Favourite Animals

[postscript]

nicola said:

It was a West Highland White Terrier. I'm dogsitting him for two weeks. The time is up tomorrow! He goes back home! Thank god! Now, I love dogs, but this dog is just high maintenence that makes noise constantly.

Oh, and since I can now reach over, the song is called 'Una Furtiva Lagrima'

Thanks for the response, Nicola. I was curious as I love other people's animals but don't have the life-style to enble me to have any animal, especially a dog, which in fact I would love but, as used to be a slogan by one of the dog-loving fraternity, 'A dog is for life not just for Christmas'. Presumably, you feel something similar?

Friends of a friend house-sat their new puppy for a week. They were thinking of getting one of the same type. At the end of the week they had decided they would not have ANY dog at all! So they learned the easy way that a dog is a part of your life for at least fifteen years. Like marriage, acquiring a dog is not a 'contract' to be entered into lightly!

In a couple of month's time I shall be house-sitting the same dog but in its own home, which helps. It is something of a handful at the moment as it is only a six month old puppy (but already two feet to the shoulder) and hyperactive. Quite rightly its owner won't have it drugged, which is the 'usual' or easy way of handling the problem. The ‘proper’ way is to be painstakingly patient and persistent in its training.

I hate yappy dogs, what I derogatively refer to as overgrown cats. The small ones can be both continually yappy and snappy. I like a dog to emit a relly deep 'woof', even if it requires some handling but patience (CONSIDERABLE patience at the puppy stage) pays dividends later, say two years later, when they can be a really great companion. My friends bring in a professional trainer who trains them as much as the dog! What seems to be a dog problem (or a problem dog) is often a problem deriving from the owners!

As we are so hopelessly off topic I'm going to cut and paste and start a new thread which might or might not interact with photography.

By the by, the dog is a German Blue Shepherd, although what they call 'blue' I see as black! Its a very pretty dog and has a super friendly temperament. I keep meaning to photograph it and have misssed several lovely shots of it when I didn't have a camera with me.

Peter S.

[nicola]

Hey Peter, great thread.

I have strong opinions when it comes to animals, I'm very passionate about enthusiastic about them,

It's a shame for your friend of a friend that they judge the dog for a week during it's puppyhood!

Getting a puppy is very much like having a baby. It's an eye-opener and very difficult at the beginning. Unlike babies, however, dogs settle down quite quickly and after their adolescence become quite problem free. When I say problem, I mean problem, not that they do not need any more input from you!

My dog died in July, we had her for fifteen years and she was a huge part of the family. I'm not sure if I told this forum this (I'm a member of so many forums I can't keep up) but I have finally been given permission to have a puppy in April. I have chosen the Alaskan Malamute. This breed, of all breeds, is immensely high maintenence and difficult. My heart is set on one. I can imagine bringing no other dog home, I don't know why I am so attached to this breed, especially as I haven't even met one!

I'm like you, I don't like small yappy dogs (which was the dog I was dog-sitting). They're not even natural (toy dogs in particular). They were bred to accompany and guard elderly people. You call them overgrown cats? I call them overgrown rats! They just don't seem like real dogs to me. I like bigger breeds (though not giants!).

They also have to be naturally friendly dogs (which the German Shepherd is, you'll be pleased to know!). I don't like dogs that are bred to be guard dogs and attack intruders. Despite the dog being down to the owners training, some breeds are used so much more than others that they evolve with it, so pitbulls and the like have a predisposition to be aggressive. It's really sad.

Other than dogs I hold a torch for Cheetahs. There are so many that I love and I couldn't list them all, but Cheetahs are definitely up there.

As for animals that I possibly don't like (or like less than others) are domestic cats. I'm not biased here. I have owned one dog, and three cats and I loved the dog more than the three cats put together. Cats are so detached. They hunt just to kill and not eat. They are fickle (they'll go to not whoever gives them the most TLC, but who gives them food). They also just don't tolerate anything other being but their owners and themselves.

I once read a quote: 'Thousands of years ago, Cats were worshipped like Gods. Cats have never quite forgotten this.' That sums it up, really.

[Andrew]

Hi Peter,

Indeed this is an interesting thread... As you are somewhat of a literary scholar, I wonder if you had George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' in mind when you asked us this question? I know we shouldn't start getting too political in this thread in order to try to maintain "decorum on the Forum", but one phrase which springs to mind from 'Animal Farm' is:

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

Incidentally, at the beginning of my academic year at university, the head of the department asked us whether we were "hard working goats or wandering sheep" ... :je I'll get back to you about my favourite animal after I've had a bit of a think!

