Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2019 i All Creatures

MUNCHKIN I often find her smelling the chipmunk paths under our porches. —Gigi Kane TRACKER This was his first time on the beach! —Carol Hyman Connell OLIVER He always jumps right into the pool. It’s hard to get him out! —Martha Anne Tudor ZOE She loves to lie in the grass and soak up the sun. —Jennifer Traft BRADY My kayak buddy here in Maine. —Monique Levesque Hebert BUSTER He likes using our wooden swing as a scratch pad. —Mike Kane ABBY I gave her a hat when she joined me in the yard. —Susan Bradley Matos CHANCE Getting his paws in the sand is always a happy moment. —Natalie Formyduval LILY My special-needs lamb, stopping to smell summer’s flowers. —Janell G. Jensen ELLIE She loves sharing my hammock for…

YOU’VE GOT MAIL, dog lovers! The U.S. Postal Service is honoring military working dogs with a new line of stamps. Dogs have assisted the U.S. military since its inception. In 1942, the Army established the K-9 Corps to train dogs for all branches. Their duties include detecting explosives, performing search and rescue, and providing emotional support for soldiers. The stamps will feature four different canines that are all common breeds in the armed forces: German shepherd, Labrador retriever, Dutch shepherd and Belgian Malinois. “The stylized digital illustrations are in red, white, blue and gold to represent the American flag and patriotism,” the USPS said in its announcement. This well-deserved recognition gets our stamp of approval.…

One of the most popular cat toys is made of steel wire and rolled cardboard and can be purchased for less than three dollars. Simple but genius, right? We got the scoop from Jim Boelke, who invented the Cat Dancer in college and turned it into a million-dollar business. What inspired you to invent a cat toy? I was putting myself through college in the mid 1970s and had three part-time jobs, one of which was taking welfare recipients to different city departments in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. We would stop by the animal shelter to clean the cages and socialize the animals. It was so tiny, the size of a three-car garage. The cat room wasn’t much bigger than a closet. At that time there weren’t no-kill shelters, so a lot…

I STOOD KNEE-DEEP in the ocean, my thoughts swirling like the foaming water around me. For some time I had been incubating the idea of going back to school, maybe to become a counselor or a therapist. But at 41, becoming a student again would mean many changes: new schedules, new demands, new courage. Was I capable of such a demanding challenge? I squinted, looking at the sandy bottom below the surface. Something tumbled against my right foot. Was it a murex shell? I bent down and grabbed a fistful of sand. Aha! I felt the rough grooves of the murex in my fingertips. As I studied it in the morning sunlight, I saw two round eyes peering out at me. The shell had become the home of a hermit…

FUN FACTS: An adult humpback whale is about the size of a school bus. The complex song of the humpback whale is sung only by males and can last for hours at a time. The reason for the singing remains a mystery. Humpbacks sometimes blow bubbles to create a “net” for catching fish. To show affection, mothers and their young often touch flippers while swimming close together. Calves, which biologists have seen “whispering” to their mothers to avoid attracting the attention of predators, must drink 50 gallons of milk a day to prepare for migration. Send Us Your Whale: Remove the back cover and mail your finished coloring to All Creatures, 110 William Street, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038.…

In November 2018, the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue (CWR) team discovered a donkey and an emu at an abandoned farm in Kershaw, South Carolina. It appeared the pair had been surviving on their own for at least two years. Jennifer Gordon, the nonprofit’s founder, watched Diane (the emu) and Jack follow each other, share meals and sleep side by side and knew they couldn’t be separated. But the wildlife organization wasn’t able to care for the best buds longterm. Then actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead) stepped in, offering them a home on his farm in New York’s Hudson Valley. “He was a natural with the animals,” Gordon posted on CWR’s Facebook page. “He manages Jack all by himself and it took four of us to get him loaded at…

MY HOUSEMATE and I adopted Sammy because our older dog, Cal, needed a companion and playmate. Sammy was nine months old and a Lab mix, just like Cal. The two hit it off immediately. One day when Sammy was two years old and we were at work, he tried to climb over the dog gate that blocked off the kitchen. One of his back paws got caught. He was able to free himself but nearly severed his paw in the process. We rushed him to the emergency vet. Part of that leg had to be amputated. Having three legs never slowed him down, though. He loved chasing squirrels and standing on his one hind leg to look out the window. At age 10, long after Cal had left us, Sammy…

IT HAD TAKEN EIGHT YEARS to get pregnant again. Now in my fourth week, I rushed to the doctor with abdominal pains. Please, let this baby survive, I prayed, fearing another miscarriage. As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a ladybug sitting peacefully on my side-view mirror—the first one I’d seen since my miscarriage all those years ago. It felt like a sign back then, that God was with me in my grief. Now I believed that the polka-dotted creature had reappeared to let me know that my baby and I were in God’s care. The doctor confirmed that everything was fine. Two months later I had another scare. On the way to the doctor, a ladybug alighted on my windshield. Once again, my baby was okay. In…

a jelly-fish Visible, invisible, A fluctuating charm, An amber-colored amethyst Inhabits it; your arm Approaches, and It opens and It closes; You have meant To catch it, And it shrivels; You abandon Your intent—It opens, and it Closes and you Reach for it—The blue Surrounding it Grows cloudy, and It floats away From you. Share a moment of connection you’ve had with one of God’s creatures (poems and prayers welcome). Send it to allcreatures@guideposts.org or All Creatures, 110 William Street, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038.…

IN JUNE 2016, a wildfire broke out in the Calabasas hills northwest of Los Angeles. Dalia MacPhee, a celebrity clothing designer and horse lover, got a frantic call: Flames were closing in on the stable where she kept her horse Wolfie. “Firefighters weren’t allowing horse trailers through the main road,” MacPhee says. “We had two choices: Set the horses loose or hose them down to delay the burning.” Fortunately, rescuers found another way in, and Wolfie and the others were saved. A year and a half later, the Lilac Fire blazed through a thoroughbred training facility in San Diego County, forcing more than 400 horses to flee. Dozens perished. MacPhee felt as if she had to do something. So she designed a fire-retardant, heat-resistant blanket to protect horses. The Equisafe…

My mom and I stood at the bow of the boat, braced against the chop. It was July, but the wind was ripping through Monterey Bay, freezing my hands and face. Perfect weather, our tour guide assured us, for catching a glimpse. My family was on vacation in California, and there was a lot to do. But we were on a mission to see just one thing—humpback whales. My mom is a pharmacist who studied marine biology in college. She’d been itching to go whale watching ever since. Now that we were on the boat, she could barely sit still. “I just love whales,” she said. “They’re so majestic.” My mom isn’t alone in her love of these fantastic creatures. Since the beginning of time, whales have fas cinated mankind.…

THIS IS HENRY. He has only one eye. We’ll come back to that. My partner and I love dogs but travel often and wouldn’t want to subject a pet to a life of kennels. When we’re not traveling, we work from home, which leaves us long stretches to offer attention, comfort and love to a dog who needs it. So we decided to foster. When we met Henry, a four-year-old papillon mix, there was no doubt: He should live with us until he found a permanent home. We were happy to have his company and committed to teaching him a few things, one of which was not to bark so much. What I didn’t realize was that this beautiful one-eyed creature had a lot to teach me too. 1. EVERYONE…