14 Quotes by Jonathan Balcombe

The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. – Eden Phillpotts Just.

From my earliest memories I was fascinated by animals. I would explore my backyard for insects and gaze at anthills until my elbows became sore. When I was 8, my mother bought me a book of North American birds and I’ve been keen on birdwatching since.

Humbling as it may be, for all our vaunted brain power, humans emerge as nothing special in the sensory sweepstakes. Our senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch are middling, at best.

They have the options of grating their teeth in their jaws, grinding additional sets of teeth lining their throat, rubbing bones together, stridulating their gill covers, and even – as we’ll see – expelling bubbles from their anuses.

The problem in our relationship with animals is that our treatment of them hasn’t evolved to keep up with our knowledge.