Nature's Wonderful Balance...

[MOB Karen]

Love...

The hippo and the tortoise … What a story!

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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 Owen and 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.

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"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.

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"After it was swept 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 follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.


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One post to follow...

[MOB Karen]

"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.


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

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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.



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Save the Earth... it's the only planet with chocolate

[WhiskeyGirl]

That is so sweet! Thanks for sharing Karen!! :)

[cowboysbride]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWW! **** it Karen, I got tears in my eyes!

[LaceyinPgh]

I love that story. It made me cry because I love animals so much. And I have a place in my heart for hippos because they are so darn cute.

[cowboysbride]

I need to get pics of Sparky for ya'll!

Here's his story...

Sparky is a bottle fed bull calf of ours, his mother prolapsed shortly after he was born and died on us. At the time we thought the baby was still in her so we did the farmly duty and removed her body for disposal. We went back into the field (checking on other expectant mother cows) and saw a little head pop up from behind the hay roll...it was her baby, he was actually born and got to nurse (which is a good thing becasue the first milk is full of cholostrum and essential to good health) so Eric picks him up, I am driving the 4 wheeler (this was also a sight to behold) and we brought him back to the barn, dried him off and gave him a bottle of calfmanna (subsitute for mothers milk). He has been fed 3 times a day ever since (2/06) and is now at 150 lbs (approximately)...

Now for the funny part....Sparky is a bull calf...charolais at that (which means he is genetically inclined to be tempermental anyway)...he plays tag with Eric and tries to nurse on anything (you know what I mean) that protrudes from the body...upper area or lower area! So now we have essentially a 150 lb bull that doesn't know he is a bull! He still thinks he's itty bitty...I will get pics and post them for you! He likes to run up behind you and bump you on the arse (tag...your it) and he tries to knock you down so he can lay on you and "cuddle"...right now its funny and only a tiny bit bothersome....when he gets to be about 1500 lbs we could have a PROBLEM!

I was laughing about it and Eric's dad (gruff burly farmer man) said no, we won't have a problem we'll change his name to HAMBURGER...(yes it's mean but it's also part of farming) been to Wal-Mart lately...that ain't veggie burgers in the cooler!

Fortunatley Sparky is ours (mine and Eric's) so we will take him to auction and kiss his little wet nose and walk away (with kind memories of our baby bull).

[StaceyMc]

I had that pic up as my wallpaper on my office monitor for a long long time. It made me smile everyday!

[usahgrad]

AWW! The Hippo pictures are the cutest! I LOVE hippos! They're my favorite (they've taken over our bathroom)! I keep saying I want to get a pigmy hippo! Jason is nixing that idea though! :) That was a great story!

[AngelinLove]

That was a really great story Karen. Thanks so much for sharing!!! Those were soem really awesome pictures!!!

[WhiskeyGirl]

Ellen,

Your story is so sweet also. My uncle has had cows die on their calves, he just usually looks for a dead calf and sad momma, skins the dead calf, puts the hide on the live calf and hopes that the two will take to each other! Bah!! The circle of life eh??!!

[cowboysbride]

OK so maybe I'm NOT as cowgirly as I think I am........ewwwwwwww skin the dead calf...I understand it all and thinks its really smart but you'd find me behind a bush barfing!

[LaceyinPgh]

Ellen,

Your story is so sweet also. My uncle has had cows die on their calves, he just usually looks for a dead calf and sad momma, skins the dead calf, puts the hide on the live calf and hopes that the two will take to each other! Bah!! The circle of life eh??!!

Ok, we just solidified the already known fact: farming life is not for Lacey.

[cowboysbride]

Ok, we just solidified the already known fact: farming life is not for Lacey.

I can work hay, fence, feed, and work cattle all day long but I ain't skinning chit 'cept maybe the KFC Original Recipe chicken breast on my plate!

[MOB Karen]

Ok, we just solidified the already known fact: farming life is not for Lacey.

I would just look into their little faces, and there is no way that I could send them to slaughter or skin them. They would be my pets at that point and I would bawl my eyes out if anything happened to them. And there is no way in hell, I'm going to eat them!! YUCK!!!

