(Mental Floss) -- There's no need to page Doctor Doolittle for this case. Here are the amazing, true stories of four animals that could speak for themselves. 1. Hoover the Seal In 1971, George and Alice Swallow found a baby seal just off the coast of Maine. The little guy appeared to be orphaned, so they took him home and kept him in their bathtub. For the first few days, they tried to feed him ground mackerel, but he refused to eat. Once he trusted his new parents, though, he began eating so voraciously they compared him to a Hoover vacuum cleaner and the name stuck.
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Chimp raised by humans learns sign language; signs "hurt' after left at nature preserve
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Hoover the seal tells aquarium visitors, "Get outta here!" or asks "How are ya?"
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Blackie the cat taught to say, "I love you" and "I want my mama"
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Alex the parrot competes with kids on object recognition, colors, and shapes
If @placeholder felt his rights were being violated, as a talking cat, he should have been the one to say something.
For example, hold up a blue block of wood and @placeholder could tell you the shape, the color, and even what it was made of.