Regards,

Andrew

[Andrew]

nicola said:

Other than dogs I hold a torch for Cheetahs. There are so many that I love and I couldn't list them all, but Cheetahs are definitely up there.

Hi Nicola,

If you like cheetahs you will have loved the BBC2 series called 'Big Cat Week'. Did you see it? I was so impressed by the wildlife photography that I bought it on DVD. If you want to know where you can get it, send me a PM and I can tell you where you can order it.

Incidentally if you visit Spier in South Africa, you can visit a zoological park where cheetahs are kept. I visited one in 2001 and was amazed that members of the public were allowed to go into the pen with the park ranger and stroke the cheetahs (after they had been fed! ). Much to the surprise of most people cheetahs are actually not the most fierce of the big cats. They are actually quite shy and will walk around the perimeter of the pen and have a good look first before going over to get their food. Leopards tend to be more fierce. None the less, the park ranger advised us not to make eye contact with a cheetah and if it rolls on its back one should not interpret that as "tickle my tummy" but rather that one is invading the animal's space, in which case the best thing to do is to slowly stand up straight keep still and look in another direction!

If you stroke a cheetah you can actually feel it purring just like a domestic "moggy" cat (only on a much bigger scale and the sound is much deeper too!) Its coat is actually quite coarse to touch except where the black spots are- these are composed of a different and much softer hair. I have a photo somewhere of me with a cheetah- it was quite a scarey experience but thrilling at the same time!

Regards,

Andrew

[nicola]

I don't think Animal Farm had anything to do with it! It's a thread about favourite animals, not politics.

Speaking of Orwell, I love his essay 'The English Language in Politics' and his novel '1984'. In fact, that essay he wrote heavily influences my writing. Between him and T. S. Eliot is the best writing ethic, ever. I haven't read 'Animal Farm', though I've read a lot about it. I'm sure I'll come across it at some point in my degree as I am planning on taking the Dystopian module next year, but it's more than likely we'll be reading '1984', which I have read before.

But like I say, 'Animal Farm' does not = animals in general! Unless we want to talk about animals as politcal characters there isn't much place for it.

Other favourite animals: African Dog, Red Panda, Elephant, Dolphin and... and Mogwai's.

...

Mogwai's should exist!

[nicola]

Hello Andrew, you posted too fast!

I own several books on Cheetahs (one of them is written by Johnathan Scott no less!) and have a special framed photograph of Toto with his Mother on my wall (the cub from the last series of Big Cat Week).

I love Cheetah's because of how gentle and elegant they are. Too gentle perhaps, because they are stuggling for survival. I just love their ethic. They will only eat what they have earned for themselves (inlike Lions, who takes other animals kills), they always walk away from fights, they don't disturb other creatures, and they are kind/timid rather than aggressive towards humans. They're not elusive (unlike the Leopard, and most of all the Snow Leopard!) They are also just so beautiful. My heart broke when Toto died.

I also have the Big Cat Diary DVD.

[roger]

andrew said:

Much to the surprise of most people cheetahs are actually not the most fierce of the big cats.

Regards,

Andrew

Ah, but there is a reason for that. Technically, the cheetah is not classed as a "big cat". The term "big cat" doesn't officially exist in the world of taxonomy. The cat family, felidae, is divided into two sub-families, one of which can roar whilst members of the other purr. No cat can do both.

As Andrew has acknowledged, the cheetah purrs and is therefore a member of the sub-family often referred to as the "small cats". It is therefore not quite so closely related to the so-called big cats (lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard) as they are to one another, and many of its characteristics are accordingly different.

Sorry for the intrusion! Carry on!

Roger

[nicola]

It's also possible to domesticate Cheetah's. Im some places, they still do, although some time ago it was common practice to have a Cheetah as a hunting cat in Africa.

I don't really agree with domesticating Cheetahs, but maybe in the near future, it maybe the only way they will survive. This species is going down hill. Not only because of Lions and Hyenas but also because of their genetics. They are vulnerable to diseases and plagues. Normally, when a plague hits, many people suffer from it, whilst it simply won't affect others, beause we have a wide variety of genetics. For the cheetah, their numbers were so low some time ago that they all have the same common ancestors; if a plague hit the area, the whole area would be wiped out. And a Cheetah cub reaching adulthood has ridiculous odds (I have forgotten the number off-hand, sorry.). I know one cheetah in Big Cat Diaries had three litters of cubs, it was only when she got to her third litter that a few survived.

I could go on for hours how many dangers are opposing the Cheetah, but it's not necessary. It's a shame for such a beautiful creature.

[fusilier23]

I'm a cat person, but not the Cheetah kind, thanks, I'll stick to a plain old domestic shorthair. Alas, our last cat perished in July after a battle with cancer, and it's like losing a family member.

