neurologist at the University of Pittsburgh who specializes in autism, was coming out with her new work on autistic peopleâs cognitive processing around the same time, and she confirmed my new insight into animals and detail. Her brain scans showed that autistic people are much more focused on details than on whole objects. Since Iâd noticed so many similarities between animals and autistic people in my career, the fact that Nancy Minshew was finding a connection between autism and an orientation to detail gave me another reason to think I was right about animals. 1
T INY D ETAILS T HAT S CARE F ARM A NIMALS
Hereâs the checklist I give plant owners when their cattle or hogs are refusing to walk through an alley or a chute:
1. S PARKLING R EFLECTIONS ON P UDDLES
I figured this out at a plant where the pigs were constantly backing up in the alley, so the employees were using electric prods to keepthem moving forward. The plant was failing its animal welfare audit, because workers were supposed to be using the prods on no more than 25 percent of the pigs, and they were using them on every single animal. Normally a pig has no problem walking through a chute, but in this plant every single pig was stopping and backing up.
I got down on my hands and knees and went through the chute the same way the pigs did. The managers probably thought I looked crazy, but thatâs the only way you can do it. You have to get to the same level as the animals, and look at things from the same angle of vision.
Sure enough, as soon as I got down on all fours I could see that there were lots of tiny, bright reflections glancing off the wet floor. Plant floors are always wet, because theyâre always being hosed down to keep them clean. Nobody could have seen those reflections even if they did know what to look for, because the humansâ eyes werenât on the same level as the pigsâ.
Once we knew what the problem was I got back down on my hands and knees again, and while I was pretending I was a pig the employees moved the big hanging lights overhead with a stick until each little reflection was gone. And that was that. Once the reflections were gone the pigs walked right up the chute, and the plant passed its audit.
2. R EFLECTIONS ON S MOOTH M ETAL
I first saw this with cattle walking up a single-file chute that was made of shiny stainless steel. Every time the sides jiggled the shiny reflections from the lights would vibrate and oscillate, and the cattle would stop. In that plant all we had to do was move the lights, but in another plant with the same problem, we had to bolt the sides down so they couldnât move at all.
A still reflection is always less of a problem for an animal than a moving one, although any bright reflecting surface can scare an animal. A lot of times we have to move the lights and bolt down the metal sides. A number of things can cause reflections to move: machine vibrations, or cattle banging up against the metal, or water running off a ramp into the water thatâs already on the floor, making the reflections on the surface jump and move like a sparkling brook.
3. C HAINS T HAT J IGGLE
I learned about jiggling chains in a big beef plant in Colorado that had a chain hanging down at the entrance of the chute. The chain was part of a gate latch, and it wasnât very long; maybe only one foot, and swinging back and forth three inches each way. But that was enough. The cattle would come around a curve, take one look at that chain, then stop and stare at it with their heads swinging back and forth in rhythm with the chain. Youâd think that would be obvious to the employees, but it wasnât. The humans just didnât see it, even though the cowsâ heads were going back and forth in rhythm to the swinging of the chain. Iâm not sure the employees even noticed that the cowsâ heads were moving; forget the chain. The employees were just using more force, zapping
T INY D ETAILS T HAT S CARE F ARM A NIMALS
Hereâs the checklist I give plant owners when their cattle or hogs are refusing to walk through an alley or a chute:
1. S PARKLING R EFLECTIONS ON P UDDLES
I figured this out at a plant where the pigs were constantly backing up in the alley, so the employees were using electric prods to keepthem moving forward. The plant was failing its animal welfare audit, because workers were supposed to be using the prods on no more than 25 percent of the pigs, and they were using them on every single animal. Normally a pig has no problem walking through a chute, but in this plant every single pig was stopping and backing up.
I got down on my hands and knees and went through the chute the same way the pigs did. The managers probably thought I looked crazy, but thatâs the only way you can do it. You have to get to the same level as the animals, and look at things from the same angle of vision.
Sure enough, as soon as I got down on all fours I could see that there were lots of tiny, bright reflections glancing off the wet floor. Plant floors are always wet, because theyâre always being hosed down to keep them clean. Nobody could have seen those reflections even if they did know what to look for, because the humansâ eyes werenât on the same level as the pigsâ.
Once we knew what the problem was I got back down on my hands and knees again, and while I was pretending I was a pig the employees moved the big hanging lights overhead with a stick until each little reflection was gone. And that was that. Once the reflections were gone the pigs walked right up the chute, and the plant passed its audit.
2. R EFLECTIONS ON S MOOTH M ETAL
I first saw this with cattle walking up a single-file chute that was made of shiny stainless steel. Every time the sides jiggled the shiny reflections from the lights would vibrate and oscillate, and the cattle would stop. In that plant all we had to do was move the lights, but in another plant with the same problem, we had to bolt the sides down so they couldnât move at all.
A still reflection is always less of a problem for an animal than a moving one, although any bright reflecting surface can scare an animal. A lot of times we have to move the lights and bolt down the metal sides. A number of things can cause reflections to move: machine vibrations, or cattle banging up against the metal, or water running off a ramp into the water thatâs already on the floor, making the reflections on the surface jump and move like a sparkling brook.
3. C HAINS T HAT J IGGLE
I learned about jiggling chains in a big beef plant in Colorado that had a chain hanging down at the entrance of the chute. The chain was part of a gate latch, and it wasnât very long; maybe only one foot, and swinging back and forth three inches each way. But that was enough. The cattle would come around a curve, take one look at that chain, then stop and stare at it with their heads swinging back and forth in rhythm with the chain. Youâd think that would be obvious to the employees, but it wasnât. The humans just didnât see it, even though the cowsâ heads were going back and forth in rhythm to the swinging of the chain. Iâm not sure the employees even noticed that the cowsâ heads were moving; forget the chain. The employees were just using more force, zapping
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