Man and Animals

Animals have been present since the birth of mankind. On one hand, they are nothing mysterious or new. On the other, they remember the things we have forgotten or buried. We think they are mysterious simply because of that loss of conscious knowledge. We are not superior to all else simply because we have digits on our limbs that enable us to use tools. We are not better because we walk upright. We are not always smarter. Even though we have the largest brain, scientists still don't know what we use most of it for, or if we even do use it all. We are not the only animal that feels pain or remorse or joy or sorrow.

We should recognize all creatures have special abilities, all just as awesome as our own. The ant can lift fifty times his body weight. The wolf can hear sounds ten miles away and can cover fifty miles on foot in a single night. The cheetah can run and the sailfish can swim at speeds of up to seventy miles an hour. The eagle and hawk can see a mouse on the ground from several thousand feet in the air. The owl can see in the dark and some bats don't need to see at all. The giraffe and elephant can reach high places. The spider can spin silk webs from her own saliva. Animals with digits less flexible than ours, like the bear, have the coordination and speed to catch a fish with their bare hands and the strength to fell a horse with a single blow. Birds and some insects can fly. Fish can breath under water. Marsupials have built in pockets to protect their young. Geese and homing pigeons can find their way home over thousands of miles without a compass. Salmon know exactly where they were born. Some turtles live to be three or four hundred years old. None of these abilities are less impressive than our own special skills, only different.

All you have to do is open your mind, quiet your inner self, and observe, listen, watch. Each animal has its own rhythm, its own qualities, its own ways, its own lessons. Each animal shares characteristics that are universal to all. Learn to recognize the differences. By studying the animals around us in nature, we can better understand ourselves and our environment and our responsibilities to preserve it for future generations.