Thank you, and forgive my vagueness.  The question I am thinking about -- for which research in animal behavior is perhaps not even relevant -- is animal consciousness of death.  It seemed to me watching videos of runners (rather than fighters -- i had seen the water buffalo video) that at least  some herd animals  -- wildebeest, antelope -- were only briefly disturbed by the death of a herd member, and quickly calmed down when it was clear the predator was done for the day (so to speak).  This suggests that the herd individuals don't suppose that they could suffer the fate of the caught one, or that they might be next, or event that the death relates to them much at all once they are out of range.  I doubt -- as I said -- that these are exactly scentific questions, and likely have only speculative answers.  But thanks for taking the time to respond, and have read your paper wirh interst.

Thank you.  I'd appreciate the whale article if you come across it.  I also wonder if I might quote the passage from your letter about the elk mother. That animals mourn and grieve in the ways you describe is surely true; greylag geese whose mates are lost will apparently call and seek for long periods.  I think the point I am making is that animals can't conceive or fear death as such; that the death of others doesn't communicate to them the possibility of their own death. My (bad) memory of the herd animals calmly eating grass after the lion takes one of their number was an illustration of that, one that I think now was mistaken in more than one way.   But my (perhaps recondite) point I think holds.  (The essay I'm working on is for Harpers magazine.)

John Crowley

Well, your insights and links are changing my perspective -- I will let you know how I do.  Thanks.

Don't let it deflect you from anything at all important.

Hi again -- This is how I credit you on the quote about the elks that I use: "Cora Anne Romanow, a University of Winnipeg biologist researching animal expressivity,"  Is that okay?  (The article -- which covers a lot of ground -- will appear in the July issue of Harper's Magazine.)