Animal Tales

"Animal Tales": Notes from my ride today.

My house is heavy, but I am used to the weight. I carry it with me wherever I go; and though I move slowly, I always get to where I want to be in perfect time. Never too early and never too late. I just arrive when I want to arrive, settle down, and enjoy my life.

This morning, I decided to cross a road. The blacktop was warm from the sun, my little feet dancing across the surface. In the middle of the road was a beautiful orange and yellow line, like the color of my eyes. In the peaceful and tranquil woods, it was the perfect spot for me to sun myself.

When suddenly a girl riding a bike blew by me. I poked my head out of my shell, and watched as she circled around. She got off her bike, spoke some words to me about being careful when crossing the road, and picked me up. Momentarily, I felt myself airborne. It was pure exhilaration. I stretched my neck out as long as I could, and extended my arms. I got a peek at this girl, with her white helmet, sunglasses, and blue jersey.

Together we forayed past the road, into the woods, where she set me down on a new sunny spot covered in green grass with a muddy pond nearby. Although I miss the smooth pavement of the blacktop surface, this will do nicely. Me and my home are happy.

I am a turtle.


My best friend is white and much smaller than me. I am huge compared to her; my ears constantly itch, I have a tail, I don’t have feathers, and my beak ends in a long snout. I have never seen my best friend milked, but its something that I have done every morning. Together we enjoy spending time at the edge of a muddy pond. We keep each other company and I enjoy seeing her splash in the pond.

We are inseperable.

I am a BIG Crane. At least I think I am…

My best friend is black, has udders, and is a giant compared to me. I am small and delicate; I have feathers that must be tended to, my snout is yellow and long, and I don’t have a swishing tail. I have never seen my best friend fly, but I know she could do it if she really tried – even though I can’t see her wings. Together we enjoy spending time on the edge of a muddy pond. We keep each other company and I enjoy watching her tail swish at the pond’s edge.

We are inseperable.

I am a SMALL cow. At least I think I am…

Together, we watched a white-helmeted girl on a red bike go zooming by our pond this morning. As she flew past, she yelled, “Good Morning Cows! Good Morning Cranes!” She was going much faster than we would have preferred. So we went back to spending time together next to our muddy pond. We are best friends and are inseperable.


The Kids have gotten out again, but we chew and we chew and we chew some more, and then we watch them frolic in green fields and pastures. Our home is next to a busy trail, where we see all sorts of other creatures pass by. And still, we chew and we chew and we chew.

We live on a farm with lots of others like us. The farmer that takes care of us says that we make the best cheese. We don’t know what cheese is, or how it tastes. We get milked every morning, but as long as we have lots of clover and grass we can keep chewing. So we chew and we chew and we chew.

Our Kids are miniature versions of us. The buck and they play. And of course they chew. And chew and chew. Together we sit in the shade, under the Like Oak tree, watching as people pass on the trail. They do not chew. They do not know what they’re missing.

So we bleat and we baa-aaa, and we chew and chew and chew.

This morning, very early, we watched as two girls sped by us on bikes. They looked like they were in a hurry to go somewhere. We prefer a simple life. We keep each other company, we make great cheese, and we chew and chew and chew.

We are goats.


I am brown. But sometimes I am green. And I have a tail. But sometimes it is not there. It takes 3 months to grow back. I live in the forest in the bushes. But I move fast fast fast, going wherever I can with my little legs.

Did you know I change color? If the surface is brown, I turn brown. If it is green, I turn green. I am smart. I have adapted. And I can avoid capture. But sometimes I have to loose my tail in order to do so.

And that’s not really fun. It takes a while to grow a good looking tail. And I always like to look my best for when the ladies are close by.

My tongue tastes the air, and I decide it’s safe to cross the road.

WOA! I nearly got hit by some crazy girl on a bike. She wasn’t there and then suddenly she was. My camouflage must be working: I am smart. I have adapted. She couldn’t see me. So I run and run and run and run and run, my little legs carrying me to the other side.

I made it over in record time.

I look back, proud of my speed, and to my dismay, see that my tail is gone. No wonder why I ran so fast. Her bike clipped my tail. Silly biker. She doesn’t have a tail, so she doesn’t know that my tail is my pride and joy. Now it will take another 3 months to grow a new one. And the one I had was so good… There go “ladies nights” by the pond for a while.

I am a (now tail-less) lizard.



I don’t have a name, but I am fierce. I am about 12 weeks old, but I know I’m a big girl. I will survive. I will get through this. This is just one more hurdle for me to overcome. But I don’t really know how to use my front legs for the time being. They were working so great: I was pouncing on butterflies and bugs, learning from my brothers and sisters and Mother, and suddenly I find myself laying on the middle of the road.

The road is nice and warm, and my legs don’t feel so good. I think I’ll just stay here for a while and close my eyes. I am sleepy.

I hear a voice before I open my eyes. There is a girl with a white helmet and blue jersey. I think I have seen others like her, but this one is new. I am so sleepy and my paws still hurt. She picks me up, speaks soothingly in my ear. I try to tell her that I’m fierce, but she just strokes my head and I feel myself drifting off to sleep.

