O, btw, I grew up in the country. Spent several years on the sheep farm. Interestingly, the herd dogs use the same “signal” mechanism to move sheep. Rather than run around and bark, they get in “predator” pose and the sheep move accordingly.
Interesting to watch low-power energy, i.e. “signals”, accomplish work.
Sorry for not citing my fox/rabbit scenario; I am the author in question… I was basing my tale on observations made by some European ethologist/semiotician. The signals given by animals as they navigate the “umwelt”. I read Uexkull, Kalevi Kull, Jesper Hoffmeyer, and Thomas Sebeok, among others.
Somewhere was the description in question. The author said that he had something like 10,000 hours of observation.
Sorry for not citing my sources. I’ll try to be more precise in note-taking.
But it was a thrill that someone read my website!
Eb
Yes, border collies. The good border collies complete the work loop (move sheep) with minimal expenditure of energy. One would merely raise an eyebrow and the sheep got the message, and moved. Very impressive.