You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Animal Stories and Principles’ category.
Hamsters on a wheel
As a dad, one of the more common statements that I make to my kids is, “…it’s what separates us from the animals!”
For example, “Hayden, use a knife and fork, it’s what separates us from the animals.”
Or perhaps, “Madison, use your inside voice, it’s what separates us from the animals.”
Or even, “Logan, don’t tease your sister, it’s what separates us from the animals.”
(Seriously, don’t judge me until you’ve tried it.)
Anyway, for some obscure reason, I was considering the differences between hamsters and people the other day and came up with the following aspects. Please note this is not an exhaustive list and doesn’t include references to body hair: Read the rest of this entry »
Macaw (Photo credit: @Doug88888)
Peter Parrot came home upset and confused.
“What’s wrong?” his mother asked.
“I hate my stupid beak!” Peter blurted.
“Why do you hate your beak? I think it’s beautiful,” his mother said reassuringly.
“All of the other birds have much cooler beaks. Sammy Spoonbill, Pammy Pelican, Harry Hawk, Freddy Finch, all of them!”
Peter’s mother sat silently for a moment. “He may be right,” she thought to herself, they do have very cool beaks.
“You should go and see Major Macaw, he’ll know what to do. He’s the wisest of the parrots and lives in the tallest tree in the forest. Yes, he’ll know what to do,” responded Peter’s mother.
So Peter Parrot flew to the tallest tree in the forest and found Major Macaw.
Cape Buffalo and calf, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One day, on the plains of Africa, a young buffalo named Walter approached his dad and asked him if there was anything that he should be afraid of.
“Only lions my son,” his dad responded.
“Oh yes, I’ve heard about lions. If I ever see one, I’ll turn and run as fast as I can,” said Walter.
“No, that’s the worst thing you can do,” said the large male.
“Why? They are scary and will try to kill me.”
The dad smiled and explained, “Walter, if you run away, the lions will chase you and catch you. And when they do, they will jump on your unprotected back and bring you down.”
“So what should I do?” asked Walter.
Yawning Vervet Monkey. Samburu National Reserve, Kenya. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Two monkeys, a father and his young son, were sitting in a large tree together.
The son turned to his dad and said, “I’m hungry, can you get me some leaves to eat?”
The father looked at his son and smiled, “Well, then you had better get some yourself.”
“But I don’t know how.” the son protested.
“You have a choice,” responded the dad. ”You can pick the dry, unpalatable leaves that are found near the trunk or you can go to the edge of the limbs and choose the freshest, most delectable leaves.”
“That’s not fair, why can’t the nicest leaves be found where everyone can get to them easily?”
Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) Image taken by Clark Anderson/Aquaimages. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of my favourite bloggers is Michael Hyatt and he recently shared a story about an experiment that was conducted a few years ago by a marine biologist.
The biologist placed a barracuda into a small tank and then added some small bait fish.
As you would expect, the barracuda quickly ate the smaller fish.
Then the researcher inserted a piece of glass into the tank, creating two separate sections. He put the barracuda on one side and new bait fish into the other.
The barracuda immediately attacked.
This time, however, he hit the glass and bounced off.
Undaunted, the barracuda kept repeating this behaviour every few minutes.
