 |
| |
|
|
Though scientists may continue to be baffled by the question
of animal intelligence and consciousness, no one who spends much
time around animals seems to have any doubts on the subject. How
could they when their companions continue to demonstrate their
ability to manipulate and outwit us, trick us and trust us, entertain
and amaze us?
Journalist Eugene Linden's intriguing and thought-provoking book reveals the range of animal emotions and intellect through hundreds of anecdotes, scientific research, and first-hand experience of dozens of professionals who work with animals every day. Certainly one of the most amazing is the story depicted on the book cover, of Harriet the leopard and conservationist Billy Arjan Singh. Singh took Harriet in when she was an orphaned cub and returned her to the forest preserve just across the river from his compound when she had matured.
Harriet adapted successfully to the wild and soon gave birth
to two cubs of her own. Everything went well until floods came,
threatening Harriet's den. In need of a safe place for her cubs,
she remembered Singh's compound on high ground and carried her
two cubs, one by one in her mouth, to the safety of Singh's kitchen.
Once the floods receded, she began moving the kids back home but
found the flooded river current was dangerously strong. After
returning for the second cub, Harriet stepped into Singh's boat,
in which she had ridden many times as a cub, and waited patiently
for Singh to step in and ferry her and her cub across the treacherous
waters.
The intelligence of parrots is particularly hard to ignore
since they are capable of human speech. Researchers have found
that parrots are able to identify a variety of objects, count
items up to about nine, and communicate effectively . . . when
they want to. One African grey parrot named Jimbo loved to visit
his owner's parents who she identified as Poppa and Peekaboo.
Whenever her owners started to get ready to go to their parents'
Jimbo would call out "Can we go to Poppa's and Peekaboo's
for dinner, okay? Come on!"
One day while looking out the window Jimbo spotted a roadrunner
and called out "Momma, look! A bird!", then turning
to the bird, she said "Hi, bird. Are you hungry? Do you want
to go to Poppa and Peekaboo's for dinner?"
Sally Blanchard, a parrot behavioral specialist, tells of her
African Grey parrot, Bongo Marie, who had a strong dislike for
her Amazon parrot, Paco. One day when Sally was cooking a Cornish
hen, Bongo Marie watched the cooked bird come out of the oven
and cried out in mock alarm, "Oh no! Paco!" After Sally
reassured her that Paco was still alive and well just around the
corner, Bongo Marie responded with a very disappointed "Oh
no" followed by a fit of maniacal laughter.
The Parrot's Lament is filled with stories of animal humor,
treachery, heroism and compassion, and inventiveness. Several
chapters are devoted to primate intelligence, communication abilities,
engineering and tool making skills, and deception, from the frequent
and famous zoo escapes by gorillas and orangutans from seemingly
escape-proof facilities to the ability of orangutans and chimps
to think through a complex engineering problem, determine the
tools that will be required to solve it, and find the right materials
in their environment to make the tools they need.
Careful not to draw unwarranted conclusions or anthropomorphicize
about what animal behavior means, Linden concludes that
When we deal with captive animals and when we encounter them in the wild, we can see [intelligence] peeking out in a flash of brilliance here and there as animals draw on abilities that help them secure food and prosper within their communities . . . . Every so often, they do something extraordinary, and we gain some insight into where some of our abilities might have originated. Perhaps more important, we can then understand how it might be fun to be an orangutan or a parrot. They and many other creatures enjoy a life rich in emotions and physical prowess but still are gifted with the ability to appreciate life from a distance. . . .
|
White's classic children's book is the story of accepting and
loving others for their differences, of growing up and leaving
home for the first time, and ultimately of discovering oneself.
Available in hardback, paperback, audiotape (narrated by Julie
Harris), and now film (see the CritiCats'
review and interview with "Snowbell").
Here are a few quotes from reader reviews at amazon.com:
Stuart Little's emotions and adventures he experiences in this
book are very similar to what children face every day; for example,
going to the dentist, first love, being homesick, and bullies.
One underlying theme I found within the book was accepting children
for their differences and not sheltering them from lifes' experiences.
[Amy Blondin from Nashville, TN].
When I first read this story as a young boy, it gave me my first taste of melancholy. This should be the first "profound" book that a child reads, for it leaves you feeling sad, but hopeful. [David from New York].
A dog's life in the city doesn't have to be a dog's life. With
a little planning and smart selection of human companions, the
cosmopolitan canine can become a consummate dog about town. Pat
Farley, a longtime city dog mom and animal welfare advocate, shows
how sharing your urban life with a dog can be an enriching experience
for both of you.
A Dog Breed Selection chart helps you find the right dog for
city life with information on size, temperament, special problems
of the breed, and other characteristics to consider in matching
dog and lifestyle. Personal pet selection tests help you define
your own temperament and match it with a compatible dog.
Dog About Town also offers helpful information on dealing with
all kinds of emergencies an urban dog might encounter, teaching
your new canine companion to be a good citizen of the city, finding
and using city support systems, traveling tips, finding good vet
care, and recognizing the psychological games dogs like to play.
A resource directory, disaster kit recommendations, and a lifetime shopping list are included, and a separate chapter covers activities, volunteer work, and competitions you and your dog can enjoy together.
1. Make Your Dog Invisible.
No, no magic is required here. Just a little basic training. On
elevators, teach your dog to move quietly to a rear corner and
sit either right beside you or behind your legs. To teach this,
simply take your dog to the chosen place and tell him to sit.
After a while, he'll do this automatically. This works everywhere
you take your dog regularly, not just elevators.
2. Have only one bathroom.
Meaning, the entire outdoors is not a bathroom. Never allow your
dog to relieve himself on street corners, in front of your building,
or in other high traffic areas, such as near the dumpster or driveway.
Try to train him to use the gutter. And always "scoop."
3. Keep Your Nose to Yourself
This is for the dog, not the person. Train your dog not to poke
his nose under skirts, into crotches, or into grocery bags. To
stop this, just cup your hand over his nose firmly, shake slightly,
and command NO SNIFF! After a while, the sniffing will stop.
4. Keep Your Dog To Yourself
This one's for the humans. Whenever you and your dog are walking
on a crowded sidewalk, pull your dog in tightly to your side and
hold him there by picking up the slack in his leash. Do the same
thing when you pass another dog on the street and visiting isn't
appropriate.
