COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MAY 10, 2017
L
ife is unpredictable with
animals. They open our
eyes to what is important, gift
us laughter and remind us to
“paws” and value the small
things. Enjoy the following
four tales that illustrate how
crazy life can become when you
open your door to an animal.
Franck has been hand-feed-
ing peanuts to a squirrel, Coco,
since 2015 at his home in moun-
tainous Sunshine Valley, B.C..
Recently the little animal did
something extraordinary illus-
trating its intelligence.
Franck Ph. D., works long
into the night creating high lev-
el software for worldwide busi-
ness applications. Afterwards,
he sleeps well into the morn-
ing. Sometimes, Coco comes
in through his bedroom win-
dow looking for him when he
does not appear early enough,
so Franck keeps a few peanuts
handy for such occasions.
One very cold morning,
when no windows or doors were
open, the squirrel wanted his
treats, but the bedroom window
was closed.
Franck was slowly brought to
consciousness by several light
touches to his face. He opened
his eyes, and there was Coco,
sitting inches from his eyes.
The bright squirrel had found
a way to get in, through some
unknown gap, found his way to
Franck, and awakened him by
gently touching his face with his
paw. If there is one thing Franck
relates to, it is a “calculating”
intelligence that is used wisely.
Naturally, Coco received sever-
al extra nuts as a reward!
More along the lines of a
crazy miracle is the tale about
Franck’s wife’s (Ila) friend,
Victoria, who is a vet special-
izing in animal pathologies in
the farming community of Ab-
botsford, B.C.. Victoria was
given a rooster that fell in love
with her little white hen. “Many
people have documented,” said
Ila, a naturalist and bird expert,
“that birds fall in love.” The en-
amored feathered couple were
always together, until the one
night when Victoria was espe-
cially concerned that the hen
was missing. As darkness fell,
Victoria searched, but sadly,
found the hen drowned in the
horse’s trough.
“Feeling terrible,” said Ila,
“my friend took the wet bird
home where she noticed that
the icy cold hen was still fl exi-
ble, even though she must have
drowned a good while before.
Victoria proceeded to give
her rooster’s best friend little
mouth-to-beak breaths. She also
moved and massaged its spindly
legs. After fi ve minutes, the hen
unbelievably took a gulp of air,
and revived! Five hours later,
the hen was back to normal, and
the next day, the love affair be-
tween her and the rooster con-
tinued!”
The next cute tale is from
Cottage Grove’s city employee,
Russ’s, granddaughter, Gracie.
She proves that “kids say the
darnedest things!”
"When Gracie was four-
years-old, we took her to the
circus," said Grandpa Russ.
“When we returned home to
the farm, she marched over to a
large tree stump, climbed up on
it, and waved her arms wide to
her invisible audience proclaim-
ing, ‘Ladies and gentlemen...
today we have a cat, a dog, and
a chicken for your viewing plea-
sure,’ as she pointed to the ani-
mals clustered around her.”
This next startling tale hap-
pened to Christine in Central
Point, Oregon as she was fold-
ing laundry. “Twin fawns walk
into our yard from the woods,”
said Christine. “As I gazed
at them, I randomly thought,
‘Don’t fall into the pool.’
As soon as I thought that,
one of the babies walked
over to our ‘cement pond’,
peered in, and SPLASH!
I ran to the sliding doors
to assist in a ‘fawn-ecto-
my’, but the momma deer
beat me to it. The little
one was already out of
the pool nursing. Its twin
was gawking at its wet and
embarrassed sibling as if
to say, ‘What in the world
was THAT all about, doe-
fuss?!’”
Submit your pet’s crazy an-
tics so readers can giggle along
with your family! And if you
love Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales then
mention it on my Facebook
page:
https://www.facebook.
com/PetTipsandTales
TIPS
Does your pet fear your vac-
uum? Many pets purr-ceive that
the machines are growling at
them. Sonja, in Cottage Grove,
admits, “My cattle dog, Ben,
pretends not to mind the vacu-
um, but he doesn't trust it either,
7A
so he ‘safely’ observes it from
the couch when it is in opera-
tion.”
