Jillian Greenwood
Ms. Shelly Sanders
EN 1113-03 4 September 2014 Exploratory Research Proposal Can an animal’s instinct foresee human deaths? As an aspiring veterinarian, I cherry-picked this topic because animal behavior and animal psychology both fascinate me. I’ve always wondered what races through an animal’s mind. What makes it do this and for what reason did it respond in this particular way? So with my topic, I plan to explore every aspect about how an animal can determine a human’s death. Millions of questions rambled my wondering mind, when I first researched my topic. For example, can an animal feel what humans feel, can they smell our feelings or is it just a hunch? Can the connection between man and beast be so close that an animal can determine one’s future? Why are animals so loyal? Why do they feel the need to love humans, even though when we don’t return the love? Can their actions help doctors and researchers improve their studies when dealing with sick patients or are they the clue to ground breaking research?
When I was young, the superstitious old people in the neighborhood would say, “If a black cat lingers around your house someone is sick or dying” and “if a dog crawls around in a circle, he’s marking his own grave.” Where the old people’s superstitious ways correct? Do animals have their own special ways of warning us, humans, what is going to happen in the near future? For example, when a huge storm is coming, my dad’s horses will go into the barn and huddle around each other, so that when the wind whips and the rain drenches their back they will be warm and most importantly together. So can humans learn from animals? Will we learn from their excellent ways of survival? What about the animals that can detect cancer and harsh diseases? My questions are endless when it comes to this topic but I plan on trying my best to find the answer to each of my questions and in the end…learning somet