5. Don't Wear Out Your Welcome
Many drug stores and newspaper shops allow dogs. Don't turn these
dog-welcome places into dog-hating ones by trying to take your
dog inside during rush hour or other crowded times. Also, be aware
that it is illegal to bring dogs into establishments that sell
food. Stores can be shut down for this reason, if an inspector
catches someone inside with a pet. Don't make your dog be the
cause of that.
6. Keep The Noise Down
Depending on where you live, excessive barking can be just an
irritant or grounds for eviction. Urban life is not suited to
a mouthy dog-the best city dogs bark only for cause, like when
strangers come to the door. You can't change any dog's inherited
barking patterns, but you can control them. Don't allow any nuisance
barking, and stop any barking at once with a sharp "NO! No
Barking!"
7. Keep Things Under Control
Never, repeat, never let your dog off his leash, because there
can be no telling what will happen. Things may be fine, but the
more likely scenario is that the dog's chase instinct will kick
in. The dog will charge runners, bikers, rollerbladers, horses-anything
moving faster than at a walk. The target becomes the victim of
a bad fall, the dog takes off, and your left with a lawsuit and
a lost dog. Kind of takes the fun out of walks.
8. Anytime Is Not Playtime
In any crowded area, your dog shouldn't ever frolic with other
dogs. Not only could it be a nuisance, people may mistake the
playing dogs for fighting and either get scared and/or try to
separate the dogs. The makings of disaster. This also increases
the chances of you getting hurt, or the dog running off.
[Adapted from Dog About Town.]
Heart
Songs for Animal LoversPaw Prints Post is very proud to have helped provide some
of the stories featured in Hester Mundis' wonderful new book,
Heart Songs for Animal Lovers. This collection of true stories,
from the wild bird who helped nurse a sick little girl back to
health by singing to her every day to the dog who saved his archenemy--the
house cat--from a hot, spinning clothes-dryer, will convince even
the most stubborn skeptics that love is not an exclusively human
emotion.
|
|
It's not that Alice was a particularly remarkable cat. When
Phillip Schreibman rescued the scrawny stray trapped in a narrow
passageway between two garages, she certainly didn't look like
a hero, "about seven inches long, maybe six weeks old, a
tattered, ratty, striped tabby . . . . Everything was stacked
against her living another week."
|
|
But those odds couldn't stop Alice from grabbing life by the
throat and giving it a good shaking, because Alice was a fighter
- a mighty if pint-sized huntress filled with the feline life
force down to her paws.
That day Phillip saved the life of a seemingly helpless kitten,
but Alice returned the favor by saving Phillip's soul.
On the day he met Alice, Phillip was more lost than she, sinking
into a deepening depression ever since his parents' death - both
in slow, agonizing departures that had destroyed forever "the
man and woman I had known all my life . . . .[a] miracle of experiences,k
hopes, stories, thoughts, a way of smiling, a voice, vanished
in the smallest fraction of a second."
Their deaths had drained the meaning out of Phillip's life,
and for years he had been living in a kind of shadow world that
seemed like a cruel farce dancing over the abyss of inescapable
death.
But Alice, despite her dehydrated, malnourished, and physically
debilitated state, never lost sight of her purpose:
"She was a little powerhouse. She ran, played, climbed
trees, and explored the backyard as if nothing were wrong with
her. . . . nothing in her condition was going to stop her from
getting on with the job of becoming a cat."
Slowly, step by step, Alice showed Phillip the way back from
the brink of hopelessness, too. She took him on her daily wanderings,
showed him her special places, and taught him the joy of just
being alive in the world.
In the end, Alice's journey through life turned out to be a
brief one. Her early days as a stray had probably brought her
in contact with poisons that eventually destroyed her kidneys.
But in her seven short years, Alice had shown Phillip the way
back to his own life.
"Alice had shown me Creation. . . . Here was a place where
misery did not exist, nor ambition or the pursuit of happiness.
Only being existed there and the peace that I had found from simply
being. That was where Alice's presence was. If I wanted her presence,
I had to find my way back to Creation and the only way to get
there was past Death."
This heart-felt story doesn't involve any thrilling heroics
or astounding adventures. Alice's life was a fairly uneventful
one. She spent her days eating, sleeping, hanging out, and exploring
just like every other cat. In fact, her "ordinariness"
disguised the great lesson she had to teach - the same lesson
all of our special animal companions have to teach us. The great
secret of life is simply being alive in and receptive to the miracle
of Creation.
The library shelves and review files in the Paw Prints' office are overflowing with great animal books. Our hard-working book committee has barely scratched the surface to offer this short list of thought-provoking and entertaining books to curl up with on a cold winter's night:
Silent Thunder: In the Presence of Elephants, Katy Payne.
Naturalist Katy Payne spent years living with and observing elephants to understand their complex communications. In the process, she learned a lot about these highly intelligent and sensitive social animals.
If a Lion Could Talk: Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of Consciousness. Stephen Budiansky.
Would we understand other species if they could talk to us? Budiansky doesn't think so. The intelligence of each species is too specific - Budiansky sees out tendency to rate animals' intelligence by how human their behavior is as a lack of imagination on our part. Animal intelligence is complex and divers, and we can understand our fellow creatures only by first accepting their basic difference from us.
Animal Geographies. edited by Jennifer Wolch & Jody Emel.
These thought-provoking essays explore our relationship with our companion animals and the natural world. The thesis, well-supported by intelligent articles, is that respect for all life must replace the view that animals exist solely for our benefit.
Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Have Taught Me About Who We Are. Roger Fouts.
Fouts' research work and deep friendship with Washoe, a chimpanzee who communicated in sign language, taught him that human and chimp are part of a single community, sharing social, intellectual, and cultural as well as genetic kinship. This realization forced him to view the often inhumane treatment of these "relatives" in scientific and medical research in a radically different way. This is the gripping story of how Fouts' relationship with Washoe changed his life forever.
The Life of Birds. David Attenborough.
Illustrated with amazing photos and full of fascinating and little-known facts about the private lives of birds, this is will tell you all you ever wanted to know about bird behavior and still leave you wanting more.
Kea, Bird of Paradox. Judy Diamond & Alan Bond.
