Tag Animals

Animal Magnetism

Michael 7 Comments

For those wondering, Jingle seems to be adapting well to life as a tri-pawed. I could stop there but I also could get an entire post out of that thought. Let’s roll with it!

Animals adapt. That’s not an original thought. Animals adapt to their environment. We have not when we ought to have been.

Animals respond. Animals hear you. They may not always do what you want but they hear and they listen. We talk far too more often when we should be listening.

Animals love. It’s not unconditional as everyone would have you believe (try not feeding your pet this week and see how much they love you on Saturday), but it is constant.

Animals like. More important than loving each other, animals like even more. Treat an animal kindly and it will respond in kind. And in kindness.

Animals are honest. They always tell you exactly how they feel. You don’t hear a dog telling you the cat is dangerous while firmly clamping down on your hand with they teeth and jaws.

Animals think for themselves and got their own way. Enough said.

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No, They Aren’t People Too

Michael Leave a comment

“We love our pets too,” the sign began.  After that there were a half-dozen examples of how much the authors of the sign loved their and others’ pets.  It finished with, “so please understand us when we say, no pets allowed.”  It was, and presumably still is a fair warning.  That sign is sharing space with the doorway to a used construction emporium.  An indoor junkyard if you will.

All throughout the building are stacks of windows, doors slid into stands, boxes of hinges and door pulls and faucet handles, rows of bath tubs, racks of counter tops, mountains of marble slabs, and hangers of hanging lamps.  Everywhere there are things made of wood, metal, glass, and porcelain.  All covered in the same dust the previous owners left and many with rusty connectors, sharp corners, and other things that hurt.  And right over there picking his way through the used kitchen counter tops on his way to the door frames is a middle-aged man attached by a leash to a forbidden dog.

He had to have seen the sign.  You couldn’t get in without seeing it.  And a sign that large means that something once happened and there should be no chance of letting it happen again.  He had to have seen it.  But he probably said to himself as his breezed on by, that was meant for people with animals.  His dog is a people.  His buddy.  His pal.  He wasn’t going to leave his best friend in a car while he perused the once heat producing radiators.  And he certainly wasn’t going to leave his only friend at home while he enjoyed his day of exploration among the once water-filled toilets.  Nope, he didn’t get to be his age and survive all alone without the help of his furry friend.  He certainly wasn’t going to turn his back on him on his only day away from the office just because he couldn’t find the right color lavatory sink at the home remodeling center.

Both of We love animals.  Together we span over 100 pet years.  At some point our houses have been home to dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, fish, crabs, and for a very brief time even a snake although technically he was a runaway.  Our pets have always held that special place in our hearts and our homes that are special to our pets also.  They’ve shared our spaces and our affections.  Our pet affections.  And pet spaces.  They didn’t go on vacations with us, and they don’t go to work with us.  When we see a sign that says “no dogs allowed” we don’t take that to mean no regular, aka other people’s dogs allowed.

Pets are pets.  They aren’t surrogate children.  They aren’t surrogate spouses.  They aren’t the exception to the rule.  If a tower of ceramic tiles is going to fall and the “special” dog happens to be standing there when they do, they aren’t going to stop in midair and wait for “special” to make his way clear of the danger aisle.

We don’t feel sorry for the person who can’t manage long term human relationships and has to settle for the four legged variety.   We feel sorry for the four legged variety stuck with the human who thinks “living a dog’s life” is a bad thing.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?

 

Lions and Tigers and Bears. Oh, My

Michael Leave a comment

Everybody with a computer, TV, smartphone, or friend with one has heard about the bear rescued after falling from a tree in Colorado only to be hit and killed by two cars about 10 days later (hit by two, killed by one or the other).  A spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the bear was probably trying to return to its home ground not unlike another bear they attempted to relocate a couple years ago.

Between the bear rescue and bear loss there was another story.  A dolphin got trapped in a coastal area outside Laguna Beach after wandering in during high tide and not getting out before low tide. Or so they said.  Now, officials are saying that even at low tide the dolphin has enough vertical space to move back out into the ocean but likes it where he is.  Although there has been talk about moving the dolphin if he doesn’t move himself, everybody seems to be standing pat.  And a good thing or he might get hit by a couple of cars also.

Ok, we’re joking there.  But usually nothing good comes of trying to relocate animals, wild, tame, intelligent, or needing a little help.  There are all sorts of proponents of animal rights that do good things when trying to rescue abused puppies and tormented kittens that feel when wild animals intrude on somebody’s back yard that they should be put back where they came from.  The problem is that often, where they came from was right around that back yard. 

People keep wild animals as pets – snakes, alligators, and even lions and tigers and bears are caught or bought when young and seem to make great pets at 6 or 8 weeks old.  After a couple of years they start acting like and are recognized for the wildlife that they are.  Not wanting to explain to the wife who ate the entire contents of the refrigerator they are sent on their way.

Quite often, as more and more houses are built on land that used to be just rocks and hills, the animals that still live there are forced to share their former rural space with suburbia.  And they do.  They live out of garbage cans, dumpsters, and landfills.  Eventually one evening, one gets caught pilfering the cafeteria discards behind the dish room and scampers up a tree only to lose his usual surefootedness and fall into the waiting dart of a tranquiller gun.  A few quick trusses, a quick drive 50 or 60 miles away, the former semi-wildlife is in the real wild, and doesn’t like it.  So he tries to work his way back with less than, or perhaps more than smashing results.

So we’re offering this advice.  We heard similar from our parents and now pass it on.  If you should see a bear going through your garbage, he’s probably more scared of you than you are of him.  But just in case, leave him alone.  There’s plenty for everybody.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?