She wrote:
“The bond between ducks and humans is a much
closer bond than those with a cat or a dog.”
I actually said:
“Because of imprinting,
the bond between ducks and humans is a much
closer bond than those with a cat or a dog.”
Because she left the first 3 words of my
sentence out, words that
qualify my statement, people are going to
think I'm full of crap--or completely
clueless. They will probably assume I have
no experience with cats or dogs and that
this was a derogatory statement against cats
and dogs. Now these people aren't taking us
seriously and are completely uninterested in
discovering who we are and what we truly
believe in. And who suffers from this? The
ducks and geese. It has a direct effect on
them. Three words.
For those of you who don't know me, I have 4
cats: Bridget, Timmerlane, Nephilim &
Kensai and a dog named Foxy. I have had pet
cats one after the other since I was a
kid... Morris, Corky, Tito, Nico and Mojo. I
miss those boys so tremendously, I can still
smell Mojo's fur... like fall leaves. They
were all mighty hunters. Mojo was
notorious. Those were the days when it was
safe for cats to be outside. Before the
coyotes came. We didn't even know we had
coyotes until Mojo was brought down... a
noble warrior. I still cry for him today.
He was 9 years old when he fell. My friends
tried to ease my heart by saying that
warriors crave an ending with so much
honor--to die in battle. But me... I just
wanted him back. I searched the woods for
years. Always waiting for him to come
home. Always wondering about that final
battle.
Timmerlane &
Bridget... Sanctuary Guardians on duty!
And lets not forget the other cats my other
family members had: Loki, Boo, Dragon,
Asriel and Manusha. There were usually 2-3
cats in our house at anyone time and between
1-2 dogs. Each of them lived out long,
healthy lives, with annual vet appointments,
the best of food and love. Each of them
spoiled to the nine. And when one would
die, I would just fall to pieces. My mom
would say,
"It's God's way of making space in our home
because some other animal out there needs
you. It's His way of letting you know that
you need to find them and bring them here."
And I always did.
And, of course, I had my pet chickens and
ducks too... and gerbils... and guinea
pigs... and rabbits... and goats... shall I
go on? But not all at once, sort of layered
through time. Always cats and dogs though.
They were ever-present. And my mom is a
neat freak, the outside pens were spacious
and meticulous. Inside, there was no sign of
pet hair anywhere. My mom loves to vaccum. And
my dad would say,
"No one sits at our table to eat until
all of our animals have been fed their
dinner, because we can help ourselves to our
food, but they cannot--they wait to be
served."
I have passed this on to my daughter
Isabel.
Anyway... Now that you can see I DO know
what I'm talking about and that I do love
cats and dogs (along with a myriad of other
critters) I can honestly say this:
Dogs and cats do not crave the same level
of intimacy as an imprinted duck or goose.
These birds put everything they have into
their devotion to their human
companion--every bit of trust. They do not
seek any level of independence from their
human companions the way dogs and
cats sometimes do. They want to be with you
always. And that is the difference between
these relationships.
