ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN

FROM MY CHILDHOOD I WAS A LONELY CHILD AND MY PLAYMATES WERE NOT ALWAYS HUMAN. AT 4 YEARS OLD, I BEGAN COLLECTING JUNE BUGS. HOW I LOVED MY LITTLE FRIENDS. I GATHERED THEM, AS MANY AS I COULD AND SAVED THEM ON OUR PORCH SCREENS. THE HOUSEKEEPER FRIEND THAT TOOK CARE OF ME, MY SISTER, AND MY BROTHER DECIDED THEY WERE JUST BUGS. SHE DID NOT KNOW THEY WERE MY FRIENDS AND THREW THEM ALL OUT. SHE SOON LEARNED A FOUR-YEAR-OLDS TEMPER WAS NOTHING TO BE RECKONED WITH.

FREDA STEVENS, NOW LONG SINCE DEAD, HAD HER FEELINGS HURT BY ME AND MY ANGER SO BADLY THAT IT WAS SOME TIME BEFORE SHE RETURNED TO HELP MY MOTHER OUT. FREDA DID HOWEVER FORGIVE THIS NAUGHTY ANGRY LITTLE FOUR-YEAR-OLD. BUT I NEVER LOST MY LOVE FOR INSECTS, FUR, AND FEATHERED CREATURES.

I HAVE MANY STORIES OF MANY ANIMAL AND INSECT PETS OVER MY LIFE SPAN OF 78 YEARS. THIS PHOTO IS OF VALENTINE THE OPOSSUM THAT I HAD FOUND OR SHOULD I SAY RESCUED ONE NIGHT FROM MY DOGS ON VALENTINES DAY IN 2019.

PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE UGLY AND MEAN BUT NOT SO! THEY ARE SWEET AND CUDDLY AND USE THEIR LOOKS TO WARD OFF OTHERS BECAUSE OF FEAR. FEAR OF BEING HURT OR KILLED.

VALENTINE LIVED IN THE CLOSET OF MY LAUNDRY ROOM FOR SEVERAL MONTHS UNTIL SOMEONE ACCIDENTALLY LEFT THE BACK DOOR OPEN AND SHE LEFT ONLY TO STAY CLOSE BY. SHE DUG UNDER THE CONCRETE PAD OF MY HOME TO STAY NEAR FOOD I PUT OUT FOR HER.

THE NIGHT I CAUGHT HER AND AS I HELD HER I RAN MY FINGERS ALONG THE UNDERSIDE OF HER BELLY AND THEY SLIPPED INTO HER MARSUPIAL POUCH WHERE I COULD FEEL TINY LIFE. FEET, TAILS, AND LITTLE WARM BODIES ATTACHED TO THE INSIDE POUCH OF TEETS AS THEY SUCKED THEIR NOURISHMENT FROM THE MOTHER AS THEY NURSED FOR THE LIFE-GIVING MILK SHE PROVIDED. I DID NOT GET TO HAVE HER LONG ENOUGH TO SEE THE BABIES LEAVE THE POUCH AS I HAVE DONE ON ANOTHER OCCASION WITH ANOTHER OPOSSUM YEARS AGO IN MY OTHER HOUSE. AND THAT IS ANOTHER STORY.

VALENTINE LIKED TO BE HELD IN MY ARMS AND ROCKED IN THE ROCKING CHAIR LIKE A BABY. HER BITE LOOKS VICIOUS BUT THE WAY HER MOUTH IS BUILT SHE DOES NOT HAVE THE FORCE TO INFLICT A HARD DAMAGING BITE. IT IS A CASE OF LOOKS BEING DECEPTIVE. IT IS SAID YOU CANT JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER AND THIS ALSO APPLIED TO HER. AND TO THE OTHERS I HAVE HAD. ANY BITE I RECEIVED FROM HER, IN THE BEGINNING, WAS INFLICTED FROM HER FEARS BUT NOT BECAUSE OF BEING MEAN AND VICIOUS. IN ANY CASE, ALL I EVER RECEIVED FROM HER WERE SCRATCHES. NO DEEP WOUNDS.

OPOSSUM ARE RELATIVELY FREE OF RABIES AND THERE IS NO FEAR OF GETTING IT FROM THEM. THEY ARE BENEFICIAL AS THEY EAT TICKS THAT LOVE TO EAT ON US. AND YES, THEY DO EAT CHICKEN EGGS BUT I HAVE YET TO LOSE A CHICKEN TO A OPOSSUM ONLY AN EGG OR TWO. THEY EAT CAT AND DOG FOOD WHEN THEY CAN GET IT AND OFTEN CAN BE FOUND EATING ALONGSIDE THE SAME CATS OR DOGS.

