Cuties

You have to admit that we all go 'ga-ga' over animals no matter what the species. I had several e-mails this week with delightful animal stories from tiny kittens in tea cups to puppies chasing their tails, giving me an excuse to laugh out loud. Then yesterday the e mails were of the animals shown in the photographs. Sheena is a Santaro leopard and lives at an animal shelter in Hertfordshire, England. A young student was assigned a photo project and as he was photographing the leopard a tiny mouse appeared, out of no where, after the keepers dropped lunch for the leopard. The leopard sniffed the mouse, even battered him a bit but the mouse ignored him completely and went on to enjoy his lunch. I would have thought the ending would be that the leopard devoured the mouse but he must have felt generous in sharing his food, or he knew the mouse couldn't possibly eat all of that meat. The article went on to say the student most likely got an "A".

Rupert is a brand new baby. Its mother was killed by a car and could not be saved, the good people of Buckinghamshire, England brought the injured pregnant deer to the animal shelter where the veterinarian performed a cesarean section and saved Rupert who weighed in at one pound and is six inches long. He is being treated like royalty and enjoying all of the attention. It is the hope of the folks at the animal shelter that he will make it. From the write up it sounds like it is difficult to keep such a tiny deer alive. I hope he makes it . . . what a cutie.

All of the stories have been about English animals and I am sure we have plenty to tell right here at home. Daughter Patricia is a dog lover and a friend , away on a visit, has come across a puppy he believes she cannot live without, so we are all anticipating a tiny new blond puppy who we hope will be as soft and as wonderful as Jasmine a dog she brought up as a tiny pup with huge paws and soft brown eyes that everyone in our family came to love . . . a golden retriever. So as 'grandma' I can enjoy the visits and let Pat do all that walking and taking care of retrieving the 'poop' from her yard.

I think we loved Buzz as much. Buzz was a small Jack Russell terrier and he fit his breed to a 't' when he put on his working jacket of bright orange and paraded around like he owned the world, he was as good as gold. He was trained to help the deaf and he did a great job. Of course being a terrier he was a 'terror' and spent a lot of his time trying very hard to get out of the yard. He knew just where the fence showed signs of weakness and he would stroll casually toward that area and dig. "Freedom!" I think the neighbors knew Buzz as well as we did and many a time he was brought back, dirt on his snout, looking sad to be caught, but happy to be back home. He never did get over his romance with wandering the neighborhood until it was his time and he left for bigger and better 'diggins'.

We miss the little chocolate lab that was in our midst for a very short time. I am not sure what was wrong with it, but it had a very strong will and needed a very strong hand to train her. She was a biter and ill tempered, not the usual puppy . . . something was not right so she was returned to the shelter along with her new bed and toys and hopefully someone has found a way to train her but I honestly doubt she will have along life, something is not right.

So I've had my day with animals to train and to love. I am happy to love Pat's dogs and I talk to a neighborhood cat or two. There is a white cat that thinks she owns my porch and loves my back yard. I consult with her on occasion but she goes her way and I go mine and we are happy with that. So my animal days for caring and walking are over and I can pet the neighborhood animals as they visit and wait for a greeting. Me, I'd rather curl up with a good book . . . I don't have to take it out and clean up after it.

So enjoy your pets and love them. I know how much joy they bring to our lives, and that is a two way street. Make today a good one, rain or shine. Count your blessings.