Sadie & PeeWee

Remember PeeWee? Cousin Sue just sent some new photos, of PeeWee playing with her best buddy, the hardened cow dog, Sadie [click the photos to see big ones.] I can't help but wonder if Blue Heelers are soft-mouthed dogs, or if Sadie is just soft on PeeWee.

Interspecies cuddling isn't as unusual as we might think -- my friend Cindy sent me this one about a baby squirrel and an adoptive Papillon mother, which is quite wonderful. Be sure to scroll through all the photos.

Dave at How To Save The World talks about the importance of us remembering our own connections to the other animals:

Artist Andrew Campbell recently referred me to some new work being done in the study of animal communications. He pointed out the Interspecies.com site that has been tracking developments in this area for over a decade. If you've never had an extended first-hand experience with an animal in the wild, the article by this site's author Jim Nollman titled What the Raven Said will give you a taste of what you're missing.

This is a stunning, wonderful story. It takes me back to Juneau and my many conversations with ravens there -- none so deep or marvelous as this.

Dave again:

Studying 'animal' and inter-species communication is one area to which, if I had a bit more competency and a lot more courage, I could see myself devoting my life. But trying to teach other animals our language seems to me to get it backwards, so I'm intrigued at the efforts of those who are trying to learn other species' 'languages', starting with trying to learn what needs to be learned to even begin to understand means of communication that at first we find unfathomable.

Other places to explore interspecies attachments and communication include zoosemiotics; All My Relations; Koko.org; Artful Dolphin; the flickr group zoophilia; and the above mentioned Interspecies.com.

And, of course:

Friday Ark
I and the Bird 
Carnival of the Dogs
Carnival of the Cats: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3

Just as I finished this post, a new story came up on Salon, Cat Show Plans Memorial Service for Dog:

A schnauzer-Siberian husky mix named Ginny will be eulogized Nov. 19 at the Westchester Cat Show, where she was named Cat of the Year in 1998 for her uncanny skill and bravery in finding and rescuing endangered tabbies.

Here is Ginny's Fan Club.

Keep squawking, rasping, hissing, knocking on wood.

Comments

[mj]

The photos of the squirrel adopted by the Papillon family are truly wonderful.

I am jealous of PeeWee and Sadie; it is a rare day when our Sally (Miniature Schnauzer) doesn't thump our cat, Furio. And he is a ginger cat, too!

[Anne]

I always come here expecting something a little interesting. Haven't been disappointed yet. Wonderful stuff!

[Vesna Radivojevic]

Hello,
I've just found your blog via Blaugustine, and I love it. Growing up, I had this shy and somewhat wild cat who was friendly only with our dog. They slept together during cold nights, cat over dog's stomach, to warm him up. Cat would let us pet her only when she felt like it, but had no problem with the dog, who, of course, was hostile to all other cats. And they were both adults when they first met. I still find this both amazing and amusing.
And not to forget - you are so lucky to have such cute, fat, yellow suirrels in your backyard. Great photos.

[Tata]

That you can write quiet, lovely things like this and wonder about the worth of your work speaks volumes about what you will do as an artist.