The Animals That Have Touched My Life - My Response To The EcoTrain Question Of The Week- "What's the smartest thing you've seen an animal do?"

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I am running behind on so many things in my life at the moment, but that's okay, cos who needs any extra pressure in their lives right now. So my response to the latest EcoTrain Question of the Week, is a few days late, but better late than never, I say.

I have always loved animals, I imagine most kids do, until something happens to make them fearful. Which is such a shame really, because we have so much to gain from their presence and being around them and respectful towards them is very healing.

I have learnt so much about myself because of the animals in my life and my life is all the better for having them a part of it.

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I am fiercely protective of all animals and will use my voice to help bring awareness to the way in which so many are being mistreated. But that is for another post and before i get caught up in that topic I will move on to the purpose of why I am writing this.

But the more I think about it the more I realize that it is linked to that very same reason, if only so many other people could respect them as much as they do others, our world would be a better place. If we could lessen the divide and what better way than to share our stories about animals and in particular the smart and wonderful things that we have seen them do.

I remember watching a documentary about Elephants that were migrating, they came across the skeleton of a deceased Elephant. They all stopped and circled around it, using their trunks to touch the deceased and what looked like paying their respects.

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I found this so moving, but what came next was even more astounding, because the skeleton still had their tusks attached and two of the elephants took one each and walk into a forested area, it looked as though they were hiding the tusks from plain sight. I have tried to find this documentary, but I have been unable to, but that scene has stuck with me, for various reasons.

I have been to Africa 4 times now and have been so fortunate to see Elephants in the wild, I can't explain how blown away I was by their presence, by all the animals I saw to be honest. There really is nothing more amazing than seeing animals in the wild, exactly as they are meant to be.

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But this post is not just about the majestic elephants that have moved me. I could not write it without writing about Bear, the beloved canine member of our family. He is so devoted to my girls and especially my eldest and he would follow her everywhere.

Because he is sick at the moment he can no longer be her shadow, but in the past, No matter where she went he was never far behind. So it did not surprise me one bit, to see him up a tree with her. That is how devoted he is to her and really goes to show how clever he is also.

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When I was a child, we had a dog in our family and when I started to go to school he would wait for me to return. Leaving the house the same time everyday to come meet me off the bus. He left each day at 3:25p.m to be at the bus drop off at 3:30p.m. I remember this one time, as I was getting after the bus some boys started to tease me. Well Fred (that was the name of our dog) approached the bus and growled at those boys. Sufficient to say they never teased me again. Pretty smart dog ah?

When I was living in Ireland, after returning to birth my eldest daughter, I lived in a bus. We were nomadic and would spend our time moving between the coast and the forests inland in the West Of Cork. We knew a few people down that way and liked to call into to see them anytime we were passing.

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They had chickens and those chickens loved to see us coming as we would have saved up so lovely scraps for them. Our friends that lived there, told us that they would always recognize the sound of the bus and that they knew we were pulling in when they chickens started to run to the front of their house. I never knew chickens were so smart.

You can see one of them in the photo above. I was sad to say goodbye to those lovely chickens, they always gave us such a warm welcome.

And there you have it, a few stories about some of the animals that have touches my life. All photos used are my own. The ones of the elephants are from 15 years ago, which I think is pretty obvious by there poor quality. But they sure do bring back some great memories.


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9 comments
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That is an amazing story of the elephants gathering around a deceased elephant like they were paying respects then to carry the tusks off into the forest! They are such a noble animal and you are very fortunate to have seen them in their natural habit, wild and free!
Oh that we could all respect the animals and live peacefully with them, the world would indeed be a better place!
Do hope Bear recovers soon he seemed like such a wonderful pal for your daughter!
Thanks for sharing!

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thanks so much @porters, those trips to Africa where so of the most amazing ties of my life, the wildlife is just amazing xx Bear is getting better each day xx

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I can only imagine the emotions and energy you felt seeing the elephants in person. So majestic, so amazing, and yet so intimidating at the same time! lol. Sorry to hear your pup is sick. We have an almost 11 yr old GSD and so I know the feeling....every time I think about how he is getting up there in age it sure does tug at my heartstrings. He has brought a lot of joy to our lives.

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thank you @kindredacres, I was so awestruck when I was in Africa, I really feel so lucky to have seen so many wild animals, it is just one of the best things in the world.
Yes our Bear is such an important part of our family xx

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That was really neat about what the elephants did to the deceased. Animals are so intelligent and I can’t bare hearing about them being mistreated.

So sorry to hear that Bear is sick right now. I hope he recovers soon ~

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