She cradles me in her arms, and I feel salty droplets on my fur. I look up and see that she is crying. I tell her I am brave and FIERCE and I show her my pink pads and claws. And my sharp teeth. They are pointy! But she looks so sad. She takes me to a soft mossy spot under a tree and lays my paws under my body. I can’t feel my front paws, but I am fierce. She tells me to stay put and that she’ll be back as fast as she can.

And then she gets back on her bike and rides away.

It takes a long time, and I wonder if my friend is ever going to return. I am fierce though, so I can get through this. I think I’ll take a nap. My front legs are beginning to hurt more and more. And for the first time, I am a little scared.

Soon, I wake up. I see a butterfly land near my tail and I flick it up and see the butterfly fly away. For now I decide to let him go; he’s safe from my fierceness. Just then, a grey car drives by. I am afraid for a moment, but this isn’t the car that hit me before.

Suddenly my friend gets out. She is not wearing the white helmet, but she has the same blue jersey and same comforting voice. She tries to pick me up, and this time I am ready. I show her how fierce I am and try to bound away. But my front paws don’t work, and I stumble forward. She eventually picks me up but I am a strong and fierce little one: and I manage to get away.

I wriggle under the grey car, passing a pile of dog poop, a few dandelions, and a nest of red ants. I don’t like red ants, and certainly don’t like dog doodoo. But dandelions are fun to play with. I see her looking at me from under the car, and I crawl up into the wheel. I feel safe, but my paws are really hurting.

Soon, I feel a tug at my rear leg. And then another tug. I can’t hang on any more, and I am being pulled out from under the car by the girl with the blue jersey. She has kneeled on the dog doodoo, and has red ants all over her other knee. I think that she’s going to wipe herself off with the big fluffy white towel. Instead, she puts ME in the towel and gently pulls the top over.

I try to wriggle away, but am unsuccessful. I don’t want to go anywhere; I am fierce and strong and brave. And at 12 weeks, I know a lot! But my paws hurt a lot.

The girl puts me in the car, but I can’t see anything because I am wrapped in warm towels. They feel soft, but I still meow because I am now scared. And my legs hurt a lot.

She talks to me and tells me that she’s going to take me to an Emergency Vet Clinic, that she has a House Monster named Tabbitha, and starts calling me Coal or Chloe. She doesn’t know that I’m a girl. So it should be Chloe! But I’m grey. And I’m fierce and brave and only 12 weeks old! But my paws hurt.

I feel her touch on the outside of my towel, and I snuggle in its depths. I am still scared, but she doesn’t seem to want to eat me. I am still scared of the car that hit me. At least I think that’s what happened, because I don’t really remember much. I just woke up in the middle of the road, my family was gone, my paws hurt, and this funny looking girl was carefully picking me up.

The car stops and she picks me up, towel and all. I stay quiet and still in the towels, even though I am brave and fierce and strong. She carries me into the Vet Clinic and tells the nurse about finding me in the middle of the road, alive but unable to move. But I try to tell them that I can move! I am fierce and strong! But my paws hurt.

She hands me to another very nice lady who smells of clean linen and rubber shoes. The lady takes me in a back room, examines my paws and gives me a shot of something that makes me very sleepy. My paws don’t hurt as much, and I like the dark room. I try to bare my fangs and show my claws; I want to world to know how fierce and brave I am. But I am finally comfortable. Even though I miss my brothers and sisters and mother, and miss the butterflies that I like to chase, I fall into a deep sleep.

As I am beginning to dream of field mice and beetles, I am told that I will get an x-ray.

I wonder where my blue jersey friend went. I miss her.

I am still sleepy, but I hear two nice ladies discussing my x-ray. They are looking at me, and looking at the film. I am still sleepy and my paws hurt. But they’re not as bad as they used to. I am wheeled to another room, where a very nice lady puts something called splints both my front legs. I show them my teeth and sharp claws: I am fierce and I am brave! I don’t want these things on my legs, but I am told that both of my humorous bones are broken.

I don’t know about that. I just want to run and to jump and to play. I hear the doctor who has put the splints on my legs tell another lady to call the blue jersey girl who brought me in. They want to decide what will happen to me. All I want to do is cuddle up with my brothers and sisters, romp through fields and play.

My paws still hurt, but they’re feeling better. I’m back in the dark room and so sleepy. I take a nap and finally get into a comfy position with my two new splints. I close my eyes and drift off to kitty slumber once again…

I know I am safe, and I know that I’ll be okay. I’m fierce and brave and strong all rolled into one. My legs may be broken, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t still charge on forward. Today was a hard day. But tomorrow I’ll get new splints on my legs and on Friday, I’ll get to see the girl in the blue jersey who rescued me. All I need is a warm bowl of cream and I’ll be puurrrr-fect.

I am a Kitten with 2 broken Legs (found on Indian Ford Road, about 1 mile off Munson Highway)