And for a fi nal giggle. Animal
advocate and comedian, Elayne
Boosler, admits that she and her
dog were soul mates for the fol-
lowing reasons; “We both took
naps, we both skipped lunch,
and we both hated the vacuum."
Share your pet tips and tales.
angelscribe@msn.com
“Follow” Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales
on Facebook.
Adopt Loving Pets
www.PetFinder.com
Celebrate Mother's Day by giving to charity
dren.
As the cameras scanned the landscape, the
reality of years without rain was revealed in
pictures of parched earth, animal carcasses
and bone-thin adults. Desperate villagers
line up every morning for food and water.
Trucks dispense water through hoses at $4 a
gallon. Each family hoped to get two buck-
ets full. Enough to last two days.
The faces of emaciated children brought
me to tears. The hollow-eyed babies with
tiny frames had no fl esh on their bones. They were
limp and didn’t even cry during the fi nal stages of
malnutrition. Their loving mothers were stoic as
their babies suffer with diarrhea and pneumonia
as their bodies shut down. Even the doctors are
helpless to save these precious little ones.
The situation is dire. Their lives are in God’s
hands but there are questions …how can we pos-
sibly help these children from such a distance?
How much money do we give to support the
agencies that are serving them? And how do we
know the money will buy what is needed for the
children and their families?
I don’t have all the answers. But I do want to
address the money donation amount. I have a dear
Chatterbox
By Betty Kaiser
A
newborn baby is a mother’s most pre-
cious gift. The moment that baby is put
in your arms you are fl ooded with an
inexpressible, eternal love. Nothing will ever be
more important than the child you are holding.
You will love, cherish and protect that child for-
ever. But sometimes life intervenes to make life
hard for little ones and they need more than our
love to save them
Last week the faces of mothers and their chil-
dren facing starvation in Somalia again broke my
heart as I witnessed their struggle to live. ABC
News anchor David Muir and Caroline Miles,
CEO, of Save the Children, introduced viewers
to Somalia a land of 20 million people all on the
brink of famine and starvation including the chil-
friend who is on a limited income. He regularly
sends $5 a month to his favorite charities. It’s not
much but he can afford $5. It makes him feel good
that he’s helping others and if a thousand people
do the same thing, the benefi t to the charity would
be $5,000! Think about it. Give what you can af-
ford.
I am always skeptical of organizations solicit-
ing money. So I checked out the rating for Save
the Children at this webisite: www.charitynaviga-
tor.org. I have used this reliable source for many
years. You might want to bookmark it on your
computer. It gives you organization addresses,
telephone numbers, how they spend their money,
an overall score and rating for the charity.
Save the Children’s rating was 3.1 stars (out
of 4) with 89.6% going to program expenses and
services. In the comments section there was some
chatter about salaries and other expenses. My fa-
vorite comment about the money being spent: “I
look at it this way. I'm doing what every human
should be doing and that's helping children.”
I don’t need to tell you there are a lot of scams
out there. Be careful before you impulsively give.
If you are unsure of a charity, check out such in-
ternational agencies as the Red Cross and the Sal-
vation Army. The United Nations Children’s Fund
is another option.
UNICEF was created in 1946 to provide emer-
gency food and health care to children after
WWII. It claims to have helped save more chil-
dren’s lives than any other humanitarian organi-
zation. They internationally provide health care,
clean water, nutrition, education and emergency
relief. https://www.unicefusa.org/mission
One of my favorite charities—Heifer Inter-
national—has a different approach. Founded in
1944, its mission is to empower and feed the poor.
They donate livestock to families who raise them
and breed them; children can drink the milk and
eat the eggs. Eventually they sell the excess but
they must pass on one female (goat, heifer, chick-
en or whatever) to another family. It is an amaz-
ing program and has a 3 star rating. https://www.
heifer.org/gift-catalog/index.html
P.S. As of this writing, ABC viewers have do-
nated $800,000 to Save the Children! Because
of them, thousands of lives will be saved. This
Mother’s Day consider doing the same for your
favorite charity.
Davis Shows N.W.
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