Eat or be eaten

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Off to New York and I can't wait to feed the birds and squirrels in Cetral Park... also to see the hawks that terrorizes all the smaller mammals living in the park. They can literally stop people in their tracks when the 'preying' drama unfolds. It's both fascinating and gruesome to watch. You can't but be fascinated by the hawks and their ability to create drama, but at the same time you feel so sad for the prey. 

Particularly in these pictures above, where it's a tiny baby squirrel that becomes the feast.

I continue to wonder about this cycle of nature. Is it simply a matter of 'eat or be eaten' and survival of the fittest?

Click on the pictures or go to Pale Male - the details are truly astonishing! At Pale Male you can also see more photos from this particular drama and you simply won't believe what this photographer is able to catch with his camera.

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Never be afraid to do what's right...

.Dolly - after her rescue and recovery back to health after severe mistreatment. Full story here

"Never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way."

Quote by Martin Luther King, Jr

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More awww....

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Aren't they the cutest couple of love muffins!!?

The gentlest of souls

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I have no idea who this man is, but I came across this photo at Pets of Homeless and it reminded me of a man I saw last winter...

My husband and I had just sat down in a café with a cup of coffee when we saw something truly moving unfold outside the window. A homeless man and his dog - the most precious little Jack-Russel terrier - came to a spot outside the window (on a busy shopping street) and began to 'arrange' his spot for selling magazines for the benefit of the homeless. It was really cold, so he had an old bag full of blankets and plastic sheets which he bagan to unfold. It was almost like watching a sacred ceremony. There was definetely an order to it and to top off the pile of blankets he laid a sleeping bag on top. And then what happened?? He gently lifted his little dog into the sleeping bag and began tucking the sleeping bag and blankets around him. The little dog then did his 'job' and sat there in the pile of blankets and looked SO adorable.

My husband went outside and had a little chat with the man and asked him the name of the dog and gave him a little donation for food for the dog. When my husband walked away the man bent down and tucked the money under the blanket underneath the dog.

After we'd finished our coffee I went up to the man and bought a magazine and to say hello to Max - the little dog! I have no idea of this mans destiny but he was the gentlest of souls and his kindness to his dog really left a mark in me.

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Pets of Homeless is a nonprofit volunteer organization that provides pet food and veterinarian care to the homeless and less fortunate in local communities across the United States and Canada.

A 1000 beautiful words

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For years I've been collecting pictures and little stories about animals that has inspired me or, where there was a plea of some kind of behalf of the animal that I swore that I would try and be the voice of.

A few years back I found this picture which for me spoke 'a 1000 beautiful words'. It's a Malaysian man whose home has been washed away by a catastrophic flood. And yet, he is happy because he managed to rescue his  two pets - a cat and duck. 

The wise man who has inspired me in my life was once asked (because he travelled a lot); "Don't you miss your home?" And he answered: "My home is where my values are, and I carry my values with me where ever I go."

Well, I somehow felt those words went so well with this picture.

OH MY GOD!!

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Yesterday I watched a program on Animal Planet about a woman wanting to overcome her fear. She was afraid of swimming with sharks (who can blame her??). 

The program showed how she swam amongst small sharks, and to begin with... fear-ridden. When she overcame that she swam with bigger sharks - still more fear-ridden but also overcame that. The ultimate task was to swim amongst tiger sharks. Have a look at this picture and see its size compared to the humans right in front of it. Gods knows what runs through your head when you voluntarily throw yourself into the sea knowing there's a tiger shark down there. Well, she did! Terrified to begin with but gradually began to overcome it. More tiger sharks appeared (amongst all the 'smaller' ones too), and when she realized that they were 'just' curious she began to overcome her fear. 

After that she went back to dive in with all the 'medium' sized sharks. It sounds peculiar... but it was really beautiful to behold. It was filmed a place where there's clear water and it was majestic to see them swimming together without the presence of fear. 

In brain science they say that you get the same reaction inside your own brain as that which you observe. Well, it was a real palpable experience. It was like you could feel the fear go away... although I did appreciate that it was her jumping in the water!!

Think...

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A friend of mine who lives in the countryside recently told me that their neighbours had taken in an orphaned baby deer. Some hunters had shot the mother deer.

You know... some day someone really must explain to me what possesses someone to deliberately snatch the life out of an animal. Think... the hunter comes along and rips the life out of the deer and wrecks a family. How dare he? What entitles him??

Like the Dalai Lama expressed - it's an at once disgusting and distressing act.

And to quote this passage from a few weeks ago:

In man's charge over the animal kingdom, it behooves man to protect and not abuse the animals (Gen. 1: 26-28).

An unseen cascade of colours

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Fascinating facts and insights from John Downers book

Supernatural - The Unseen Powers of Animals:

"The plumage of many birds sparkles with hidden ultraviolet signals. Even familiar birds such as starlings use UV as a lighting effect in their plumage and females choose males with the most alluring ultraviolet shimmer. More exotically, parrots, cassowaries and zebra finches all have ultraviolet plumage patterns. These signals are so important that, when a male bluethroat had an ultraviolet block applied experimentally to his plumage, he immediately lost his attractiveness to the opposite sex, even though the visible colours were unaffected. Older birds tend to reflect ultraviolet most, and these more experienced birds also have the most success in courtship."