[cowboysbride]

I would just look into their little faces, and there is no way that I could send them to slaughter or skin them. They would be my pets at that point and I would bawl my eyes out if anything happened to them. And there is no way in hell, I'm going to eat them!! YUCK!!!

Yep thats why Sparky is going to the auction, he is a pet (due to his circumstances) but he is also a Bull calf...so when he gets to be about 1500-1800 lbs it won't be cute anymore it'll be dangerous...he would be thinking he wanted to play but him charging at you to play tag would be life threatening, and since he is a bull he has hormones (which makes him there for one reason and one reason only...breed the cows) which also makes him dangerous...when they get in the "mood" nothing gets in their way...

The dead calf was skinned to give the live calf a chance for survival...
It's like Shawna says "a circle of life" we'll raise our own beef for consumption but I'm sure I won't be out there petting it. But I understand how you feel completely!

[MOB Karen]

Yep thats why Sparky is going to the auction, he is a pet (due to his circumstances) but he is also a Bull calf...so when he gets to be about 1500-1800 lbs it won't be cute anymore it'll be dangerous...he would be thinking he wanted to play but him charging at you to play tag would be life threatening, and since he is a bull he has hormones (which makes him there for one reason and one reason only...breed the cows) which also makes him dangerous...when they get in the "mood" nothing gets in their way...

The dead calf was skinned to give the live calf a chance for survival...
It's like Shawna says "a circle of life" we'll raise our own beef for consumption but I'm sure I won't be out there petting it. But I understand how you feel completely!

I know that this has to happen on farms, and that you guys are really used to it. It's like farm people have no problem going out and getting their chicken for dinner. But I swear to God, if I saw that chicken alive, I couldn't eat it. It turns my stomach to even think about eating it. Meat has to be wrapped in plastic before I would be able to eat it. And I know that sounds stupid, but it is the honest to God truth.

[LaceyinPgh]

I grew up around my grandparents' farm but it hadn't been a working farm in years. Anyway my grandmother always kept a few chickens for eggs and for the occasional fresh chicken. My grandfather always had a cow that met it's end in the winter. But I caught on quick that if you named them and played with them, they were safe. So when I was about 8 my grandfather brought home a calf that I christened Frosty. Frosty shared a field with my pony so when I was with one I was with the other. Frosty died a few years later of natural causes and it was the last cow my grandparents ever bought. I never ate the chickens after I found out that they were the ones that I collected eggs from and played with when the were peeps either. Eventually my family caught on that if they didn't go to the grocery store, I was going to starve to death. They were stubborn about holding out til I was hungry enough but then they realized how stubborn I was when it came to principle. Until I was about 12 I would make my mother or grandmother let me watch them remove the plastic from the meat to prove it wasn't my friends.

[CindySue]

I know that this has to happen on farms, and that you guys are really used to it. It's like farm people have no problem going out and getting their chicken for dinner. But I swear to God, if I saw that chicken alive, I couldn't eat it. It turns my stomach to even think about eating it. Meat has to be wrapped in plastic before I would be able to eat it. And I know that sounds stupid, but it is the honest to God truth.
In a way Im the same, but I will watch Brian skin a fish, then I will dip it in corn meal, fry it up and have a great dinner.......I wonder if its just because fish are slimy and not cute and fuzzy!

[MOB Karen]

In a way Im the same, but I will watch Brian skin a fish, then I will dip it in corn meal, fry it up and have a great dinner.......I wonder if its just because fish are slimy and not cute and fuzzy!

I don't have any problem with the fish either, other than the fact that if it comes to my plate, I don't want to know that it had a face at one time.

[cowboysbride]

Meat has to be wrapped in plastic before I would be able to eat it. And I know that sounds stupid, but it is the honest to God truth.

No it doesn't sound stupid, I've always been around farms but this "farming" thing is new to me too...Eric skinned a turkey that he killed during spring turkey season in front of me and I excused myself...I told him I had to go pee but I actually had to go HURL...

I came back and marinated it in italian dressing, two days later I then basted it in BBQ seasonings and sauce...grilled it up and had a bowl of cereal while he ate turkey!

