A doe used to lick down one of my cats when he was small, she loved him and boy did he love those lickdowns! The doe even taught her fawn to lick down the cat. It was a sight to see. Once I was walking out in the back with the cats, they saw a small herd of deer walking nearby, and Tiger, the lickdown one, meowed and starting running towards the deer. His “meow” sounded like “Mama”!<<<
I think that is all that any of us want, a little loving, and caring.
I had a kitten that thought a duck was his mother.
And once I went to Laura Killman’s, to buy geese, she was in the barn teaching a 4-H class how to skin / dress a sheep.
She had forgotten a knife and asked if I would go to the house and get it for her.
Yes, I was glad to help.
“The knife is on the counter, just inside the door, and would you mind lifting that banty hen and making sure she is not sitting on the kittens again, she will be in the planter bed by the door?”
I of course was sure she was pulling my leg and joking with me.
The knife was as she said and so was a banty hen.
A pecky old broody hen, I picked her up and there were about 6 week old kittens under her.
She didn’t have any chicks to mother, so she would steal the kittens and sit on them.
Guess love is where you find it.
LOL! I hope the kittens like being sat on by a Mama Hen!
You are right - love is the real currency of the heart.
One Spring, a pair of Magpies built a nest in a tree just outside my window and hatched only one bird. The pair immediately started another nest so the lone baby bird sat in the tree watching its parents.
Then one day when my cat was on the balcony, the young Magpie flew over and sat with the cat. The cat only meowed so the bird became a regular visitor. I set out cat food in a bowl for the two of them.
By the end of summer the cat died; then afterwards, every day the young Magpie would sit on the balcony railing looking for the cat; it was sad watching her sitting there... waiting.
I continued setting out cat food for the bird, and calling her, "kitty, kitty". She would respond by chirping.
One time I chopped an apple into tiny, tiny bites, and placed them on top of the kitten chow. The Magpie threw every piece of apple on the balcony floor, then ate the cat food.
Late one night the neighbor's cat ran outside and the neighbor asked me to help find it. I was outside, running around in pitch dark calling, "Kitty, kitty" and from a tall tree the Magpie began chirping as if to say, "what? what?"
When cold weather arrived, I realized the neglected bird hadn't been taught survival skills by its parents so I fed her kitten chow all winter, and the following year.
After the second winter she began to find Magpie friends, then this year she mated; they built a nest and reared their family. Every day, she still comes to the balcony and waits for the saucer of kitten chow. When her entire family shows up, I have to serve kitten chow on a large meat platter.