know what they themselves look like but the animals in the jungle when they look in a pond or something then they must probably know that it's themselves.

they definitely see themselves.i think the question is, do they realize it's them??i think they do,once they look at it for awhile

Good question they see others. I had a bird who see itself in the mirror and goes crazy. May be the researchers study animal behaviour they no better.

I realized that with my cat. She would stare on the mirror and look at her eyes. Same thing with my dog. If they see it as another dog, she would surely bark but she's not. I really believe that animals are very smart though they are not as blessed as humans that has capacity to decide.

wow this is great news, I never read that research. Just the research on dogs and cats who act as if it is a strange animal in the mirror and they growl and hiss. But this is really great. Perhaps it is certain types of animals who can differentiate between themselves and another animal.

cool question! i have a dog and i've tried to make him see himselfs in the mirror but i think (after the experiment) that he doesn't see anythink in the mirror nor another animal! but i know too that cats see themselves in the mirror!

i think that's a completely different story. .i remembered once i use a mirror to test on my dog.. and what happen is that.. my dog actually barking at the mirror.. i think animals too have different understanding.. some are smarter.. and some are not.. so.. if you test the smarter ones.. of course they can tell you it's themselves. but if you test the less smart ones.. they will think it's another animal.. and they tend to fight back.. as they thought the image is threatening them.. haha.. it's really funny to see my dog barking at the mirror.. i wonder whether he knows he is barking at himself or not =p

sounds interesting . i never have such things before .and i looks like more than i can imagine ... well , the pets always make people sweety and entertainment.....i like it..

If youare an animal, after seeing yourself in mirror you can start sharing your experiecne here.. for me.. I have no idea bout this.. thanks for sharing the experience..