Animals Have It!

I’m a HUGE animal person in general. It seems lately that I have had so many encounters w/ all types of animals. I’m not sure why this is, but sometimes the universe plays a funny role w/ us. I have really been missing my two boys lately (my Australian Shepherd dogs). As you know, I lost my 12yr old dog last March and my other dog in December at 11.5yrs. I miss them each and every day and I always will. They were family to me, so it is nothing short of losing a person near to me. Anyway, I have been thinking about them a lot lately and enjoying the amazing memories we shared during the best 12 yrs of my life. We went everywhere together–the beach, lake, hiking, jogging, they even went to my real estate appointments w/ me. In missing them, I have had the pleasure of so many other encounters w/ animals.

My in-laws have a fun, loving, full of energy dog that I get to walk and hang out with and you know about the woodpecker that they adopted. They still have “Woody” and he is doing really well, but I don’t know if he will ever be able to live on his own. Any suggestions, send them to me. He seems to be able to walk and can fly short distances, but not well enough to get away from danger. So, they buy him mealworms, but he also enjoys blueberries, banana, earwigs. He has a cage, but during the days (while someone is home) he stays out on his own. This gives him the opportunity to peck at the trees, he climbs a few feet up them and gets to hang out w/ other birds.

At our house we have a family of 6 raccoons that come around. They aren’t friendly w/ us (thank goodness), but they know we are there and that we won’t mess w/ them. They drink out of our bird bath, catch worms in our yard and practice their climbing. We watch them almost every night. They have a pattern and it is the same every night. It is so fun to sit back and watch. Here’s 2 of them drinking in our back yard. The other pic is hard to see, but it is a mother and baby skunk. Yes, they live under our shed (or the neighbor’s shed). It is a  family of about 5 skunks. Crazy feeling the other night when we were out watching the raccoons and nearly 2ft away was a mother skunk and her babies. She saw us. We sat über still and didn’t move. She stared, gathered the babies and kept going through the yard. Phew! We were so nervous she was going to spray. Not only bad for us, but all of our new, expensive patio furniture. They have made a few more appearances as well.

This brings me to how smart animals are. Animals just have it!!! I read today that they have dogs in the navy seal program, in fact, Cairo is the only known navy seal who took down Bin Laden. They use dogs for sniffing out drugs, cancer, guide dogs, they help people w/ seizures and the list goes on. Animals in general know the weather, how to take care of young, how to work together to prevent danger. Have you ever seen all the little birds bond together to scare off a hawk? Amazing, humans could learn a thing or two. Take some time and read about how the snakes, elephants, monkeys, etc were acting before the Tsunami. They were running away, climbing trees. Dolphins even helped guide a boat further out to keep them out of the way of the wave. Kind? I don’t know how animals think, but they are lifesavers. They are best friends. Companions and just plain smart. I feel animals have a step up on us. Of course there are things that we can do that animals never could and feelings that they would never understand, but just think sometime. They don’t have hands, toes. Watch how observant, knowing, gentle, protective they are. They can tell you the weather better than any meteorologist. I just love animals, find them amazing and learn from them every day.

I feel so lucky to have the connection w/ animals that I do. I have trained dogs since I was 6 yrs old. My family did a great job teaching me respect and kindness towards all animals. They trained dogs as well. I feel that we have to be a voice for all creatures and help them. They do a lot for themselves, but sometimes they need us. Please don’t ever let any abuse occur to any creature, but do sit back and enjoy them. Let them be, live and just observe. What you see might surprise you. It might even change a few things about yourself. I strive to be the person my dog thinks I am. Done! That said, you will lead a better life.

 

“Make It A Great Day–Go Inspire!”