Friday, January 13, 2006

Animals Are Better Than Us ... Right?


Radar the Border Collie

Before I moved to the country, I had this sort of vague concept of animals that I think is pretty common among city people. Animals were somehow "purer" than dirty, nasty old humanity. I imagined them as pristine, noble beasts, completely free of the baser behavior that humans are prone to. But now that I have animals, I have learned something important:

Animals can be downright mean!

And not just a "Hey, that one animal just ate that other one" kind of mean, but more like "high schoolers picking on the fat kid" kind of mean. I see it in the dog pack and the horse/donkey herds at the ranch every day. The girls gang up on the boys, kicking them off of the feed. The big horses shoo off the little donkeys to get the best hay. One dog corners another, smaller dog to harass him.

I love the animals, I really do. They're great, and there's no doubt that they can be both noble and great-hearted. But this is a heads-up for all you city people out there -- watch your back. Fluffy might be planning even now to sell naked photos of you in the shower to the Enquirer.

2 comments:

Denise said...

Well, I've seen our dog lick his private parts, all of em, and it's quite disgusting. He also tries to drink out of the toilet, he rolls around in dead stuff in the back yard, he digs in the garbage if we leave the door open and he thinks his urine is so grand, it should decorate every single thing on a walk -- every leaf, every blade of grass -- you get the picture. In this regard, he's quite disgusting. But then again, he's happy to see me when I come home, sits right by me when I'm sick and doesn't leave my side and has yet to stomp his feet and say, "You're not going to be seen with me, are you?" These animals might have their faults, but the fact that they're non judgmental means I can overlook the constant licking, peeing and other gross activities.

Reminds me of a joke... two men were sitting in front of the barber shop, minding their own business, when a dog comes by, plops down in front of them and begins to lick his balls. One man says to the other man, "I sure wish I could do that." The other man says, "Oh I don't know... don't you think that dog would bite?"

I'm a terrible joke teller, but I tried!

Denise said...

By the way... I have to agree with Jill -- she deserves photo credit! She takes some quite amazing shots, and we've been able to keep up with you guys through her photos. Kudos to you, Jill!