You know what, I bet it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Whoever it was, thousands of years ago, probably went “ah, a talking animal, just like all the legends say, I should listen to its wisdom”.
If you were the first person to hear like a hamster suddenly quote the Independence Day Bill Pullman speech today you’d be in deep trouble, though.
My hamster is more of a Twister fan
Mine just smells of elderberries
I reckon you’d go “WAIT! Waitwaitwaitlemmepulloutmyphone!” or something like that.
Wait until you hear one say something in full context out of nowhere; that’s really unnerving. I’ve had parrots for almost 20 years now and they still surprise me from time to time. It makes you stop and rethink just how smart the little feathered balls of chaos are.
African greys are insanely smart. Shame they’re assholes most of the time, like all parrots are.
I hear lyrebirds in Australia mimic what sounds like human noises sometimes and it’s weird.
It’s rare and isn’t as “spot on” as documentaries make it out to be, but when it happens it’s always been when rock climbing in an area for most of the day and sometimes one comes along. They seem to pick up on the noises hikers and climbers make in those areas, which is mostly talking, laughing, cheering, etc. But like, it sounds nothing like another human, but you know that’s what it’s heard because it sounds like humans in the distance, just 10-20m away. Then they mix in random bird calls and it’s fun to guess each bird it’s trying to be.
It’s kind of surreal; certainly interesting. Terrible distraction when you’re supposed to be belaying someone who’s halfway up a cliff 🤣
Or was just hit with such disappointment they never fully recovered.