Here's a question for you: Do animals lie?

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Mark Twain once said man is the only animal that blushes or needs to. But animals can still do some pretty shameful things, as NPR's Barry Gordemer discovered.

BARRY GORDEMER, BYLINE: Meet Baxter, my Norwich terrier.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING AND WHINING)

GORDEMER: Recently, I let him outside to do his business, but he refused. I stomped my feet and pointed to the bushes. Baxter walked over and lifted his leg for exactly one second. Then he trotted back like he'd done something special, but he hadn't. Then it hit me - my dog had lied to me.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG WHINING)

BARBARA KING: Oh, my. How clever Baxter was.

GORDEMER: That's Barbara King, professor emeritus of anthropology at William & Mary. She's written about critter con artists.

KING: My favorite example in the entire animal kingdom comes from cuttlefish.

GORDEMER: Cuttlefish are relatives of the octopus. The males have a sneaky trick - disguised as females, they distract other males so they can flirt with the ladies.

KING: He flashes colorful courtship signals.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BOM CHICKA WAH WAH")

THE BOM CHICKA WAH WAHS: (Singing) Bom chicka wah-wah.

GORDEMER: Other sly critters include birds, who squawk when a predator is near, but sometimes they lie.

KING: They'll make an alarm call as if there's a predator around, and everybody around gets freaked.

GORDEMER: Then the birds swoop in and steal their food. So the next time an animal gives you that sweet, innocent look, be suspicious - very suspicious.

Barry Gordemer, NPR News...

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING AND WHINING)

KING: ...Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUSPICIOUS MINDS")

ELVIS PRESLEY: (Singing) We can't go on together with suspicious... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.