[LaceyinPgh]

I don't have any problem with the fish either, other than the fact that if it comes to my plate, I don't want to know that it had a face at one time.
When I go to the fish market I make the fish monger take the head off before he gives it to me. I'm not decapitating a **** thing! The ohter day I was forced to buy fresh mussels when I usually buy the frozen ones. Anyway, after I got them home, scrubbed, and ready to go into the pot it dawned on me that they were still alive. So I walked outside and told Sean if he wanted to eat he had better go finish dinner. I sat on the patio while he did the deed. There was no way in hell I was sending them to their steamy little deaths, invertebrate or not I wasn't playing executioner.

[cowboysbride]

Until I was about 12 I would make my mother or grandmother let me watch them remove the plastic from the meat to prove it wasn't my friends.

Another mental image of 12 yr old Lacey standing there with her hand on her hip watching mom and gran upwrap the meat! OMG ROFLMAO!

[MOB Karen]

No it doesn't sound stupid, I've always been around farms but this "farming" thing is new to me too...Eric skinned a turkey that he killed during spring turkey season in front of me and I excused myself...I told him I had to go pee but I actually had to go HURL...

I came back and marinated it in italian dressing, two days later I then basted it in BBQ seasonings and sauce...grilled it up and had a bowl of cereal while he ate turkey!




Oh, that's funny!! And for him, it was no problem whatsoever. My Mother has no problem doing that either, but we have always told my Mother it is because she hates animals. And she does. My Mother is not warm and fuzzy and she doesn't cry when Old Yeller dies, if that give you any idea. LOL!!

[cowboysbride]

When I go to the fish market I make the fish monger take the head off before he gives it to me. I'm not decapitating a **** thing! The ohter day I was forced to buy fresh mussels when I usually buy the frozen ones. Anyway, after I got them home, scrubbed, and ready to go into the pot it dawned on me that they were still alive. So I walked outside and told Sean if he wanted to eat he had better go finish dinner. I sat on the patio while he did the deed. There was no way in hell I was sending them to their steamy little deaths, invertebrate or not I wasn't playing executioner.

Okay there I can't agree with you...give me a big fat rock lobster and I'll shove his invertebrate arse under so fast it'll make your head swim (no pun intended)...and be standing there with butter sauce in my left hand while the right hand holds the lid shut, tapping mah foot waiting for the timer to go off!

[LaceyinPgh]

she doesn't cry when Old Yeller dies,

Is she an android or something? Because, that just isn't human behavior.

I still can't watch Old Yeller. And my God if I walk past "Charlotte's Web" in the book store I start to cry.

[cowboysbride]

My Mother is not warm and fuzzy and she doesn't cry when Old Yeller dies, if that give you any idea. LOL!!


OH CHIT! I just snorted out loud! Too friggin funny..."she doesn't cry when Old Yeller dies" ROFLMAO...oh I gotta go pee now!

[MOB Karen]

When I go to the fish market I make the fish monger take the head off before he gives it to me. I'm not decapitating a **** thing! The ohter day I was forced to buy fresh mussels when I usually buy the frozen ones. Anyway, after I got them home, scrubbed, and ready to go into the pot it dawned on me that they were still alive. So I walked outside and told Sean if he wanted to eat he had better go finish dinner. I sat on the patio while he did the deed. There was no way in hell I was sending them to their steamy little deaths, invertebrate or not I wasn't playing executioner.

I have no idea how they can kill a lobster either. I can't do it. I will eat it if it is a claw only, but I don't want to see the whole body. And I absolutely will not put a live lobster in a boiling pot of water. I will feel so guilty over that, and I wouldn't get over it any time soon.

[LaceyinPgh]

Another mental image of 12 yr old Lacey standing there with her hand on her hip watching mom and gran upwrap the meat! OMG ROFLMAO!

I was a stubborn little kid who knew exactly what she thought and NO ONE was slipping anything past me. If I didn't inspect packaging, I wasn't eating it. How do I really know that Frosty died of natural causes or that one of those chickens didn't have an unfortunate run in with the choping block while I was in school. I needed proof and the Giant Eagle or Kroger packaging suited that just fine.

