{"id":37,"date":"2015-03-23T04:10:52","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T04:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kathrynberlabooks.wordpress.com\/?p=37"},"modified":"2015-03-23T04:10:52","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T04:10:52","slug":"lions-and-tigers-and-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/23\/lions-and-tigers-and-bears\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions and Tigers and Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bears1\"<\/a> \"bears2\"<\/a> \"bears3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\nHere\u2019s to the creatures large and small, of the air and land and sea (as the song goes).\u00a0 Here\u2019s to the creatures that I most love and to the ones that I cannot abide.\u00a0 Here are my preferences and prejudices when it comes to the Animal Kingdom.\u00a0 There is no logic.\u00a0 All creatures are Nature\u2019s perfect creations and deserve perfect respect.\u00a0 But I am not a perfect person and my partialities bubble to the surface in a cauldron of life experiences, and are baked into my DNA from time immemorial.<\/p>\n

I will speak on behalf of elephants, owls and dolphins.\u00a0 And I will speak against sharks and snakes.<\/p>\n

Elephants and owls and dolphins (particularly Atlantic bottlenose dolphins) interest me for a variety of reasons.\u00a0 The superficial part of me will admit that appearance is the primary factor. But reputations and certain variables play a role as well.<\/p>\n

Their cuteness factor I believe stems mainly from their large heads. We all like large heads supposedly because human babies have large heads and we\u2019re hardwired to love and protect human babies. Or at least that\u2019s a theory.
\nElephants\u00a0have big ears to go with their big heads which is an added bonus and also why I prefer African elephants to Indian elephants.<\/p>\n

What head could be bigger than a dolphin whose head is the same size as his body? In fact it is his body. An added cuteness factor for the dolphin is his perpetual smile, even when he\u2019s feeling bad.<\/p>\n

As far as owls go, they look to be just one big head although underneath all the feathers they have a distinct head, neck and body. But fortunately, I can\u2019t see underneath all the feathers. The fact that an owl can rotate its head around \u2018Exorcist style\u2019 is the owl\u2019s added bonus.<\/p>\n

I also perceive these three representatives of the Animal Kingdom to be highly intelligent. The owl is the symbol for wisdom. He may not be smart at all but when you\u2019re the symbol of something you don\u2019t have to prove anything to anyone.<\/p>\n

Elephants with their graveyards and all\u2026practically an advanced civilization in my mind.<\/p>\n

As for dolphins, well they\u2019ve proved their intelligence time and time again by rescuing surfers from sharks and disarming underwater\u00a0bombs.\u00a0\u00a0Smart and brave.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s it for the smartness factor.<\/p>\n

Variables include the soft shuffling stumps that elephants have for legs. And their feet are round and perfectly flat on the bottom. At least that\u2019s the way I imagine them to be. And of course their trunks. Need I say more?<\/p>\n

The variable for an owl is that it sleeps all day and hoots. It can see at night and it barfs up owl pellets\u2013 not exactly cute but quite interesting.\u00a0 And its saucer-like yellow eyes give it the appearance of being very annoyed and slightly grouchy, without forfeiting any of the cuteness factor.\u00a0 That\u2019s quite an accomplishment.<\/p>\n

And dolphins\u2026 well the squeaky little way they talk is just so darned cute\u2026 but I suppose that\u2019s the cuteness factor. So the variable for a dolphin would be the fact that someone thinks his nose looks like a bottle. What could be more interesting than having a nose that looks like a bottle? Books and plays have been written about such noses (i.e. Cyrano de Bergerac and Pinocchio). And did I mention their smiles? It makes me so happy to look at a dolphin even when he might be sad \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d also like to give a shout out to the ladybug.\u00a0There aren\u2019t many insects that pass the cuteness test and that\u2019s all I have to say about the ladybug.<\/p>\n

As for creatures that I have no use for, sharks and snakes top my list.<\/p>\n

Why sharks? Because they can eat me? Plenty of animals can eat me including lions and tigers and bears for whom I have great admiration. Oh my!<\/p>\n

Because they can eat me in the water? Killer whales can eat me in the water and yet I would willingly let one kiss me at SeaWorld (or would have until my happy, ignorant world was rocked by \u201cBlackfish\u201d).<\/p>\n

Because they are gray and not colorful like a killer whale? I love donkeys that are also often gray and not at all colorful.<\/p>\n

Because they can\u2019t be trained like a killer whale? Cats are fine creatures that seemingly can\u2019t be trained.\u00a0 And even if it was possible to train a great white shark or perhaps a hammerhead to jump through a hoop of fire, then balance a ball on his nose and shimmy up to the side of the tank for a kiss, I\u2019d still be looking into those \u2018dead\u2019 eyes.<\/p>\n

Is it because they have \u2018dead\u2019 eyes?\u00a0 Robert the Gecko, my son\u2019s now deceased pet African leopard gecko, had \u2018dead\u2019 eyes and yet if I could take a moment to anthropomorphize Robert the Gecko I would look into his \u2018dead\u2019 eyes and he would say to me,<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going to hang out\u00a0on your hand for a bit and chillax if you don\u2019t mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all,\u201d I would say to Robert the Gecko. \u00a0\u201cStay as long as you like.\u201d<\/p>\n

So when it comes to a shark, I\u2019d have to go with all of the above.<\/p>\n

And snakes?\u00a0 Many people love snakes.\u00a0 Many more, I suspect, than love sharks.\u00a0 So why do I find them so objectionable?<\/p>\n

Is it because they crawl on their bellies? I have an even stronger aversion to water snakes than land snakes.<\/p>\n

Is it because they\u2019re so long?\u00a0\u00a0I was\u00a0very fond of my old friend Mr. Lucky, the miniature dachshund.<\/p>\n

Is it because they are poisonous?\u00a0 I\u2019m\u00a0crazy about those adorable little\u00a0blue and red Amazonian frogs that you reach out to touch in wonder and then die moments later from their deadly poison.<\/p>\n

Is it because they have no legs?\u00a0 See above for dolphins.<\/p>\n

Is it because they have \u2018dead\u2019 eyes. See above for Robert the Gecko.<\/p>\n

Is it their bad rep from the Old Testament?\u00a0 Only if that\u2019s been baked into my DNA without my knowledge (see introduction).<\/p>\n

Again, when it comes to snakes, I\u2019d have to go with all of the above.<\/p>\n

And because I don\u2019t want to neglect the insect world, I\u2019d like to add that I absolutely loathe yellow jackets and wasps.<\/p>\n

***\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s to the creatures large and small, of the air and land and sea (as the song goes).\u00a0 Here\u2019s to the creatures that I most love and to the ones that I cannot abide.\u00a0 Here are my preferences and prejudices when it comes to the Animal Kingdom.\u00a0 There is no logic.\u00a0 All creatures are Nature\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynberlabooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}