On the more exotic side, I always have liked warm-blooded sea creatures (mammals and birds). My fave part of the circus was always the sea lions balancing balls on their noses, clapping flippers, and so forth, and nothing beat a trip to the aquarium to see not only the sea lions, but the dolphins as well. We even went so far one summer as to take a boat out of Hyannis, MA, to watch whales at sea. We saw a few humpbacks and finbacks, including a newborn calf who actually gave us a "flipper wave" which is always a crowd-pleaser.

Other faves include the walruses, who, with their plump bodies, bushy mustaches, and sleepy expressions always gave the impression of being creatures who were laid-back and good-natured if a bit dim, the various other seals, including the white harp seals, and of course the penguins, immortalized two summers ago in "March of the Penguins," though those were the four-foot tall emperor penguins and I think the shorter Humboldt penguin is cuter.

One of these days I will have to get to the Edinburgh zoo, where I hear they put the penguins on parade outside their enclosure every so often, that would make for great pictures.

BTW, just because I like these types of animals, don't think I'm "green." I'm by no means a fish-hugger, thank you.

[Richard]

Hello everybody!

I don't have any particular favourite animals, but I always enjoy visiting zoos. I haven't been to London Zoo for several years now, so I must pay another visit soon.

I only just noticed this thread was posted on the 'Funny Peculiar' sub-board, which seems very funny peculiar to me, so I've moved it to the general 'Off-Topic' board. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes,

Richard

[roger]

Hi Richard,

If you fancy a day at London Zoo, let me know and I will join you if I can. I must have been there at least twenty times but, like you, not for some years now. Maybe we could give each other a guided tour until we both get lost!

Roger

[nicola]

I'd recommend Colchester Zoo. London Zoo is great, but there isn't that much variety of animals.

Colchester has all of the big cats, including (check this) a Bengal White Tiger. I went to London Zoo about five months ago and it really is quite small compared to others. They do have a Komodo Dragon though (his name is Rajar, he didn't come out last time I was there, but I have seen him before). The primeape section is also still closed. If you do go to London Zoo, wait until late this summer, it's going through a lot of work at the moment and a lot of the enclosements are empty.

So yea, Colchester, though only if you don't mind walking on up and down hills (none of that place is on even ground).

[postscript]

Well, Nicola, that is a super first response to my thread. I can only say that I entirely agree with absolutely everything you say about cats and dogs and all the other animals.

Your interest in cheetahs is interesting. Not a wild animal I would have thought of. My thoughts in the 'big' cats league would have been leopards and tigers and lions of course are wonderful creatures. All of them efficient killing machines to survive and one wishes one really could just hug them. As far as leopards are concerend those who do live in the bush or interact with it, have occasionally had a pet leopard and it must be a great feeling to have so powerful an animal as a 'friend' one can 'trust' to take a stroll with.

Glad to hear and receive so fulsome a response.

Peter S.

[graemek]

I love all animals actually but have a definite softspot for birds.
Here is a quote from The Franklin Institute Science Museum:
"Man is in awe of the beauty of the bird. Man has written poetry, stories, and songs about birds. Birds have also become symbols for human values. Owls mean wisdom, the dove peace, and the eagle political power."

The blue wren is just plain cute!!

He/she is very tiny but incredibly energetic. If you look at the little egg shaped body that egg shape is ~ 40mm dia.
He weighs next to nothing. He really does have 'tiny wings' as the song describes & Hayley so beautifully performs.

This baby was learning to fly in our front yard yesterday afternoon.

This adult male blue wren has a very striking colour scheme. He could well be the dad of the baby one here but I took this pic a while back so I don't know.


Graemek

[stevemacdonald]

I used to respect all the big cats but watching "National Geographic" and "Discovery" has cured me of that. Recently there was a program that documented lions with a taste for human blood in South Africa. This true account was made into a movie several years ago. More recently lions have been attacking elephants in game reserves. What sickens me is that the park rangers and the filmers witnessing these grotesque attacks do nothing to stop them.

Then there was the show about Wildebeeste and it showed lions eating one of them alive in a deep mud puddle without having first killed it. All romantic notions of lions as dignified predators went out the proverbial window with that horrifying spectacle.

Tigers in India, endangered status notwithstanding, are especially fond of eating human flesh. People, it seems, have been a staple of their diet in some parts of the Sub-continent for centuries, perhaps millennia.

Wild predators are spectacular creatures. They inspire artists, poets, novelists, photographers and filmakers to do their best work. Who can read Blake's "The Tiger" and not be moved? Who can watch "Born Free" and not get all lachrymose?

Then again, can anyone watch "The Ghost and the Darkness" and not be completely creeped out?