archiemcphee:

Animals can’t talk, but they can communicate - which means they can be just as deceitful and rude as we are. Some animals have alarm calls to warn of predators that can even indicate if the danger comes by land or by air. And one bird, the drongo, has learned a second language: it can warn other species using their own calls. Helpful, right? Sure, until it calls when there’s no danger - the birds scatter in panic and the drongo can swoop in to steal their food. And scientists were impressed to discover that a troop of mandrills at a zoo in England had invented their own new gesture with a special meaning. What are the monkeys saying with this amazing sign language? It’s “Go away and leave me alone!”

[via dailymail]

- Linda Lombardi, author of the excellent and hilarious book Animals Behaving Badly: Boozing Bees, Cheating Chimps, Dogs with Guns, and Other Beastly True Tales.