[LaceyinPgh]

I have no idea how they can kill a lobster either. I can't do it. I will eat it if it is a claw only, but I don't want to see the whole body. And I absolutely will not put a live lobster in a boiling pot of water. I will feel so guilty over that, and I wouldn't get over it any time soon.

When my sil was in culinary school she had to take a seafood class. One of her final assignments was to take a live lobster, kill it (without boiling it), and make something out of it. She told the teacher they were going to have to fail her and she didn't care. She wanted to be a pastry chef and not a seafood cook.

[MOB Karen]

I was a stubborn little kid who knew exactly what she thought and NO ONE was slipping anything past me. If I didn't inspect packaging, I wasn't eating it. How do I really know that Frosty died of natural causes or that one of those chickens didn't have an unfortunate run in with the choping block while I was in school. I needed proof and the Giant Eagle or Kroger packaging suited that just fine.

Oh, my parents did something really cruel to me once. My father, when he was alive, used to raise lop eared rabbits. Not for eating but for pets or shows. Anyway, he knew how all of us felt about eating rabbits, there was no way in hell that was ever going to happen. Well, one time he took me to one of the rabbit shows and they were having a turkey dinner with gravy and everything, or so those Satan Worshippers told me. It was Thumper in that pot!! I hated them for that!! I didn't speak to them for a year after that!!

[cowboysbride]

Oh, that's funny!! And for him, it was no problem whatsoever. My Mother has no problem doing that either, but we have always told my Mother it is because she hates animals. And she does. My Mother is not warm and fuzzy and she doesn't cry when Old Yeller dies, if that give you any idea. LOL!!


Eric must be a diff breed, he hunts (calls it population control), raises cattle for consumption and has no problem putting chickens out of their clucking little misery if he wants homemade fried chicken but he cried (does not know I saw this) when he had to put his beagle hound down...poor old boy was arthritic and had seizures. He also ran across the hay field and scooped up a baby dear (spots and all) and walked it to the corner of the woods and tied its little leg up (he hit it with the hay mower) and went back to see if the mother came and got it that night...

[cowboysbride]

I have no idea how they can kill a lobster either. I can't do it. I will eat it if it is a claw only, but I don't want to see the whole body. And I absolutely will not put a live lobster in a boiling pot of water. I will feel so guilty over that, and I wouldn't get over it any time soon.

OOPS don't read post #24 then...:bbmrgreen:

[MOB Karen]

Eric must be a diff breed, he hunts (calls it population control), raises cattle for consumption and has no problem putting chickens out of their clucking little misery if he wants homemade fried chicken but he cried (does not know I saw this) when he had to put his beagle hound down...poor old boy was arthritic and had seizures. He also ran across the hay field and scooped up a baby dear (spots and all) and walked it to the corner of the woods and tied its little leg up (he hit it with the hay mower) and went back to see if the mother came and got it that night...

Awwwwwwwwwwwww........

[LaceyinPgh]

Oh, my parents did something really cruel to me once. My father, when he was alive, used to raise lop eared rabbits. Not for eating but for pets or shows. Anyway, he knew how all of us felt about eating rabbits, there was no way in hell that was ever going to happen. Well, one time he took me to one of the rabbit shows and they were having a turkey dinner with gravy and everything, or so those Satan Worshippers told me. It was Thumper in that pot!! I hated them for that!! I didn't speak to them for a year after that!!
That is terrible. I got a pet pig in high school and I haven't eaten pork since. (This is big deal to my in laws who rail on my eating habits all the time.)

[cowboysbride]

I am laughing so hard I'm CRYING!

[MOB Karen]

That is terrible. I got a pet pig in high school and I haven't eaten pork since. (This is big deal to my in laws who rail on my eating habits all the time.)

It just takes one to change your whole dietary regimen. I don't like the idea of eating veal either. I would just as soon eat the adult cow, I don't want to eat the babys.

[LaceyinPgh]

I am laughing so hard I'm CRYING!
Yeah but you aren't stressing now are you?

[cowboysbride]

Yeah but you aren't stressing now are you?

HELL NO, I just have people staring in here at me when they walk by...one girl thought I was laughing at her (when I snorted over Karen's Old Yeller post) oh well I don't like the heifer anyway!

