Ever since they saved Rome by attacking the Gauls who were sneaking up the hill, geese have been bodacious. Too big for their britches, if they had any. Worse, they inspire a lot of other birds to emulate them.
Somehow the idea of being chased by an angry chicken is embarrassing.
Who knew chickens were so affectionate? My grandpa used to raise chickens for food, and my mother told us lurid stories about that. Yeesh. But after you’ve hugged ’em, after you’ve had ’em on your lap, you can’t possibly eat ’em! Go ahead, call me a softy, I don’t care. The blessings God has showered on us–who can count them? God’s stuff is good!
After learning about how hard it is to care for various kinds of birds, Patty and I got to wondering about chickens as pets. Those of you who’ve lived in the country won’t find this surprising, but to this suburban boy, it’s one of those “Why didn’t anybody tell me about this?” moments. My grandpa kept chickens, but they were for eating: my mother had some rather lurid tales about that.
But it seems chickens are friendly, cuddly, reasonably calm, don’t require exotic or expensive food, and can get along with dogs and cats as well as people. What’s not to like?
Cats and dogs, goats and birds–they figure things out, they really do. They come up with original ideas for problem-solving. I suspect they’re smarter than whoever was standing there with a camera while the dog jumped up on the counter and fiddled with the microwave.
There is one bird in this video who’s not joking, not playing around. In fact, he’s somebody you want with you if you have to walk through poisonous snake country. That’s the secretary bird, the big bird having it out with the rubber cobra: and their mission in life is to kill and eat snakes–even the most dangerous ones.
The other birds are just having a good time.
This cockatoo has mastered a foreign language–Cattish. Assorted meows, hisses: he’s got it all down pat. These cats are just flustered by his almost undetectable accent. They think he sounds like he’s from Kentucky.
Someday the lion will lie down with the lamb. In the meantime, this cat lies down with three ducklings. Not only that: it’s a momma cat, with kittens, and she suckles the ducklings! And we may safely ignore the narrator’s “scientific” explanation of it.
These kittens and ducklings are going to grow up to be very unusual cats and ducks.
I wonder if the world is changing. My dog Rags used to pretend to be asleep, tricking the birds into coming down to steal his dog food. Then he’d catch them and eat them. I don’t know why he did that.
But here’s a little bird determined to wake a sleepy cat, and the cat puts up with him without showing the slightest inclination to eat him. Who thought a cat and a parakeet could be friends?
Another little glimpse of what God’s Kingdom looks like.
You should see all the low-down, unedifying news stories I passed up covering today. Well, maybe you shouldn’t see them: I wish I hadn’t.
Anyway, for something completely different, wholesome, and soothing, here’s somebody’s pet barn owl doing some serious cuddling. A barn owl! Who would have ever thought it?
We do have much to be grateful for. Thank you, Father.
What is this–a Freddy the Pig book? All these animals need is to start their own newspaper…
Nah. It’s just a cat, a hamster, and two parakeets in happy harmony: don’t you wish you could join this bunch? I don’t know, I think maybe God is trying to show us something. Something it would be good for us to see.