Meandering Thoughts on Animals

Meandering Thoughts on Animals

It’s fun to notice the behavior of animals and wonder just how much they know. In looking back at a past post, I found this from my neighbor Peg: She was watering a lilac bush and she noticed a hummingbird flying in the spray. Afraid that the force of the water would hurt the fragile bird, she moved the hose. Well, the hummingbird followed it! He thoroughly enjoyed his refreshing shower bath.

My brother Richard told me an interesting story about a cat. As he traveled along a paved country road, he drew even with a house and saw a passle of dogs – probably three or four who were dozing in the middle of the pavement. Of course, Richard slowed his truck and waited for them to move out of his way. Among that bunch of dogs, was a black cat who had been taking a snooze with his dog pals. The dogs didn’t budge until the cat decided it was time to move.  Finally, it meandered out of the way and the dogs followed. The cat was boss of the whole pack. It had a sense of presence!

Sometimes, it’s amusing to see how money is being spent by our government. Someone had decided to do a study on horses, to learn how they communicate. Guess what? They found that ear movements are significant with horses! Now, any rancher, farmer, or anyone who has ever been around horses could have told them that, without spending months and money on a study! When a horse points his ears forward, he sees something. One ear forward, one back has significance too. Perhaps it means he is listening in two directions. When a horse pricks up his ears, looks in the distance and whinnies softly, he sees, hears, or smells something. They didn’t get around to mentioning this one, but I could tell them from experience, when a horse lays his ears back, look out! He is not in the best of moods and doesn’t relish the thought of carrying a passenger. Also, animals as well as plants, are wonderful weather predictors, if we take the time to notice. I wonder if a study has been done on that.

Birds, cats, dogs, summer gardens, all have something to say, each in its own way. Just how much they know remains a mystery.

A Midsummer Garden

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