I often hear people say I wish we could return to the good old days when times were much simpler. However in remembering the past, we often choose to remember the good times and forget the bad times.

Our memories are treasure chests, in which most of us have packed good memories. As we reach our golden years, we depend on this memory chest to look back on our lives.

We humans are aware that memories are an important part of our lives. Forgetfulness can be dangerous to your health especially if you forget your wedding anniversary.

Memory is also invaluable to wildlife. Studies have shown that the robins and wrens that are returning to our backyards this spring are the same birds that were raised in the area the previous year. Biologists have many theories as to how some birds show a remarkable memory in returning to the same area year after year

Some birds, such as the white-breasted nuthatch or titmoue, will carry seeds from a bird feeder to store in bark crevices, under leaves and in the soft ground. In one study done, a white-breasted nuthatch carried away 38 pieces of suet in an hour.

The suet, which was pushed into bark crevices, was later discovered and eaten by a brown creeper, chickadee and nuthatches. Blue jays take acorns, sunflower seeds, peanuts and other foods from bird feeders to store for later use

The question is how do these birds find these stored foods?

Woodpeckers, nuthatches, titmice, shrikes and members of the crow family all store food for later use. Their larders contain insects, mice, small birds and other foods, which they hang on thorns, crotches of trees, bushes or on the barb of fences.

Perhaps up to eight months later, these birds will return to feed on the stored food. This storing of uneaten prey is also a well-known habit of the kestrel, goshawk, peregrine falcon and several owls.

Hikers and others that venture into the wilderness use a GPS. This Global Positioning System uses satellites to locate their position as an aid to prevent getting lost. This positioning location is nothing new to wildlife.

It is said that homing pigeons remember their homes, even after several years of absence. Some birds remember landmarks and nesting territories when migrating.

In a memory experiment with animals, sheep are good at remembering faces. Some sheep were able to recognize and remember faces of up to 50 sheep and 10 humans for two years.

Cats have better memories than dogs. Tests conducted by the University of Michigan concluded that a cat’s memory lasts as long as 16 hours, exceeding that of monkeys and orangutans.

In one study, it was learned that fur seal mothers and children remember each other’s calls long after they have been separated. Though unusual for mammals, seals recognize and respond to each other’s voices for as long as four years after going separate ways.

A new study found that dolphins have the longest memory in the animal kingdom, however elephants and chimpanzees have not yet been tested.

During my career I have live-trapped many nuisance bear and after being released, some would leave the area and not cause future problems.

However, there would always be a bear that would stay in the area and continue causing problems. Although some previously trapper bears would not go near live traps again, others would readily go into traps.

This proved that bears do have memories, however you could dsay that some are smarter than the average bear.

Bees can remember the location of flowers and communicate this location to other bees in the hive; the mockingbird learns the songs of other species, and all animals learn to avoid noxious foods. However it has been proven that the gray squirrel uses smell rather than memory to find the buried nuts.

Humans have the largest brain in the world, with these two exceptions: the elephant and the whale. However, their brains are not as large in proportion to their bodies as human brains. The average human brain weighs approximately three pounds, with the male brain weighing a few ounces more than a female’s. The size of the brain has no direct bearing on intelligence.

For example, the opossum has one of the smallest brains in comparison to its body. Most of the time we think the opossum is not a very smart animal, however, it is a survivalist, being around since the time of the dinosaurs.

The woodcock’s brain is unique among birds. Its cerebellum, which controls muscle coordination and body balance, is in a ventral position, below the lowest part of the brain and above the spinal column. In most birds, the cerebellum occupies the rear of the skull. The woodcock has an upside-down brain.

Most hunters have stories to tell about being outsmarted by deer, bear, turkey and more, which back up the theory that animals do have memories.

The more we study wildlife and nature, the more we realize that we really don’t know a lot about the fish, birds and animals that share this planet with us.

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.