"I talk to animals all the time" says columnist. Do you talk with nonhumans?

….I talk to animals all the time. Once upon a time I was out in the pre-dawn darkness wiping dew off my car window so I could drive to work "... when I felt a bump on my right ankle.  I looked down to see a big, fat striped skunk sniffing my leg. "Hey, Stinky, please don't do that," I said softly.  The skunk looked up, turned around and waddled off into the darkness.

–Gary Bogue, Contra Costa Times
http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_14134186