connections

Here's a picture I took of our pets taking a nap after a big lunch (check out that belly). We've always been curious why these dogs never fought with the cat.

our pets

They bark at other cats but not this one, they always got along. How does one being connect with another? Here are other pairings that show how friends can come in all forms and sizes.


Suryia and Roscoe

suryiaandroscoe.com

"Roscoe looked really thin and a little lost so we fed him and took care of him. He followed us through the gate and ran over and found Suryia. As soon as he saw Roscoe, Suryia ran over to him and they started playing. It was unusual because dogs are usually scared of primates but they took to each other straight away. We made a few calls to see if he belonged to anyone and when no-one came forward, Roscoe ended up staying.", says Dr. Bhagavan Antle, founder of The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS).



Owen and Mzee

owenandmzee.com

 “It is incredible! A less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’,” ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP. “After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together. The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,” Kahumbu added.  


Tarra and Bella

elephants.com

"When it's time to eat they both eat together. They drink together. They sleep together. They play together," says Carol Buckley, co-founder of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennesee. Bella, the dog even lets Tarra pet her tummy. When she suffered a spinal cord injury, Tarra visited and just stood outside the sanctuary office for days until she was able to walk. "She just stood outside the balcony - just stood there and waited," says Buckley.

 I noticed that most of these connections started when they were either very young or have experienced loss.  I guess some special bonds are formed when one is at his weakest and the other willingly gives time to be his companion.  There's no big secret, nothing spectacular needed in order to connect-- you don't even have to be from same species. You simply have to be there.

Sources: 
http://www.suryiaandroscoe.com/their_story.asp 
http://www.floristone.com/hippopotamus-tortoise.html http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/02/assignment_america/main4696340.shtml