New Zealand's most playful and destructive, adaptable and ornery bird, this cheeky little parrot makes a lively subject for this scientific study.
Red-Tails in Love: A Wildlife Drama in Central Park. Marie Winn.
In the heart of Manhattan, a pair of red-tailed hawks take up residence and build their nest in a posh Fifth Avenue neighborhood.
The Book of the Spider. Paul Hillyard.
Whether you love them or hate them, you'll find plenty of spider lore in this charming little compendium of arachno-facts.
Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs. Sue Hubbell, Dimitry Schidlovsky.
A former beekeeper shares her fondness for the creepy crawly set, whom God must have loved since He created so many of them.
The Ants. Bert Holldobler, Edward O. Wilson.
The definitive scientific study of one of the most diverse creatures on the planet. You've seen the animated movie - now read the book.
Murder on the Prowl. Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown.
Mrs. Murphy, the canny tiger cat, and her faithful fellow sleuth Tee Tucker, the corgi, are once again on the trail of sinister characters in the usually peaceful town of Crozet, Virginia.
The Cat Who Saw Stars. Lillian Jackson Braun.
The Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, sharpen their claws on
a mystery that has their human detective-journalist Jim Qwilleran
baffled.
Scientists, for the most part, still refuse to acknowledge
the emotional life of animals other than human. When Kristin von
Kreisler took the dozens and dozens of moving and inspirational
stories of animal courage, kindness, and self-sacrifice she'd
collected to research her book to seven "animal experts,"
only one agreed that animals are capable of compassion. The others
went to great lengths to twist their "objective science"
to prove that animal altruism is really self-interest, "hard-wiring"
for protection of the pack, or attempts to solicit reciprocal
care - all of which is just as easily applied to human acts of
compassion and bravery.
But it's hard to see the self-interest in the behavior of Tia, a three-legged chocolate lab who dragged an overturned dingy with three fully clothes men hanging onto the sides through 100 yards of freezing, stormy water to reach the shore. Gripping the mooring rope in her teeth, she used her three legs and every ounce of her strength to rescue the men who couldn't possible have made it to shore before their heavy boots and water-soaked coats dragged them under or they died of hypothermia from the icy water. Tia, however, could easily have saved herself, and pulling the boat and men in with her put her life very much at risk.
Self-interest doesn't seem to explain why Ginger, a tiny, nearly blind and deaf, arthritic pomeranian, seeing her owner threatened by a large, violently psychotic man in her living room, suddenly launched a surprise attack that earned her a vicious kick that sent her crashing into the wall but gave her mistress time to escape danger.
Protecting the pack doesn't seem to be the motive of Crockett, a well-cared for tabby cat, who tried to pull the body of a neighborhood kitten she'd hung around with away from the traffic of the street where she'd been hit by a car, then lay next to the small gray kitten, refusing to leave until the body was finally taken away.
And what pack interest was served when the Newfoundland Boo, playing with his owner near the shore, suddenly lost interest in the game as he sensed a stranger drowning in the river's white waters. Boo begged to be released from his leash and plunged into the dangerous rapids, dragging the injured man to safety.
Expectation of reciprocal care doesn't seem to explain the behavior of Ranger, who began barking incessantly then disappearing under a camper shell. Some neighbors observed him taking food and mouthfuls of snow under the shell. Finally, on curious neighbor followed the dog and discovered a stray female dog who'd been caught in a coyote trap. For days Ranger had kept her alive in the freezing winter weather with his care packages until someone came to release her.
And nothing but altruism seems to adequately explain the actions of Shoo Shoo, a Siamese-lynx cat. Shoo Shoo accompanied his owner to her job at a group home for five disabled people where he won the hearts of the residents by stealing small objects, sneaking drinks from their glasses, and whipping his tail in their faces. One night when all the residents had retired to their rooms, Shoo Shoo became very agitated and kept charging between one of the resident's doors and his owner's office until she finally caught on that he wanted her to follow. Opening the closed door, she found the resident shaking with a seizure. Not until the seizure had passed and the woman was feeling well again did Shoo Shoo leave her side to return to his usual sleeping spot and the comfortable sofa.
Then there's the story of Griz the 650-pound grizzly who, instead of turning the hungry little stray kitten who wandered into his cage looking for food into an hors d'oeuvre, generously tore off a piece of his chicken wing and gave it to her. The two became pals and inseparable companions from that day on.
If that's not love or compassion it probably comes a close to the real thing as most of use are likely to experience in our own lives.
The Compassion of Animals, by Kristin von Kreisler. Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, 1997.
Quitting their jobs and returning to college to find a richer meaning in their lives, Eve and Terry rented a 400-square foot converted shed in a remote part of the California desert. Though their human neighbors were few and far between, the couple quickly discovered a rich array of non-human neighbors had already set up house in and around their small home.
The Spiders and Spirits of Petunia Manor is the often amusing and inspiring story of one couple's very unusual odyssey. Their chosen lifestyle isn't likely to appeal to many people. Few people, even with more financial resources than two "starving students," would go so far as to bribe an exterminator to spare their spiders and just tell the landlord he'd sprayed the house. And not many would buy a new toothbrush holder and toothbrushes rather than disturb the delicate webbing a family of spiders had woven over their old fixtures overnight.
But only the most devoted arachnophobes could fail to come away from this wonderful little book with a new appreciation and admiration for nature and some of its least-lovable creatures.
My favorite section is the story of the reappearing baby alligator lizard. Fearing the infant would be trapped in the house and unable to forage for its food, Eve and Terry kept carrying it outside and releasing it only to find it back in the house the next day. It seemed determined to reach their living room rug which it burrowed under to sleep. Finally, the couple realized the lizard had found its perfect hibernation spot. They had a permanent guest for the winter.
Terry and Eve learned carefully walk around the lump in the rug, which occasionally changed its shape or moved to a different position over the next two months. From time to time a groggy, pointed snout would emerge from the rug's edge, and Eve would gently serve the sleepy reptile a spoonful of water before he withdrew back under the rug.
