I admit I’m feeling a little down right now, having found out that our lovely neighbour passed away suddenly and that a dear family member is very ill. When bad news seems to be all that surrounds you, it’s hard to be cheerful and craft something – hopefully interesting and a little bit funny – for Seaside’s readers. And then a video came across my Facebook feed that made me smile. Titled “When you lied on your resumé about having previous sheepdog experience,” the video featured a terrier-type pup who was supposed to be gathering a flock of sheep. The sheep had other ideas, however, and ended up chasing the dog around the field. Now a terrier is not a traditional sheep dog, of course, but it made me think about the concept of animals going against their instincts to do something unexpected.
Rudy, our neighbour’s cat, has started coming to visit almost every day. Despite not being a cat lover, my husband was very welcoming, in the hopes that Rudy would help alleviate our rats-in-the-shed issue. One day, I came outside and Rudy was laying in the driveway with a little lizard in front of him. As it’s still been quite cool, we haven’t seen many lizards yet and this one was obviously regretting his decision to venture out into the early spring day. He kept trying to sneak under the cat’s belly for warmth, and Rudy would all of a sudden notice the wiggling underneath him and, startled, would spring a few feet into the air before settling down again. This happened over and over, to the delight of myself and my daughter. I think the rats are safe for now.
The internet is full of stories about animals going against their natural instincts and forming unlikely friendships: chimps and tigers, bears and lions, a dog and a fawn, a fox and a cat … it goes on and on. My all-time favourite is the tale of Bubbles the African elephant and Bella the black Labrador retriever, who live at Florida’s Myrtle Beach Safari and seem to think they’re the same species. If you’re not familiar with this duo, do yourself a favour and Google them!
Can we learn something from this? So often we stick to the same group of friends we’ve had for years, and hesitate to get to know someone new because they may not be the type of person we’d usually spend time with. Sometimes animals go against their instincts and become the unlikeliest of friends. And maybe sometimes, if we befriend someone outside our comfort zone, we’d have the potential to form the unlikeliest, and strongest, of bonds.
