This morning while feeding peanuts to a squirrel, one of my neighbors returned with his dog. The dog is very old and walks slowly. He does not bark, and seems harmless, even though he is a fairly large dog. I was sitting on steps leading to the entrance to my apartment building. The dog was obviously heading for the entrance.

The squirrel had just finished eating a peanut and was about to come to me for another when the dog starting approaching. It seemed to me that the squirrel spent 5-10 seconds considering the situation. He looked at me; He looked at the dog approaching; He looked at me again, then at the dog again. Finally he ran up a nearby tree, returning for a peanut when the dog went into the apartment building. On other occasions, a younger, more active dog has scared off a squirrel that I was feeding. On those occasions, the squirrel seemed to act instintively, without suggesting any mental activity.

This morning the squirrel really seemed to be trying to estimate his chances of getting a peanut and getting away before the dog got to where I was sitting. I used to think that squirrels acted almost completely on instinct and had minimal thought processes. Now, I have upped my estimate of their mental capacity. It has made me wonder if they are conscious as well as intelligent?

I believe that humans other than myself are conscious. I do not think you can prove this, although some convincing arguments can be made. I also believe that the smarter monkeys, chimps, et cetera are conscious, and maybe dogs, cats, and a few other animals are conscious. I never really thought that lower level animals were conscious. Now, I wonder.

Do any of you have opinions on what animals have consciousness? Certainly not insects? Or do some of you think otherwise? After all, bees and ants have rudimentary civilizations (division of labor, cooperation in building their home, cooperation in finding food, some communication skills, et cetera).

Now that I have been thinking about it, what about a human fetus? Is it aware of itself?