Least Loved Beasts of the Really Wild West, also edited by Terry Shorb and Eve Schnoeker-Shorb, is an absolutely delightful collection of essays, poetry and anecdotes of personal encounters with wildlife not blessed with beauty, grace or cuteness. Kenneth Pobo praises rats, who "carry themselves/with dignity./Full of panache,/they sneak into/ impossible places..." Ursula LeGuin, in describing the undervalued little sparrow who "gather in trees in crowds like dirty little Christmas ornaments" finds her heart going out to one small bird trapped behind a wire screen. Paul Young finds that "God dwells not only in the heavens/but in cool dark burrows/in nooks under rocks" where lowly rattlesnakes reside. May Lenzer finds perfection in the grace of a coyote "dancing" in the early morning light. And many other contributors sing the praises of snakes and frogs, clams and slugs, spiders, beetles, crows, wild boars, wolves and bobcats and armadillos.
But the most memorable may be Paul Schullery's truly alien encounter with the "Tank Thing," ". . . nature at its rawest . . .[incomparable] for [its] unbridled willies-generating creepiness" which he claims "helped me get over our prissy insistence that nature isn't good unless it's photogenic."
Both books are published by Native West Press, an independent publisher founded by Terril Shorb and Yvette Schnoeker-Shorb in 1996 in commemoration of their twentieth year together. [Native West Press, Box 12227, Prescott, AZ 86304. Spiders & Spirits of Petunia Manor available for $6.95 plus $1 S&H; Least Loved Beasts: $8.95 + $1.50 S&H]
For both Monty Roberts and his father, life revolved around horses. But that's about the only connection they ever had.
Marvin was a widely respected and successful horse breaker in the old tradition. He firmly believed that pain was the only language for "communicating" with horses. "You got to hurt them before they can hurt your," he'd say. "You got to show them who's boss." He raised his children in much the same way.
|
|
Maybe this common link of pain and suffering was the source of Monty's deep emotional bond with horses. Watching his father and others like him breaking the horses spiritually and mentally as well as physically, Monty vowed no horse would ever suffer at his hands.
He was riding horses almost before he could walk, and by the age of 7, he was already convinced he had a better way of "breaking" wild horses without breaking their spirits. He listened to them, and they told him how they related to each other, how they learned, and what they feared.
Watching how the matriarch in a herd of wild mustang used her silent language to socialize an unruly and overly aggressive young colt had a powerful effect on the young Monty. He soon tried to adapt the horses' body language to training wild horses and found he could earn even the most rebellious horse's trust in a matter of hours. In fact, he discovered that by showing themhe understood their language and was willing to communicate, the wild and fightened horses actually calmed down came to him - "joining up" with this unusual trainer rather than be alone and isolated from their herd. Conventional horsebreaking took weeks of painful abuse.
Now an established and world-renowned horse trainer in his own right, Monty Roberts handles not only wild horses but "problem" horses including top show horses and thoroughbreds. The Queen of England invited Monty to demonstrate his technique and has insisted on all her horses being trained by his methods ever since. Monty's practices and experiences are the basis of the best-selling novel, The Horse Whisperers, and his fame and success has spread throughout the horse-loving world.
Now, like his father, Monty applies his methods of communicating with and educating horses in his human relations. The Roberts' Flags Are Up ranch has become a training ground for many troubled youngsters who were headed down the wrong path in life. Using the same philosophy of seeking cooperation and earning trust, Monty has given many of them a fresh start in life.
As a victim of abuse himself, Monty has been very sensitive to the powerful emotional effect watching his training techniques have on others who have been abused. In workshops he found women often became emotionally overwhelmed and even fainted. In every case, Monty learned that the women had been abused as children.
In the Afterword, Lawrence Scanlan describes one remarkable story of redemption that unfolded in Dublin when Monty was working in the ring with a so-called mad horse brought to him by a woman. Monty determined, through hand motions that the horse had been beaten:
"I'm going to tell you what the horse is saying", he told the audience through his lapel microphone. . . ."He's saying he's been kicked in the belly and head, and had a whip across the hocks. This horse is full of stories."
At that point Monty looked over to the woman, . . .Her face betrayed her sudden doubts about the wisdom of letting this man tell all about her horse - and more. "She was looking across the ring to her husband, and when I spotted him I knew the horse was telling the truth. Horses, in fact, never lie, and this horse was no exception. The horse comes to me, I saddle him and get a rider on, and the horse is moving around like a million dollars. By now both the man and his wife are extremely distraught."
"Someone," Monty said into the microphone, "has to apologize to this horse."
The demonstration over . . . . the woman approached Monty in the ring.
"You're in danger," he told her.
"I can't talk about that," she replied . . . .
When her husband joined them, Monty told them that their lives would be a shambles until they got a handle on the violence. Monty had cut to the quick, and the response was immediate and emotional. The man threw his arms around Monty, and pleaded, "I need help, I need help." . . .
The man did get the help he needed and now conducts seminars for other men who use their fists on the people they say they love. And so the man who listens to horses, and bids us to do the same, has an added task: imploring humans to listen to each other.
The death of a pet is often the greatest loss of a person's life. A West Virginia study found that the saddest memories for most of the university men interviewed were related to the death of their dog.
But too often we can't find the kind of emotional support or help we need to cope with this loss. In his compassionate guide to accepting our grief and moving on with life, Unitarian minister Gary Kowalski takes his readers on a journey of healing. Above all, he stresses the importance of recognizing the importance of our animal companions in our lives. They "enrich our lives in countless ways, with their playfulness, their tranquility, their constancy, and their love."
|
|
The book combines heartwarming stories with practical advice on coping with our loss, including planning a ceremony to remember and honor our lost companion for their unique gifts and personalities.
The final section includes poems (including the anonymous verse above) and readings to use in a special healing ceremony.
|
When Kymberly Smith lost her beloved cat, she was devastated not only by her grief but by the dismissive attitudes of others and the lack of helpful information on grieving for pets. Her experience prompted her to write a book on the subject and she began soliciting stories from other pet owners who had experienced loss. Though she had originally intended to use the letters for research, Kimberly found that "in ways I never anticipated, the letters turned out to be healing to me. They comforted me, gave me support and understanding and made me realize that there were many other people in the world who felt the same way I did. I was not alone, and as long as I had these beautiful and compassionate letters to read, I would never again have to feel isolated in my grief."