SADLY, THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS LONG-LIVED. I RECENTLY RAISED A FEW-WEEK-OLD FEMALE LOST FROM HER MOTHER DURING A HARD RAINSTORM ONE NIGHT. SHE SURVIVED FOR SEVERAL WEEKS BUT THEN WHAT I BELIEVE IS SHE WAS DEPRESSED AND BEGAN TO HAVE FAILURE TO THRIVE SYNDROME AND SHE DIED. I HAD GONE ONLINE AND WAS ABLE TO LEARN AND DETERMINE FROM THE INFORMATION HER AGE OF ABOUT 8 TO 9 WEEKS OLD. SHE LIVED FOR 2 MONTHS BEFORE DYING. I FOLLOWED ALL THE FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS AND EVERYTHING I WAS ABLE TO FIND ABOUT RAISING ORPHANED OPOSSUMS SO SHE SHOULD HAVE LIVED BUT ONE DAY I HAD FOUND ANOTHER YOUNG BUT OLDER BABY THAT HAD BEEN INJURED AND WHEN IT DIED MY LITTLE ONE LOST ALL HOPE AND SOON FOLLOWED. SHE WAS NOT SICK BUT SHE JUST GAVE UP.

I AM A REGISTERED NURSE AND OVER MANY YEARS HAVE CARED FOR MANY WILD AND DOMESTIC CREATURES AND NO MATTER HOW HARD ONE MAY TRY AND HOW GOOD THE CARE IS AND ALL THE THINGS ONE DOES RIGHT SOMETIMES THEY DO NOT SURVIVE. ONE CAN ONLY DO THE BEST ONE CAN. SOMETIMES WE WIN AND OTHER TIMES WE DON'T. SAD BUT TRUE.

NOW HERE IS ONE LITTLE FIGHTER. I CALL HIM "COTTON". COTTON THE UNDAUNTED!

i have a blind pure white puppy named "cotton". Collie/Great Pyrenees mix. a few months old. he is a male and is ever so smart. when his litter mate's eyes opened his eyes remained closed. eventually, the eyelids did open but not all the way. i believe he is also deaf but he is ever so smart. he feels his way around and holds his head up and back as though looking or maybe seeing something and he goes up and down the stairs. comes to the door and scratches and barks to be let in and to go back out. he finds the food pans and water on his own. right now he is in and he comes to my office and then finds me. he lays under the desk at my feet. when he wants to be picked up he stands up and paws me to pick him up. he is soft and white like cotton candy. he plays with his brothers as he if sees them. he sniffs the air and knows where he is and who is there. he is brave. when he runs into things he is undaunted and backs up and thinks about where he is and where he is wanting to go and he goes again. undaunted he carries on like the trooper that he is. he may be disabled but he does not let that stop him.

HE IS COTTON! COTTON THE BLIND DEAF PUPPY THAT WILL ONE DAY BE A BIG DOG LIKE HIS PARENTS. BUT HE IS SO SMART AND DOES NOT LET HIS DISABILITY STOP HIM. HE COULD BE A LESSON FOR MANY PEOPLE THAT WHEN THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SHOULD BE THEN KEEP TRYING AND DON'T STOP. HE IS A PRECIOUS LITTLE DOG WITH A BIG LESSON TO TEACH OTHERS THAT JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT PERFECT DOES NOT MEAN THEY SHOULD STOP TRYING.

COTTON IS PERFECT. HE IS A DOG AND HE IS SO FULL OF LOVE FOR EVERYONE AND DOES NOT KNOW HE IS BLIND OR DEAF. TO HIM HE IS JUST AS HE SHOULD BE. JUST AS HE MADE HIM TO BE. SOFT, WHITE, AND CUDDLY. HE IS JUST BLIND BUT DOES NOT LET THAT STOP HIM FROM BEING HAPPY. I LOVE MY LITTLE COTTON AND SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE. HE IS A BIG BUNDLE OF NOTHING BUT FUR AND LOVE. AND AN INSPIRATION TO ALL THAT HAVE MET HIM.

"DON'T LET A DISABILITY BE A STOPPING POINT IN YOUR LIFE. YOU STILL HAVE VALUE AND WORTH"!

I HAVE MANY OTHER INSPIRATIONAL STORIES OF ANIMALS AND PETS I HAVE KNOWN IN ALL MY 78 YEARS TO SHARE AND I WILL BE WRITING MORE ABOUT THEM AS I TRAVEL ALONG ON THE WRITING JOURNEY OF MY LIFE. MANY PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME I CAN WRITE FOR THE BLIND TO SEE AND SO I OFFER THIS AS A BEGINNING AND NOT THE END OF MY WRITING CAREER.