Josh, neurodivergent: Thursday afternoon the dogs were looking at something in the yard, and our large dog, Berk, was poking around. I walked over and it was an injured squirrel. It appeared to have a broken leg. and it was laying at the edge of the garden where it was a little sheltered. I decided to build it something to better protect it while it healed and went out to get supplies. When I got home,
the squirrel was still there and Berk wanted to go see it. The squirrel was very much not a fan of an 80 pound dog nosing around, and maybe Berk sensed that because he didn't really mess with it. He gets concerned about things like this, and long story short, spent the weekend laying beside the squirrel. On Saturday, the weather started getting dark, so I moved the squirrel into a box under the patio table and Berk laid with it there. Maybe it knew we weren't going to hurt it, because when I picked it up to move it to shelter it didn't resist or fight at all and was very relaxed. On Sunday afternoon when we went outside the squirrel came out from under the table and was walking around. He immediately came up to Berk, who was excited to see his little friend. A few days later now, and the squirrel has moved on from the deck and yard, though has come back a few times to see Berk. I suspect he is in the tree towards the back of our yard, because when we go out something chatters like crazy to Berk.... who of course goes wild when he sees it.
The whole thing made me think about just how important animals have always been to me. I have always been an animal person. When I was little my dad was constantly taking me out into nature in some capacity. We were avid boaters, we waded streams, hiked all over and I was really brought up to respect nature. I’ve always had a weakness for injured or homeless animals, and even did reptile rescue for a while. In recent years I’ve found a young robin, a groundhog, and the other day, the young squirrel. I’ve had reptiles, fish, birds, dogs, cats, ferrets, chinchillas, and never had a time in my life where I didn’t have some form of animal companion. I’m not sure I could ever bear a time without something.
I have always been aware that something made it difficult for me to connect to people - but I could always try to think about how I would treat an animal. With animals, whatever that connection is, I have no issue bonding with even the most unlikely things. I think a big part of that is understanding their motives easier. Their body language isn’t generally deceptive so there isn’t much in the way of figuring out what they are feeling.
Growing up I had a wolf-dog named Brindle. I used to play in the woods, usually by myself, and came across her one day. When I went home for lunch I stole the bologna and took it to her. She never left my side after and when I brought her home I’m not sure my parents really had a say in it. She knew when I was going to have a seizure (I'm epileptic) and would jump up and take me to the ground. I have always known that animals can sense things, like the horses behind our house and how they innately knew to be so gentle with my daughter when she was little. Mia, my lab-pit-mix that recently passed, was with me half my life and made it to 20 years and 2 months before she was put to sleep. I will always think that she was my caretaker, and knew when I found Kelly she could begin to relax because only then did she really begin to age.
I worked at an exotic pet shop when I was younger, which is where I became involved in reptile rescue. There were two particular animals there that were my babies- a prehensile-tailed skink and a white-throated monitor. The skink was small, maybe 18 inches from nose to tail, and would spend much of the day on my head. It was captive-born, so it wasn’t so special, but the big thing I realized is that being social was significantly easier with a lizard on my head. I assume that it was the animal and not that it was on my head, but you never know I guess. The monitor was much larger, and maybe 4.5 feet, so dog-sized. It liked to be held like you’d burp a baby, but never allowed anyone remotely as close as me. I finally took her home because she was there for so long. When my terrier-mix Smeagol was younger his best friend was a red-eared slider turtle. He would introduce it to people, literally, and if I didn’t have my wife to vouch for it wouldn't believe it either. My in-laws live in an area with a lot of deer. They have a sizable garden, so of course they do not want the deer. One time, my mother in law asked if the dogs would or could scare the deer away? I am pretty sure I still have the picture somewhere of my dog kissing a deer that knelt down to see him. I couldn’t even begin to explain just what animals do for me and how much they mean to me, large or small, snuggly or scaly. I think a large part of it is that there is no judgment, and that has been sort of the only place I have never had to worry about that. I have gone through so many ups and downs: not keeping jobs or relationships, and in general a rather turbulent life - but my pets have always been there.
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