Now some people will tell you "they are only animals, they can't think"...I beg to differ.
Yes we do tend to humanize our animals and often give them more credit for thought processes then they deserve. However, one animal knows when another is upset, scared , hurt etc. Some are opportunist, like the coyote and will take advantage of a sick or hurt animal, others will walk away as if they didn't care....although I think there is a reason why some animals seem distant to others....Funny, animals are not much different then humans in that respect are they?
Yesterday I witnessed something quite incredible and I'd like to share it.
I have two pygmy goats left, a mom (Blizzy) and a daughter (Oreo) they live with my two horses Red a male and Emma a female. Yesterday they all seemed to want to go out even though the snow was pretty deep in places...so I let them. AS I was cleaning the barn I heard Oreo bleating in her panic voice, which usually means she can't see her Mom. I ran to the door and I see Blizzy stuck in a snow drift way down in the pasture. The horses were with her, Oreo was up near me and seemed to know she was too short to go join her Mom. The two horses stayed close and seemed to comfort Blizzy, I watched helplessly, trying to figure out what the heck I could do to help. Suddenly the two horses looked at each other, as if in agreement and they each took a side and literally lifted Blizzy from the snow drift using their heads, giving a little push to set her in a place she could walk. Then as if on cue they chased her up toward me. They stopped, she didn't, but alas, before she made it to where I was she was stuck again...Poor little thing is so short, it doesn't take much. As I started to walk down toward her I yelled at the two horses to "Come help me!", never thinking they would...Before I could get to Blizzy , Emma came running through the snow, head down, lifted Blizzy's butt end up and pushed... What I would not have given for a camera.
I know how it feels to need help, which is probably why I give it so freely. Yes I have been burned, unfortunately not by strangers I have helped but by family and people I have cared about...but still I help. It makes me feel good inside when I know I can tell someone something that will help change their world...or a little part of it. When I can share what I have with someone that has less...knowing they will pay it forward.
I have observed many times, Oreo butting her Mom out of the way because she wants to eat her food, or does not want her Mom to have a treat..I used to wonder why she was so mean and why Blizzy allowed it...But yesterday I saw the caring side of Oreo..she was really upset that her Mom was stuck..Just like there are two sides to every story, two sides to every human being, there are also two sides to animals and they do in fact "Think", perhaps not on our level...but they do think and it seems to me they are capable of some type of reasoning...How else would they have known to lift her, instead of push her?
I've been an animal fan all my life and I have many stories...but just when I think I've seen it all...I witness something incredible and I wanted to share it with you....