[WebLady]

That is a nice story :)

Farm life isn't for me ... I eat meat but I don't want to be involved in the process ;)

I wouldn't have any farm animals as pets either

[CindySue]

I can watch the entire dressing out process, I just cant watch them be put down.........

[theweddinghelper]

I would just look into their little faces, and there is no way that I could send them to slaughter or skin them. They would be my pets at that point and I would bawl my eyes out if anything happened to them. And there is no way in hell, I'm going to eat them!! YUCK!!!

I totally agree w/ you! Once we have an animal it's "ours" I could not fatten it up and then take it to slaughter! So, I def. would not eat it either! I know it's life for some people but just not for me. I think I would starve first before I did that!:bbcry:

[WhiskeyGirl]

OK so maybe I'm NOT as cowgirly as I think I am........ewwwwwwww skin the dead calf...I understand it all and thinks its really smart but you'd find me behind a bush barfing!

Lol... I watched the video of it. It wasn't too bad, yes it was sad but the calf was already dead and so would have the other one been too if they hadn't done what they done.

[rainbowtreat]

I am not a farm girl but I will see the deer being skinned and cut up and cant wait to get it home and cooked up so I can eat it. ( my ex boyfriend was a hunter for deer and turkey ) and the wild turkey is awsome. And you can't just have a lobster claw ya gotta have the whole dang thing, head and all. I think thi sis from being a Mainer most of my life. But now clams, I just dont like them. But I have been clamming ALOT. As a child I used to eat them but nto the heads. I just dont care for them now. We used to dig them up by the bucket fulls and go home and wash then off and boil them up. With the melted butter ready to go .

[theweddinghelper]

I know that this has to happen on farms, and that you guys are really used to it. It's like farm people have no problem going out and getting their chicken for dinner. But I swear to God, if I saw that chicken alive, I couldn't eat it. It turns my stomach to even think about eating it. Meat has to be wrapped in plastic before I would be able to eat it. And I know that sounds stupid, but it is the honest to God truth.

Are you my biological mom and I just don't know it?! LOL! I would become a vegetarian but it's hard for me to eliminate meat totally. Sometimes I will be eating meat though, and someone will start mooing or clucking and I can't eat it! Once I have a mental pic. of the animal in my head, I just can't do it!
I am such a sucker for animals!

[AngelinLove]

Yeah...sometimes Joel will make a comment about teh animal or something and it ruins the whole meal for me!!!!

[theweddinghelper]

Yeah...sometimes Joel will make a comment about the animal or something and it ruins the whole meal for me!!!!

So it's not just me, I feel better now!
I feel bad enough eating meat but when they go there it ruins my meal and aggravates me as well!

[WhiskeyGirl]

lol.. you make me laugh! (in a good way! :wink: ) I just start mooing or clucking right back and continue chowing down. Guess that's what makes us different eh?

[cowboysbride]

I am not a farm girl but I will see the deer being skinned and cut up and cant wait to get it home and cooked up so I can eat it. ( my ex boyfriend was a hunter for deer and turkey ) and the wild turkey is awsome. And you can't just have a lobster claw ya gotta have the whole dang thing, head and all. I think thi sis from being a Mainer most of my life. But now clams, I just dont like them. But I have been clamming ALOT. As a child I used to eat them but nto the heads. I just dont care for them now. We used to dig them up by the bucket fulls and go home and wash then off and boil them up. With the melted butter ready to go .

I fix deer jerky, deer steaks, deer sausage, deer burgers and wild turkey breasts. I can cut up a chicken after Eric kills and plucks it. The only thing I cant do is eat what I have seen killed...I bagged a 12 pt buck this year with a 30/30 at 75 yds and I helped him field dress it, and drug it home behind the four wheeler but that was it....we didn't freeze that venison we gave it away because he knew I couldn't stomach eating it because I had seen the process.

[MOB Karen]

Yeah...sometimes Joel will make a comment about teh animal or something and it ruins the whole meal for me!!!!

That's exactly how I feel, Angel. I don't want to be reminded that it was once a living, breathing creature. I will lose my appetite quick in those circumstances. lol