Animal Autonomy Is Becoming More Academically Accepted

I feel like there's a new groundswell of acknowledgement regarding animal sentience and intelligence happening lately in the academic arena, and I'm digging it.  Here's Dr. Frans B.M. de Waal discussing his perspective in "What I Learned From Tickling Apes," published in The New York Times.

Puffin Painting #3 - Little Brother of the North

I finished the third puffin painting!  It's acrylic and watercolor on a 12x12" birch panel.  The title, Little Brother of the North, is a direct translation of the Latin name of the Atlantic puffin, Fratercula arctica.