More on the feelings of animals

[Guest guest]

> but I confess, I

> never read such a convincing text on how aware and conscious animals and

> other living creatures are as yours.

 

Thanks so much. It's nice to receive this particular compliment. This has

been one of the main points of my life. Since I'm suffering due to another

point it's at least good to know some point thrives.

 

And on this point I have a couple more stories to share.

 

I once owned a Cockatiel bird named Sammy. He was gray. Like a small parrot.

Cockatiels are native to Australia's desert areas. They are very fast. They

are cute, pet stores everywhere sell them in America. They sing a little

bit, and can learn to speak a little.

 

Sammy was very friendly to humans. He would prefer, always, always, always,

to be sitting on our heads, or shoulders, anywhere, on a human, if he could.

It was to the point of annoying. He would ALWAYS come flying over AS SOON AS

you enter the house, and sit on your head, and start saying "Whacha up to?"

which is American slang for "What are you up to" meaning "What's going on",

"What are you doing", like that. He learned this from us of course. We

would say it to him, and so he said it back. He would eat from my bowl, and

clean my mustache as I ate. Always. He had NO fear of humans AT ALL.

 

Then we got him a companion. A girl. Eventually they got intimite. One day

she started laying eggs. Suddenly, Sammy changed. He became her sentry,

her guard. He would ATTACK us if we went near the cage. Why the sudden

change? Didn't he trust us?

 

The fact is, they both knew that their eggs were very fragile and were just

sitting on the floor of the cage on straw we always had their for them. They

knew we changed the straw often and they knew that we would break the eggs

if we touched them. It wasn't that Sammy didn't like us, he just knew

better.

 

Eventually the eggs were dead. This often happens with Cockatiels in

captivitity- the eggs die. Especially the first batch, which this was. So

we got rid of them. As SOON AS WE GOT RID OF THE EGGS Sammy came RIGHT BACK

to us, immediately, within minutes.

 

It was ONLY his family he was trying to protect and nothing more.

 

To call this "instinct" is to call human actions "instinct". It's not

"instinct" to me. To me it's a sentient being have feelings, concerns, and

love and so on.

 

Once I was testing my car after some respairs, and I raced it down a country

road just briefly, but unfortunately a squirrel ran out and my tire ran

right over him, he was totally dead instantly. I slowed down and watched in

the mirror as a group of squirrels came out and stood around him appearing

to "smell" him. Then they ran off, and two little ones came out to do the

same, and then the big ones came back and tried to get the little ones to

leave, but could not, they kept going back, and this game went on for a few

seconds, the big ones trying to convince the little ones to leave- you could

see them push them and try to lead them away, but to no avail at first, then

eventually, relunctantly, the little ones left. Guess who I hit?

 

We had two cats. A mom and her son. They lived together with us for a good

while and totally indoors. Neither ever saw the outside. They were

completely "indoor cats". One day the mother died, at the hospital. She

had eaten string and it killed her when we took her to the vet.

 

When we came home without her, the child cat, who was full grown, looked for

her for days, all around the house, constantly, meowing and running around,

looking everywhere. Eventually, slowly, he gave up. What does this mean?

Is it not "attachment", "memory", "concern", possibly "love".

 

Once one of them got sick or something. It pooped right on the white

hallway rug, in the middle, right in plain sight. When I came around the

corner and saw it there, it began meowing wildly and trying to "scoop" the

carpet OVER the poop to cover it. It was VERY embarrassed and AFRAID of my

reaction OBVIOUSLY.

 

As I cleaned up the pile, it paced back and forth watching me in grave

concern. When it was all gone, it avoided me for a good while.

 

This is concern, embarrasment, shame, and so on. This was OBVIOUS.

 

We all know dogs have all these emotions as well. They have leaders,

followers, pecking order, shame, love, concern, needs, sense of duty, sense

of master, likes, dislikes, they get tired, they get eager, joyful,

remorseful, all of these things, and their brains are dinky.

 

My bird Sammy, who had nothing but a pea brain, pea body for that matter,

had a whole range of emotions as well, including dislike for when I would

leave, happiness when I returned. In fact Cockatiels are known for making

different sounds for different emotions. When you leave they go Awww and

when you come back they go Hayyy kindof...it's very obvious and clear. He

would watch me nap, and very quietly say ssssssss when I woke up, right in

my face, like his form of "hi". He wouldn't PEEP even while I slept though

he would sit RIGHT BY my head looking RIGHT AT my closed eyes.

 

Nowhere ever do I find animals to be dumb, but in every sense I find every

one of them to be smart, sensitive, aware, and SENTIENT.

 

So to go out and kill them for "SPORT" is something I cannot do. It's too

much a cause of sadness and grief. You are ripping apart families and

causing felt pain to a group of living creatures, who talk, who feel, who

know, who care, who suffer, because of your SPORT.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

And one more thing...whenever I was REALLY hungry, during these last 27

years of being vegetarian, and travelling, I would never break the vow, I

just couldn't. I would eat potatoe chips, or french fries, or anything

garbage, if it was not meat, rather than eating meat. If I can do that, I

figure anybody can because I am not an austere person at all, and my body is

not good at austerity. I believe it's more conviction than dosha etc.

 

 

 

Reeshart Mach Aeoidh

 

aka Das Goravani

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

On May 8, 2006, at 4:10 AM, Das Goravani wrote:

 

> Nowhere ever do I find animals to be dumb, but in every sense I

> find every

> one of them to be smart, sensitive, aware, and SENTIENT.

 

beautiful stories, das.

john robbins' book has a few too.

animals are anything but dumb.

we humans just don't listen.

i'm glad you were watching, listening.

i wish we all did.

love, patricia