I thought about this thread this week. What I observed is that animals are, hmm, somehow more emotional with each other and in their relationship to humans. But don't rule out that this might be entirely my imagination.
I live in a rural area with a lot of cows around, that usually just stand there in the field. Sometimes one can observe some mating, too, the "animal way". :P But a couple of days ago I saw this bull and a cow that stood together and touched each others faces in a very affectionate way.
Dogs seem to "understand" more, too ... and birds do come up when one sits outside and look at you ... Coupled with all these videos, maybe something is going on ...
M.T.