I lived and worked in Yellowstone for 6 months and no one could convince me the wildlife can’t tell the difference between an employee and tourist or as we affectionately referred to as “tour-ons” by the time the park closes. Yellowstone is 3500 square miles in surface area which includes Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. At one point I worked 5 miles from the north entrance, which is a high traffic area both foot and car traffic. The dormitory complex I was in was shaped like the letter “U”, there was no reason for anyone but employees and park rangers to be in the middle. With the size of the park it was easy for wildlife to steer completely clear of any humans indefinitely but there was a trusting element I can’t describe. In one week there were 4-6 elk (usually very skiddish animals) who gave birth in the middle of the “U”. In the picture you can see the start of a cement wall, that birth took place so close to the dormitory if you had longer arms you could have touched the mother out your window. They knew their babies were safe with us.

Bison are the same way and they will roam in herds but they are also solitary animals. Bison are also surprisingly fast and can charge at 35mph. If you are ever close and you see their tail go up, you are fucked if you are too close. I could have taken this pic without editing and in all honesty the reason I didn’t (even though I was almost 40 at the time) was not wanting to scare my mom who was a park ranger years ago and knows the danger. I took this 90 minutes after I came way to close but the bison was still chillin in the same spot.

I was walking to the gym, the grass was high, as you can see plenty of vision obstructing trees. As soon as I saw this fella it turned to look at me, I slowed up to a casual stop (abruptly turning and running means the chase is on). The two of us just looked bored at each other, the bison went quickly back to sleeping. A ranger pulled up next to me and asked if I was okay because I wasn’t making a mad dash. I showed him my ID told him I was fine, just walking to the gym. He asked me if I needed a ride and I told him no, I’d just take the long way.

At the end of the season the animals get really tired of tourists, A couple years ago there was a bull elk on the outside of the “U “ shape I described earlier who was nicknamed “Touchdown”, it rammed and damaged 16 cars in one day. Towards the end the bison start a migration and there were times I’d have to call in late to work because a herd was blocking my dorm exit, even the fox stop caring and hung out in visible distance of the dorms.

I don’t know if anyone here covered the protest in South Dakota over the illegal takeover of indigenous land for an oil pipeline but if you did, you might recall at one point there were thousands of bison on their migratory path who showed up. For someone who has witnessed first hand the behavior of these majestic beings I knew they were there in solidarity, there is no way anyone could convince me otherwise.

I’m far from being a “bison whisperer” but I know how to stay safe and I understand their behavior enough to know they understand my intent and respect. When you stop and think of all the things in the air we cannot see with the naked eye like microwaves or radio waves, after working 20 years in ophthalmic care and research I know human sight is incredibly inferior to many critters large and small. There is a whole lot there we cannot see.

When as atheists we take a moment to address what faith is, it’s by definition an belief of things unseen. I’m a practicing Buddhist and faith is always a difficult to explain phenomenon and concept which becomes clearer over time. My understanding of the world around me is still very much in its infancy but far greater than it was the first time I sat in a mediatory pose. What I do know is that the experience I had for those 6 months changed me forever and put hooks in I hope never let go.

Nah.

Because cats are from hell; dogs are from heaven.

I could tell you some stories from my days as a Honky Tonk Man but it might raise the ire of some of our agnosticators. So I'll just skip to the climax of the stories. I took a course in non-verbal communications and was surprised to learn some of what we pick up subconsciously and react to that we are not consciously aware of. That informed me of how I knew things that I didn't understand how I could have known them.

Heightened senses, but not beyond the senses. Some even have sonar, magnetic field and possibly other senses we don't, but they are still senses, not psychic powers.

This is a question easily answered with just a tiny amount of thought. The human brain is a prodigious consumer of energy because of all the things it has to do. Much of it is used in maintaining bodily functions that are otherwise not autonomous.

The brain consumes energy at 10 times the rate of the rest of the body per gram of tissue. The average power consumption of a typical adult is 100 Watts and the brain consumes 20% of this, making the power of the brain 20 W. That sounds like a lot, but these figures are for a 24 hour period, so the actual power requirement is minuscule when compared to even a small handheld calculator. What all that energy is used for is important in considering this question.

[scientificamerican.com]

The pittance left over from normal function is vanishingly small and with the lack of an efficient antenna it is obvious that it would not be much of a transmitter and an even less functional receiver of EMF. What that means is that for ESP to be possible, it would have to rely on something supernatural -- magic again.

In one of my novels I got around the magic problem for close range transmission/reception of thought patterns by introducing nanobots into the human system, but the limitations were substantial because of still quite low power output and incredibly high frequency.

ESP falls right in there with the efficacy of prayer and talking snakes.

This is your psyche talking to you. It's saying "Be observant".

If you take the time and watch your animals you'll see some amazing behaviors. Do animals have ESP? I believe they understand when we need their comfort-when we are ill. How many hospitals have started allowing people's pets and therapy dog and cat programs?

I think predator's and prey are able to get signals from their environment. Ones that other people may miss.

of course there is as they have no language like us but still manage complex interactions with each other and us.