What I learned from animals

Human beings are the species Homo sapiens, part of the “animal kingdom”. My first blogging adventure started with using WordPress in 2012, to launch my blog “Fascinating Animals”.

I grew up by a river in Western Australia surrounded by animal companions - cats, dogs, birds, guinea pigs, silk-worms, mice, hermit crabs, fish and a goose and a pig at some time. The river of course gave us prawns and eels, and earth-worms and ants, butterflies and beetles and other insects. Even garden snails fascinated me.

In the 1980s I met David Attenborough and I will never forget meeting him. I was supposed to have bought his new book “the Blue Planet” but I was a third year Biology student and didn’t have the money. Instead I waited in a long queue then offered him “Life on Earth” to sign! He was a bit surprised but impressed (hopefully) with my tenacity as I both wanted his signature, and wanted desperately to meet him.

I will NEVER forget his kind twinkling eyes and his genuine warmth as he wished me the best of luck with my Biology Degree and signed “Life on Earth.” He is one person I wish will live forever.

Like David Attenborough I respect, not like all animals. In an interview David said “How could I love a parasitic worm that causes blindness in a child?” when asked the rather general question “Do you love all animals?” Onya, Sir David!

Human beings are very much dependent upon animals: bees, butterflies and insects pollinate plants, and other animals keep grass mown and help re-generate it, and animals are part of an ecology or food chain, with other animals dependent upon them.

Of course we have used animals for food, transport, labor and for companionship and entertainment, and in wars and in peace-time; and they have been in-valuable with these.

I have learned from our human relationship with animals, that we are all inextricably connected

There are many more non-human animals in our world than there are human beings. Some may view animals as being without a Soul or a spirit and others as animals having an animated force — call it a Soul or a spirit. My cat Shandy would smile at me whenever I patted him. Some of our “pets” know when we are un-well or unhappy and will cheer us up.

Rupert Sheldrake wrote “Dogs who know when their owners are coming home” about dogs who knew the exact time their owners would get home, even if that time varied. We have sniffer dogs at borders and seeing eye guide dogs. Animals have worked with us over aeons of time.

Whatever you think about the nature of animals, from bacteria in the soil and oceans that fix nitrogen, to horses that were used to pull wagons, if you realise that there is such a large and diverse range of animal species that we share our world with, it may remind you that we are all dependent upon Earth’s resources, and are inter-dependent.

Along with plant life, animal life should be respected, and human beings are responsible for perpetuating other forms of Life. I have learned from animals that there are other intelligent life forms in our world, and have learned to be:

grateful for the web of life that we are all a part of.

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“There are some four million different kinds of animals and plants in the world. Four million different solutions to the problems of staying alive.”

Quote by David Attenborough