To The Best of Our Knowledge

from Wisconsin Public Radio

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Elephants mourning their dead. Chimpanzees dying of grief. And the everyday joy of a dog at play. Biologist Marc Bekoff says the evidence is all around us, if we learn how to see it. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the case for animal emotions. And we'll spend some time with a woman who's been called a real life Dr. Doolittle - Sonya Fitzpatrick, the Pet Psychic. Also, the secret weapons in a tiger's roar.

Biologist Marc Bekoff is the author of "Minding Animals." He talks with Jim Fleming about his years of research into animal emotions and behavior, from penguins and foxes to his dog, Jethro. Bekoff teaches at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Elizabeth Von Muggenthaler is president of the Fauna Communications Research Institute. She shares samples with Jim Fleming of some of the amazing animal sounds her group has recorded. Also, writer and naturalist Peter Matthiessen talks with Steve Paulson about tigers and cranes. His most recent books are "Tigers in the Snow" and "The Birds of Heaven: Travels with Cranes."

Anne Strainchamps and two pet owners have a session with Pet Psychic Sonya Fitzpatrick who claims to be able to communicate with pets, even after they've died. Anne and her guests are seriously impressed! Fitzpatrick has a TV show on the Animal Planet cable channel, and is the author of "What the Animals Tell Me." More information at http://www.sonyafitzpatrick.com/.

Books:

• Marc Bekoff, Minding Animals: Awareness, Emotions, and Heart (Oxford)
• Sonya Fitzpatrick, What the Animals Tell Me (Hyperion)
• Peter Matthiessen, The Birds of Heaven: Travels with Cranes (North Point Press)
• Peter Matthiessen, Tigers in the Snow (North Point Press)

Music:

• -Old Blue/ Dave Van Ronk/ Somebody Else, Not Me/ Philo 1065
• -Bluegrass in the Backwoods/ Nob Hill Boys/ Someday, Sometime, Somehow/ Nob Hill Boys
• -Kookaburra/ Bill Staines/ The Happy Wanderer/ Red House Records
• - Mido Mountain/ Yo Yo Ma & Silk Road Ensemble/ Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet/ Sony
• -Winfield's Fancy/ Arnie Naiman & Chris Coole/ 5 Strings Attached with No Backing/ Meriweather Records

Distribution dates:

• week of 08/04/2002 - hour 1