Animal Friendships

Last night I happened to watch a Nature show on television.  The subject matter focused on unlikely relationships among animals----even cross species.   There have so many "stories" of this kind, that some scientists are now doing research on "animal friendships."   Some are really astonishing---a lioness and a cayote, for instance.  Also, there was a tortoise and a duck.

One in particular really caught my attention.  It was the story of an old horse "Charley" and an old goat "Billy".

When I decided to blog about this,  I searched for a horse and goat picture, and "googled" horse/goat.   To my surprise,  there were a number of articles on the compatibility between these two animals.    Having identified this compatibility traces back thousands of years in Chinese culture.

The story I saw about Charley and Billy was about how Billy, the goat, became the guide for the blind horse, Charley.  It seemed to be a choice Billy made.  At first, Charley was blind in only one eye, and Billy led the horse to his favorite pasture on the side where Charley's good eye could follow.   Then, when Charley lost sight in both eyes,  Billy led in front.  Charley knew the sound of Billy's footsteps, from all other sounds.

I had an experience similar to this as a child.  I had a pet chicken named "Doodle".   She was free to wander about the yard.  One day a brown chicken appeared in our yard, and both of her eyes had been pecked out.  Doodle because her seeing-eye-chicken.  I saw that with my own eyes. The brown chicken followed close behind a cheeping Doodle who led the way.   Both of those chicken had no hen-house, and thus, no nest, so they would both lay their eggs wherever they were in the yard.   One learned to watch where you stepped!

I found the unlikely animal friendships downright moving!  A sweet motherly black lab "adopted" an abandoned baby fawn.  Their friendship lasted throughout their lives, even though the deer returned to the wild..  The grown up doe even brought her own babies back to meet her dear friend.

It was clear from these odd pairings that animals do have emotion;  they feel empathy;  they grieve.

I couldn't help but wish we could manage such caring relationships "across the aisle" between Democrats and Republicans.   Charlie and Billy give me hope!