Healing the Pain of Pet Loss is the collection of the many passionate, intimate, and sometimes heart-wrenching stories pet owners shared with her. Reading these touching tributes to beloved animal companions will enrich your life as well as offering comfort and the courage to say goodbye to your own good friend.
Melanie Travis wasn't exactly born to the world of show dogs. But after the sudden death of her poodle breeding Uncle Max, she soon has it thrust upon her.
Fortunately, the recently divorced single mother is a quick learner. The first thing she learns in investigating her uncle's murder and the disappearance of his prize stud, Beau, is that the dog world is a hotbed of politics, intrigue, envy, passion, and greed - a mystery writer's paradise. There are plenty of suspicious characters with any number of motives for the murder and dognapping - a poodle-hating neighbor; a handsome, charming breeder with a questionable past; a corrupt show judge . . . well, you get the picture.
A Pedigree to Die For is a fascinating odyssey through the world of hard-core poodle people with just the right mix of mystery and doggy atmosphere to keep the dog-loving mystery fan on the trail.
In Lydia Adamson's Alice Nestleton series, mysteries have a decidedly more feline tone. The part-time actress, part-time sleuth, part-time cat sitter has a knack for entangling herself in murder and mayhem, and somehow cats are never far from the scene. This is very good news for cat lovers, since no good mystery is really complete without at least one mysterious feline on hand.
In A Cat with No Regrets we have three seemingly identical Abyssinians. But to the trained cat-lover's eye, one is very different - a million dollar kitty who's the star of a major cat food ad campaign. Was she also the reason for the death of her owner, the wealthy Dorothy Dodd who was bankrolling the big movie that was going to make Alice star? Will the rat return to catch the cat? Will Alice's movie ever be made? The cats will never tell.
In Adamson's Deidre Quinn Nightingale series the young heroine has plenty of creatures to work with, but they're her patients not her partners in crime. As Dr. Nightingale Comes Home begins, Deidre's best friend and only ally since she set up her rural New York veterinary practice suddenly turns up dead, apparently the victim of wild dogs. She relies on her scientific training to uncover the murder and methods. But before she can find the murderer she has to convince the local populace - and the skeptical police - that there was a murder. Like all good mystery heroines, Deidre pursues the evil doers with dogged determination.
|
Whether it offended her aesthetic sensibilities or just didn't seem right, Sandbanks broken, dangling wing clear troubled Yik. So much so, that, hopping over to join him on his perch, Yik took his wing in beak and did her best to straighten it up.
It was an unexpected move - certainly Sandbanks was surprised
by this uninhibited rough-legged hawk's behavior on their first
meeting. But Yik had many surprising qualities. Most hawks brought
into the Avian Ark were fearful and solitary. Yik was calm and
curious from the moment she emerged from her cramped carton. Unlike
most raptors, whose survival may depend on their ability to hide
pain and injuries, Yik whimpered and cried as she was recovering
from her injury, until Kitt and her husband, Robin, cradled her
in their arms where she slept peacefully.
Yik is just one of hundreds of fascinating and often surprising patients treated at the Avian Ark, a wild-bird hospital founded by Kitt Chubb in Hudson Heights, Quebec. A recuperating raven managed to both amuse and exasperate Kitt with his constant teasing of other patients and demands for entertainment. Only one resident got the better of him - a powerful herring gull who turned the tables on the tables on the fun-loving blackbird who tried to yank the gull's wing as he floated in a pool. Instead, the gull caught the raven's beak in his strong jaws and jerked the would-be prankster into the pool headfirst.
Then there were the charming colony of pigeons. whose love life and domestic dramas could rival the hottest daytime soap opera. The love story of Bumfeathers and Chequers and Tarbrush's bizarre campaign to take over the pigeon penthouse suite are among the most delightful bird tales in Chubb's eye-opening account of her wild-bird hospital. But as you enjoy the colorful stories, you'll also discover the rich and extraordinary inner lives of our feathered friends and gain new respect for their intelligence and personality.
The Avian Ark. Kit Chubb. St. Paul, MN: Hungry Mind Press, 1995.
Billy was in love from the moment he set eyes on Xavira. But after years without female companionship, he wasn't quite sure how to court the object of his affection. The logistics of their intimate encounter had him baffled. His first clumsy approach missed his intended target completely.
Fortunately, the lusty Xavira was more experienced in matters
of the heart, and after a few unsuccessful maneuvers, she managed
to steer her suitor in the right direction. Their union was consummated,
and several months later the baby watch began. After what seemed
like an interminable pregnancy, the blessed event finally arrived
and the joyful announcement went out - it's a rhinoceros! A very
healthy, bouncing baby black Indian rhino, and the first ever
to be born at the Philadelphia Zoo. The staff broke open a bottle
of champagne and toasted the proud parents and their not so little
bundle of joy.
In another part of the zoo, romance wasn't going as smoothly for the willful Trillion and her beloved Taboo. Trillion, unlike Xavira, had some serious competition for Taboo's affections - her two sisters Koshie and H.B. And there were a few other minor complications to the affair. Taboo was Trillion's brother, and to avoid genetic inbreeding among the tightly knit wolf pack, he had been neutered. All the same, Trillion was determined to be the alpha female with Taboo at her side.
In the big cat house, things weren't going too well for Martha the Siberian tiger. It wasn't the competition of Dolly and Abigail, that concerned her so much as the apparent indifference of her intended "mate," George. In fact, mating seemed to be the farthest thing from George's mind despite Martha's considerable feline charms and provocative behavior. With species extinction looming menacingly on the horizon, Martha was under more than the usual pressures to bring George to his senses.
John Sedgwick's vivid account of a year in the life of the Philadelphia Zoo has all the drama, romance, conflict, births and death of a potboiler. The cast of characters ranges from the devoted staff of keepers, administrators, scientists, veterinary professionals, and part-time surrogate parents to hundreds of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians they care for. The plot twists are dramatic and sometimes comic, but the overriding theme is survival - the financial survival of the zoo, which competes with more and more sophisticated forms of family "entertainment," and more importantly, survival of the many zoo residents whose natural habitats are rapidly disappearing.
Sedgwick's entertaining story of the Philadelphia Zoo includes a brief history of the evolution of zoos from menageries and private collections of exotic animals to today's modern international zoological network incorporating the traditional goals of entertainment with the missions of wildlife conservation, endangered species protection and breeding programs, and public education about wildlife and the natural environment.
