When Marion Sinclair won the 1934 Victorian Girl Guides competition for writing an Australian round, she likely never dreamed one day campers in Idaho would be singing it. And when I was belting out these words along with my fellow campers, I never dreamed I’d hear a kookaburra. Kookaburra sits in the old gum...
Seeing birds in cages always jars me. So my first sensation on entering Jirrahlinga Koala and Wildlife Sanctuary was a wave of sadness. Glossy ibis, gullahs, rosellas, cockatoos, barn owls and so many other birds sat in enclosures too small for real flight. Then I began to read the signs. Those birds edging over...
A downpour brought cool relief after several hot days here in Anglesea. We watched the storm roll in from our perch on a second-floor verandah of a house right on the Great Ocean Road. Instead of retreating inside, we sat under the overhang of the roof and let the rain tickle our feet. A...
Long before I had a chance to become acquainted with animals other than cats and dogs, I fell in love with Isaac Bashevis Singer’s story of “Zlateh the Goat” (Zlateh Goat & Other Stories). In the story the beloved goat no longer gives milk. With Hanukkah approaching and money tight, Reuven decides to sacrifice...
I saw my first echidna on the outskirts of Hall’s Gap, a village at the foot of the Grampians in Australia. Jeannette, Robin’s sister-in-law, spotted the quilled creature. I looked where she was pointing and saw only a dark ball. People were kneeling around it, as they might an injured creature. One guy was...
Models for courage are not always human. This one is a rabbit, a rabbit who herds sheep. Seriously. I’ve owned a trained Border Collie. I recognize the moves, the eye, the planning, the quick responses. This rabbit really does know how to herd sheep and does it well. Maybe Champis learned by watching the...
His adventure did not last nearly as long as Willow’s, the cat found after five years, but George would have quite a story to tell. George’s journey began September 23rd, in Fort McMurray, Alberta. His owner, Vanessa Summerfield, needed to find a pet-friendly apartment so she sent her feline friend to hang out with her family...
After Petunia finished eating, the Pruitts let her out of their Fredericksburg, Virginia home. That was a few days after Thanksgiving 2003, the day the American Staffordshire terrier disappeared without a trace. The family feared the worst. With a chip in her ear, Petunia would surely have been returned — unless she had been...
Do you know what your cat is doing when not curled up in a shaft of sunlight, asleep on your living room floor? When the cat is out of sight, do you know where he goes? If your cat is anything like 15-year-old Dodger, he may be hopping buses and going for rides....
Reading Alan Rabinowitz’s story is like seeing a light glowing at the end of a dark tunnel and knowing you are no longer lost. His path is an inspiration for anyone facing struggles. Since struggles are a part of everyone’s journey through life, that makes his story universal. Rabinowitz grew up feeling like half...
Twitter
Facebook