"To enable them to detect UV, birds have an extra colour cone in their eye. In addition, they can see the same range of colours that we can and this must give them an incredibly enhanced impression of the world."

Wauw... imagine all that's in front of our very eyes but in a world unseen to us!

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A beautiful spectacle

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When I was about 6 years old I went camping with my family at a beautiful nature area. I remember there was this pen with a few horses where children could have a ride. 

One evening I stood on the other side of the fence watching the owner grooming the horses and putting them back into the stables one by one. When she was done with the last horse she asked me if I wanted a ride. Shyly I declined  - it wasn't at all what I was after. I can understand why she thought I might be wanting a ride, but I was just absolutely mesmerized by the horse and it's sheer size. I believe it would probably have been the first time I saw a horse and I remember how almighty it's presence felt.

I've never been a horse girl like many young girls but by God I love it's sheer power and magnificence. Today I love watching a wild galloping horse... I think it reminds me of the human spirit running free. It's a truly beautiful spectacle.

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A cheeky little chap

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Yesterday Gods Little People got a fine award over at Such Life In The Tropics. We're delighted and hereby celebrate it with one of the happier stories :-)

"This cheeky mouse put its life in the hands of a leopard. The rodent does not look emaciated, thus we must assume that it was oblivious to the danger of a leopard. The only narrative that makes sense is that an English mouse had no experience of an African leopard.

Actually the great cat is a leopardess who is called Sheena - a resident at the Santago Rare Leopard Project in Hertfordshire, England. At one stage Sheena attempted to nudge the mouse away with her nose, but the determined little chap carried on eating.

It was Casey Gutteridge who captured this amazing scene he said: "I have no idea where the mouse came from - he just appeared in the enclosure after the keeper had dropped in the meat for the leopard. He didn't take any notice of the leopard, just went straight over to the meat and started feeding himself. But the leopard was pretty surprised - she bent down and sniffed the mouse and flinched a bit like she was scared. In the meantime the mouse just carried on eating like nothing had happened."

"It was amazing, even the keeper who had thrown the meat into the enclosure was shocked - he said he'd never seen anything like it before."

Sheena has been in the Santago Rare Leopard zoo since she was just four months old. She is one of 14 big cats in the private collection started by Jackie's late husband Peter in 1989."

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A kind and safe home

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For each time I've visited Greece and come home without one of the countless homeless kittens, I personally believe I should be awarded a "Toughness Award". Overall they are faced with a life full of misery, disease and appalling treatment. Having once worked at a cat-shelter I did very soon realize that I couldn't personally save them all even though I would really love to. 

Do you know anyone who can and wants to home a Greek kitten? If so, write me an email. My companions at The Greek Cat Welfare Society are desperately looking for overseas homes for kittens. They come free of charge with a passport, microchip - and if they are old enough they will also be vaccinated.

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A happy heart

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A friend who knows I love chocolate once gave me a magnet which reads "Chocolate is proof God wants us to be happy". I believe you could put the word 'animals' instead of chocolate and it would be just the same.

Don't they just make your heart happy?!!

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Soul and spirit

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It was a wise man that once introduced me to the term 'Gods little people'. He referred to humans as Gods big people and animals and plants as Gods little people. He went on to teach something truly beautiful about how to think about human dealings with animals. He explained that humans have both a soul and a spirit but animals only have a soul - and that it is only through a spirit one can connect to God. Animals therefore, only having a soul, can only feel and experience God through humans. This understanding made the whole difference for me. I've always abhorred animal cruelty, but now it's with a profound understanding. Can you possibly imagine what it must be like for an animal only feeling and experiencing God through humans... and then imagine humans being cruel to them??? This means that their experience of God will be a cruel one. Well, it's not just what we consider a direct act of cruelty - think about animals being bred into a life of exploitation for its fur, caged chickens or animals testing. 

Whether you're religious or not, spiritual, philosophical, theosophical or something else... most humans can relate to the concept of there being a greater intelligence - and imagine if our experience of that was that it was cruel to us. How unthinkable. How painful. How excruciating would existence be? I found these quotes which seem to point to the same: 

"Men and animals alike possess a soul in the sense of breath (nephesh/soul). However, in the sense of possessing a part or element that lives forever, as man possesses, animals do not possess an eternal spirit (cp. Matt. 25: 46). The animal simply and totally returns to the dust, the spirit of man continues to exist (Eccl. 3: 21, cp. 12: 7)."

"The fact that animals do not possess an eternal soul in the sense that man does, does not de-emphasize their value as companions to man. Pets can and do become an important part in the lives of millions. Also, in man's charge over the animal kingdom, it behooves man to protect and not abuse the animals (Gen. 1: 26-28)."

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