But mostly, The Peaceable Kingdom is a collection of personal stories of the zoo's animals and staff and their often intimate relationships. It's the story of workers like Eileen, who hand-raised a number of orphaned or rejected zoo babies in her home despite their demanding needs and the emotional pain of letting them go when they were grown. And the zookeepers Chuck and Jimmy who wouldn't give up trying to win the respect of the elephants they cared for even after a number of life-threatening attacks.
Not so long ago, many zoo animals were taken from the wild and housed in prison-like cells, often in complete isolation from their kind. Massa, the longest living gorilla in captivity, had been taken from Africa in 1930 and raised by a wealthy woman who treated him as her own child until he reached adolescence and became too dangerous for her to handle. His entire life at the zoo was lived in isolation from other gorillas.
As Sedgwick was writing his account, in 1985, the zoo's primate center (recently destroyed in fire) was just being built. The primates, carefully transferred to their new quarters, were being introduced for the first time in their lives to a natural outdoor environment. No longer isolated, the highly social gorillas were living in family groups, and now several primate species were able to mingle in a more natural way.
Still far from ideal for the wild animals who live there, the modern zoo has come a long way from the collections of exotic animals that symbolized man's arrogance to the refuges from extinction they've become today.
The Peaceable Kingdom: A Year in the Life of America's Oldest Zoo. John Sedgwick. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1988.
Bone
AppetitIf you're looking for an extra-special treat for your favorite dogs, how about a handy canine cookbook with 44 tail-wagging biscuit recipes and 7 puppy pleasing desserts?
All the recipes have been reviewed and approved by a team of veterinarians at the San Francisco SPCA Animal Hospital and the book was assembled by ARC (the Association of Retarded Citizens) employees. While your canine companions enjoy their Cheese and Garlic Woof Treats and Peanut Butter Bowser Biscuits (two of the tasty recipes), you can enjoy the clever canine-themed quotations that accompany each recipe, such as "Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies" (Gene Hill).
This book can also buy some happiness for less fortunate dogs and other homeless pets since all the proceeds from sales go toward funding animal shelters. And, of course, your dog will thank you for the gourmet treats.
[Call 800 550-BOOK to order the book. Cost: $16 + $3 s&h]
Twenty-five years ago, Richard Adams left the brave band of Watership Down rabbits safe and secure in their peaceful hilltop warren. The long awaited sequel picks up the story, with a collection of delightful rabbit legends, nonsense tales and adventures of the lovable Watership characters.
The original novel chronicles the grueling journey from the doomed Sandleford Warren, escape from the deadly Warren of Shining Wires, the daring raid on the farm to release some female rabbits from the hutch, and triumph over the tyrannical Efrafans. Finally, the brave but peace-loving Watership group prospered and, of course, multiplied.
In Tales from Watership Down, we learn how Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, Blueberry, Dandelion and the others lived in their new, democratic warren, dealt with some unusual newcomers, and finally came to terms with the remaining rabbits of Efrafa, now under the leadership of Campion. We also learn more about the great rabbit folk hero, El-ahrairah or Prince with a Thousand Enemies.
After a 25-year gap, readers
may need to refresh their memories of the Watership world. Fortunately,
the sequel contains a helpful glossary defining common lapine
terms and some of the important figures of lapine folklore and
religion. You may be puzzled that all the same lovable survivors
of the original novel are still alive and kicking since the story
of Watership
Down ended with Hazel, after a long, fruitful life, finally
meeting the dreaded black rabbit of Inle who guided him to his
peaceful death. Tales, of course, simply fills in some of the
years between the defeat of the fierce General Woundwort and Hazel's
death. Many interesting events took place over that period of
time, and of course, many stories were told of legendary and heroic
rabbits.
Some things happened that had never been done before in rabbit history. Hyzenthalay, Hazel's life partner, was appointed as the first female Chief Rabbit, and the story of how she won the respect of the skeptical Bigwig is very touching. Defying rabbit law and risking his own leadership, Hazel brought Stonecrop into the warren - a rabbit who smelled of men and, by tradition, should have been destroyed. How Stonecrop finally earned a place of honor among the rabbits is surprising and funny. No doubt many future generations of rabbits will be gathering around their warrens on cold winter nights, telling the tales of the legendary rabbits of Watership Down.
For story-loving humans, the Watership chronicles are equally enjoyable, when you're in the mood to snuggle up with a good book that will take you to another world.
All My Patients
Are Under the Bed.
Memoirs of a Cat Doctor. Dr. Louis J. Camuti, with Marilyn &
Haskel Frankel. Simon & Schuster. New York, 1980.
Gainzer was always a troublemaker and a born wanderer, but
you can imagine Sadie Coca's surprise when the doorman calmly
informed her that her missing cat had unfortunately been eaten
- apparently by a lion living on another floor of her New York
City apartment building.
The lion, as it turned out, was Gainzer herself, skulking in the
potted plants and freshly shorn of her matted coat, except for
a ruff around the head, because of a bad case of skin irritation.
Gainzer's escapade is just one of the many amusing and often touching
stories that fill Dr. Camuti's memoirs of his 60-year veterinary
career. Over that time Camuti treated an almost alarming variety
of pets living in New York City apartments, from Anastasia the
sociable pigeon - who won the hearts of one human couple by being
hatched on their window ledge - to a houseful of lively and highly
opinionated marmoset monkeys. But cats were always his favorite,
and as he gravitated toward an all cat practice Camuti became
widely known among New York cat people as the Albert Schweitzer
of the cat world.
One of those cat people, an eccentric Greenwich Village cat shop
owner who wouldn't sell supplies to people she didn't feel loved
cats enough, was very influential in building Camuti's practice.
She became a client in the mid-I930s and a life-long friend who
frequently recommended to hundreds of cat owners who crossed her
path.
In 60 years, lots of colorful characters - both human and animal
- frequented Camuti's clinic. But one of my favorites wasn't a
client, but a nervy little trespassing rodent who braved dozens
of sleeping cats and dogs every night to swipe a fresh bar of
Cashmere Bouquet soap from the lavatory. After numerous failed
attempts to catch the wily thief, using tasty chunks of cheese,
Camuti and his assistant finally lured the elusive beast into
the open with a bar of his favorite soap as bait. The next morning
they were gazing into the eyes of a sleek, smooth-coated 4-pound
rat brim ming with good health from his boutique soap diet.
