Smart Asses!

Intelligent....not stubborn!

It's official folks, mules are the Einsteins of the domestic animal world!  Finally we have proof of what we all knew all along..... we are good at solving problems and thinking for ourselves.  Stubborn and stupid we are not.... in fact it is a proven fact that we are more flexible learners than dogs, pretty impressive for a herbivore!

It seems that those nice people at the Donkey Sanctuary are busy extolling the virtues of long ears to anyone that will listen.... here's their press release shamelessly copied with our mule hooves.... somehow we don't think they'll mind ;-)

Smart Asses! Mules lead the way in the intelligent animal league!

A study published this month reveals that mules are among the best problem solvers amongst domestic animals and demonstrate learning skills far in advance of our other four-legged friends.

I think therefore I am!

The study is the result of collaboration between The Donkey Sanctuary and Dr Britta Osthaus of Canterbury Christ Church University and looked at the ability of mules, donkeys and horses to problem solve to obtain a small food reward. The results were also compared with previous studies carried out on dogs.

Einstein in disguise??

During the tests the animals needed to work out the shortest route through a gap past a barrier to get to a food reward. The position of the gap changed after a set number of repetitions meaning that the animals needed to re-evaluate their route. On the first detour task, mules were able to take the shortest route from the start point and head straight through without hesitation. Donkeys took slightly longer to solve the problem and horses longer still. After a change in the set-up mules and donkeys proved to be far more flexible than horses and dogs who got stuck behind the barrier, not realising the gap had been moved.

Roller is slightly offended.... don't mention his habit of getting lost....

The results proved that mules are as clever as dogs at problem solving and that they also show potential to ‘learn to learn’ – applying flexibility to their thoughts and actions in response to their environment. The study also demonstrated that mules and donkeys were significantly more flexible in their approach to problem solving than horses or dogs – debunking the common myth of these animals being ‘stubborn’.

Who's got the biggest brain my doggy friend??

Dr Faith Burden who assisted with the study on behalf of The Donkey Sanctuary says: “All in all the study really backs up what we have all known but not been able to prove until now: donkeys and mules are thoughtful when presented with a problem and are accurate and fast learners. They certainly put their shorter eared cousins in the shade in this study.”

This study supports previous work carried out by the team which shows that mules not only demonstrate their ‘hybrid vigour’ physically but that this also extends to their intelligence.

So there you have it my friends, Dragon and I are off to work on the theory of relativity, the secret of life and we are trying to discover a fly spray that actually works (we could earn millions with this!), with two mule brains there is no limit.... However, I think I'd rather eat grass and snooze .... time for mule school another day, don't give up the day job FH!