Is Your Pet Psychic?

"Do you think your pet has a sixth sense?" The Guardian wants to know, devoting a whole open-thread post to the subject. The Wire, meanwhile, hesitates to categorize this as a "good question," but simply can't resist the brazen wackiness of it.

The question arises from an examination of the phenomenon of "Paul, the Psychic Octopus," an animal living at an aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, who has correctly predicted the result of all German games in the World Cup. The Guardian notes that "the phenomenon of apparently psychic animals is not a new one. Many people, including the owner of a parakeet named Mani, are convinced their pets hold the powers of an oracle." Other people believe their pets instinctively understand their emotions. That's when the Guardian opens it up to the readers, one of whom snickers that he once had a hamster who predicted this kind of nonsense would eventually turn up.