As one of the few veterinarians who the makes house calls, and
probably the only one in New York City, Camuti certainly had the
opportunity to gain insight into the often unorthodox living arrangements
of his patients and their owners. One woman was so devoted to
her indoor cats she had virtually transformed her living room
into a feline wonderland, filled with ladders and ledges for the
cats to climb and perch on. Another couple evicted any guests
who objected to their cats dining with them at the table. The
most extreme case may be the lady who continued to buy her Siamese
imported Japanese crabmeat, which he had trained her to provide,
even after World War II broke out. Only when the cat's gourmet
palate provoked an FBI investigation into his owner's political
leanings did she finally decide it was time for Bunker to cultivate
more domestic tastes.
One of the most touching portraits is the final tribute to Tailless
Tom, a nondescript moggy who'd lost his tail sometime in his mysterious
past. His refined owner couldn't cope with his "gifts"
of small animals - some dead and some still living - which he
respectfully dropped at her feet every day. She begged Dr. Camuti
to take him before she did something desperate.
Camuti was then serving as commanding officer at White Plains
Armory, the ideal location for a proud, gregarious Tom to call
home. And the soldiers took to him wholeheartedly, even presenting
him with his own set of dog tags. Tom was in his glory, inspecting
the troops, accompanying them in the field, visiting the doctor
several times a day for a rub and purr, but always democratically
bedding down with the enlisted men. When he was hit by a car one
day, the whole armory mourned. Everyone turned out for his full
military sendoff. Tears ran freely as Tailless Tom went to his
final resting place After some five decades, Dr. Camuti still
remembers him fondly as "a great cat and a good soldier."
The Dog's Mind. Bruce Fogle.Howell
Book House, New York, 1990
As a recognized expert on animal behavior, author of several
books on pet behavioral problems and lecturer and practicing vet
Dr Bruce Fogle takes a scientific rather than anecdotal view of
The Dog's Mind. His thoroughly researched study is a fascinating
exploration of how our canine companions experience their environment
and us. Beginning with the dog's anatomy and physiology, genetic
roots, brain and senses, Fogle investigates the communication,
learning, and social behaviors and capacities of dogs, breed differences,
and how to prevent and treat a variety of common dog behavior
problems.
Understanding your dog's emotional roots in wolf society and behavior
is important to learning how to live with him in human society.
Behavioral synchrony is one wolf trait dogs have inherited. In
the pack, wolves need to function as a unit, and members learn
to eat, run and hunt in synchrony. Observers have noted that dogs
tend to eat more, run faster and generally enjoy life more in
the presence of another dog or a human (a reasonably good dog
substitute).They have evolved to be active in cooperation with
their pack and take their cues from us.
In discussing canine senses, Fogle rates touch as the most potent
as both a reward and a means of communication between dogs and
between human and dog. Their 220 million scent receptors (we have
about 5 million) and extensive nasal membrane make their sense
of smell an experience we can't fully understand. Odors have a
powerful emotional and physiological impact on the dog-they "play
tunes in the dog's nose," as Fogle puts it.The Dog's Mind
covers every aspect of the dog's mental life and behavior, and
offers valuable advice on training, preventing problems, and eliminating
unwanted behaviors.
Gary Kowalski,
Stillpoint Publishing, Walpole, NH, 1991.
The definitions keep changing over the years: man is the only
species who makes tools... who thinks... who learns... who has
cultures.. who has language.. .who is altruistic... who feels
. . . who feels shame... who wages war... who understands death
... who is self-conscious... who has a soul. One by one, those
definitions have fallen short of defining what it means to be
human. We're not so different from other animals, after all.
Studies have observed chimpanzees using stick tools to poke into
termite hills to reach and pull out the tasty residents. They
had to use reasoning to develop the technique and manipulate objects
in nature to create the proper tool. Octopus studies show that
an animal who doesn't know how to remove the stopper to reach
food in a jar can learn to do it by observing an octopus who does
know. Elizabeth Marshall Thomas' best-selling studies of dogs
and cats (The Hidden Life of Dogs; The Tribe of the Tiger) showed
that our closest companions have rich cultures, traditions, and
probably a moral sense. Her observations of lions in Africa over
the years showed that their traditions adapt to the human societies
they live near, and these traditions can be lost when the human
cultures are destroyed.
Dolphins and elephants, among many other species, have been seen
to protect their injured and sick colleagues, and even vampire
bats are known to share their food with others in the community.
Every species has its own language, but primates who learn to
communicate using human sign language or computers show a great
depth of feeling and understanding. Koko, the subject of the longest
ongoing ape language study, is a good example. Asked what she'd
like for her birthday one year, Koko requested a kitten. She named
her little gray, tailless companion All Ball,and carried her everywhere,
gorilla style.
When All Ball was killed by a car, Koko at first acted like she
didn't hear the news. Then she sobbed, and expressed sadness at
her loss. For a week she cried whenever anyone talked about cats.
Koko understood that gorillas, too, die when they are old, sick,
or injured. When they die, she believed, they feel neither happy
sad, or afraid, but simply "sleep.
At least our fellow primates understand and maybe contemplate
their own death. Unfortunately, other species are capable of killing
each other in organized warfare, too. The chimpanzees Jane Goodall
studied engaged in bloody wars, and even ant societies studies
by O.E. Wilson fight over territories, using strategies and chemical
weaponry so sophisticated, Pentagon is interested.
Gary Kowalski, a Unitarian Universalist minister and graduate
of Harvard Divinity School, questions the last bastion of the
human determination to set itself above and apart from all other
species in his eloquent little book, The Souls of Animals. This
is no dry philosophical treatise, but a very personal exploration
of what it means to be human, a spiritual being, and a part of
a living world that encompasses many alien consciousnesses.
In a few short chapters,Kowalski raises many profound and ultimately
unanswerable questions - do the beautiful and sometimes elaborate
songs of birds express joy as well as more practical messages?
do animals know right from wrong? do they have a sense of the
mysterious and uncanny? do they feel playful or appreciate beauty
in their environment? But his central theme is our need to relate
to and understand other animals to become fully human.
