Exceptional Story of Instant Friendship

Forwarded by Sheryll Giles
Friday, 15 April 2011 11:35 a.m.

The story begins with rescuers finding this poor little guy they named Ralphie. They had already taken him under their care but they were not equipped to adopt the dog for a longer time.

Ralphie, scared and starved, joined his rescuers.

"I wouldn't think anyone could survive this ... but I was wrong."

This little lady also survived that wreckage.

Here she is just placed in the car - scared but safe.

And then Ralphie was no longer alone!

Becoming instant friends, they comforted each other while in the car.

Two more beagles were found after that. The more, the merrier!

Oh boy, a new traveler to add to the mix. (Note: the cat is coming over the seat also needing shelter.) Now, just how is this going to work? And remember they are all strangers to one another.

It's going to work just fine, thank you very much!

Wow!

The things we learn from our animal friends. If only all of mankind could learn such valuable lessons as these. Lessons of instant friendship, of peace and harmony by way of respect for one another, no matter what their colors or creed are. These animals tell you: "It's just good to be alive and with others." Yes, surely it is! So, LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH, and as one saying goes, "Life's a Gift ... Unwrap It!"

Crocodile Whisperer

Forwarded by Anil Bhatnagar
Friday, 6 August, 2010 1:53 AM


















Rather than trying to tame wild stallions, fearless Costa Rican fisherman Chito prefers a playful wrestle in the water with his best pal Pocho, a deadly 17-foot crocodile.

The 52-year-old daredevil draws gasps of amazement from onlookers by wading chest-deep into the water, then whistling for his 980-pound buddy and giving him an affectionate hug.


















Chito befriended the crocodile after finding it with a gunshot wound on the banks of the Central American state's Parismina River 20 years ago. He had been shot in the left eye by a cattle farmer and was close to death. But Chito enlisted the help of several pals to load the massive reptile into his boat.

He said: "When I found Pocho in the river he was dying, so I brought him into my house. He was very skinny, weighing only around 150 pounds. I gave him chicken and fish and medicine for six months to help him recover. I stayed by Pocho's side while he was ill, sleeping next to him at night. I just wanted him to feel that somebody loved him, that not all humans are bad. It meant a lot of sacrifice. I had to be there every day. I love all animals, especially the ones that have suffered."

It took years before Chito felt that Pocho had bonded with him enough to get closer to the animal.














Chito said: "After a decade, I started to work with him. At first it was slow, slow. I played with him a bit, slowly doing more. Then I found out that when I called his name he would come over to me."

At one point during his recovery, Chito left the crocodile in a lake near his house. But as he turned to walk away, to his amazement Pocho got out of the water and began to follow him home.

Chito recalled: "That convinced me the crocodile could be tamed."

But when he first fearlessly waded into the water with the giant reptile, his family was so horrified they could not bear to watch. So instead, he took the splashing session with Pocho when they were asleep.

Four years ago, Chito showed some of his tricks to friends, including getting the animal to close his eyes on command, and they convinced him to go public with a show.





















Now, he swims and plays with Pocho as well as feeding him at the lake near his home in the lowland tropical town of Sarapiqui.














The odd couple have now become a major tourist attraction, with several tour operators, including Crocodile Adventures, taking visitors on touring cruises to see the pair.
















On the Crocodile Adventures website it describes the spectacle as: "One of the most amazing things that no cruise ship passenger will want to miss, the adventure show between the man and the crocodile."

Friendship of a Hippopotamus and a Tortoise

Forwarded by laStrie
Wednesday, 17 June, 2009 6:08 PM


"Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed." - Rachel Naomi Remen, MD

















NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said.

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owenand weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.
















"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 ecologist added. "The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.















"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained.

















"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

















This is a real story that shows that our differences don't matter much when we need the comfort of another. We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures of God. "Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together."

Humorous Feline Posters

Forwarded by SHADOW Kamen
Tuesday, 15 December, 2009 1:26 PM