"As society becomes increasingly urbanized and animals disappear
from our daily lives," Kowalski writes, "and as more
and more species slip into the long night of extinction, our humanity
will inevitably be diminished.... In spite of our material plenty,
our inner world will be impoverished.... Without animals, the
bright, reflective qualities of the world will become inanimate
and dull.... And when we look into the mirror there will be less
and less to love."
Jeffrey Moussaieff
Masson &Susan McCarthy, Delacorte Press, 1995. Now being released
in paperback.
In a typical scientific experiment, researchers placed baby rats
on a cage floor to see if mother rats would "rescue"
t them and take them to her nest. They did. They rescued unrelated
babies as quickly as their own. Female rats who weren't mothers
often rescued the helpless kits They crossed electrified grids
to bring the little ones to their nests. One supermom rodent retrieved
a total of 58 babies.
The scientists were intrigued. How far could they take the experiment?
Would rats rescue baby mice and rabbits? Yes. Helpless kittens?
Yes, though their efforts to nurse the alien babies were frustrated
by interspecies differences. They "eagerly and repeatedly"
tried to tuck young bantam chicks safely into their nest, over
the strenuous protests of the feathered adoptees
Scientists generally explain this kind of altruistic behavior
in animals purely instinctive, but it's illogical to ignore the
mother rats' emotional response that made them willing to risk
painful electric shocks to help the young of even natural enemies
When
Elephants Weep is a powerful, carefully reasoned assault
on scientists' stubborn insistence that animals are nothing more
than instinct-driven automatons, incapable or reasoning, emotions,
or truly altruistic behavior. Of course, most of us would agree
with Masson. But considering some of the horrific experiments
conducted in the name of science, it's easy to understand why
some researchers prefer to believe animals can't feel or experience
pain emotional or physical as we do. How else could anyone conduct
experiements like the one described by Martin Seligman:
. . . a wild rat, being held in the hand at a predatar like
man, having whiskers trimmed, and being put in a vat of hot water
from which escape is impossible produces a sense of helplessness
in the rat.
This experiment in learned helplessness is quite tame compared
to others conducted on monkeys and other animals to study fear,
aggression, and social isolation. But as appalling as science's
abuse of animals is, this is not the focus of Jeffrey Moussaieff
Masson's book. The point he makes so persuasively is that, though
we can't truly know what it is to be a rat, a dog, an elephant,
or even a close relative like the chimpanzee, when they behave
as we would in similar situations, it's reasonable to assume they
share similar emotions.
Alex, an African gray parrot being, left at the vet's office,
called out to his owner, "Come here! I love you. I'm sorry,
I want to go back." He seemed to understand the words he
was using.
Naturalists encountered a family of wolves howling and frantically
trying to release one of its members from a leg trap. They appeared
to be deeply upset and concerned about their comrade's pain.
Two male bottle-nosed dolphins at an oceanarium, after being separated
for 3 weeks, spent hours hurtling around the tank, side by side,
and leaping out of the water, when the missing dolphin returned.
It's hard to avoid calling their reunion joyful
Pigeons, encouraged to be creative to win rewards, suddenly began
laying on their backs, standing with both feet on one wing, and
hovering in the air 2 feet off the ground. They seemed eager to
exercise their imagination.
Animals experience humiliation, pain, guilt, fear, jealousy, anger,
and hatred as well as love, joy, a sense of beauty and wonder,
creative impulses, a desire for freedom, and possibly spirituality.
Masson concludes that we can't ignore the emotional lives of the
animals. As Jeremy Bentham wrote in 1789,
The day may come, when the rest of the animal creation may
acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from
them but by the hand of tyranny . . . What . . . is it that should
trace the unsuperable line? Is it the faculty of reason, or, perhaps,
the faculty of discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is beyond
comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversable animal,
than an infant of a day. . . . The question is not Can they reason?
nor, Can they talk? But, Can they suffer?
New Yorkers pride themselves in being unshockable - there's
nothing you could do on the streets of their city that would surprise
or amaze them But the sight of a man standing on top of his car;
shouting instructions through a makeshift megaphone to a young
woman trying to control her powerful Malamute might raise a few
eyebrows even in the Big Apple. Stranger yet, this unorthodox
method of "long distance" dog training (though not generally
recommended) actually worked.
Fang was a dominant dog. No one dared enter his home turf - a
small Manhattan apartment - and he terrorized everyone in his
path as he dragged his owner down the streets on their "walks."
After his unique training course, Fang was able to walk calmly
at his mistress' side and agree not to rip the throat out of unwary
visitors to his apartment.
Fortunately, not all of super-dog trainer Matthew Margolis' clients
are so fierce. Most of them were friendly and eager to learn.
But the secret to "Uncle Matty's" great success with
dogs is the special rapport he has with them. He claims 10 seconds
is usually all it takes to establish the relationship. The owners
sometimes take little longer; but most are quickly impressed with
his obvious love and understanding of his canine clients.
Woof! is the story of Margolis' fascinating career with
dogs, some of his most colorful clients - both canine and human
- his fame as a regular guest on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show
and best-selling author with friend and co-author Mordecai Siegal.
Born and raised in New York, Margolis started his National Institute
of Dog Training in the 1970s, from his Manhattan apartment, training
his clients on the city streets and homes of their owners. Today,
he works with a skilled staff and spacious kennels in Hollywood,
California, where most of his clients come to him for an intensive
educational course. Though he's worked with such famous humans
as Jimmy Stewart and Whoppi Goldberg, the focus of his life remains
on dogs. He sums up his experience best on the final pages of
his book:
You have to smile when you think about how many great stories
there are about people whose lives were changed because of dogs.
That's my story . . . . Taking charge of your own life is risky
business and can be a painful road to follow.... Still, I knew
I was headed in the right direction the moment I decided to work
with dogs. In the beginning, it was Silver and me out there together
growing up and trying to find a little piece of the world to fit
into. Since then, there have been many dogs and many people in
my life, but mostly dogs. What more could I want?
WOOF! Matthew Margolis with
Mordecai Siegal.
New York: Crown, 1994.
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home
Page