Saturday, December 8, 2018

Saturday, December 8, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. This was Mattie's second flight to Los Angeles. We were headed to California to celebrate Christmas with my parents. A flight to LA is over 5 hours and I can assure you that Mattie was fully ON for the entire time. I had to bring a bag of tricks (books, hotwheel cars, puzzles, Legos, and activity books) to manage through the flight. We were so well prepared, that I remember on one flight, we let another family borrow some of Mattie's things to entertain their child. 


Quote of the day: Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. ~ Alfred A. Montapert

My lifetime friend Karen sent me a charming article today about a spirited cow named Bonnie. Why? Because Karen knows I LOVE cows!!! This is a photo of Bonnie. Bonnie was born at a farm in upstate NY. When her farm owner died, all the cattle were going to be shipped off to other locations. Which would mean that Bonnie and her mom would be separated.

Bonnie had other ideas about this plan! When she was loaded onto the truck to be transferred, she instead escaped into the woods. She wasn't found, but locals in the region claimed they had occasional cow sightings. Leave it to the human race..... there were two camps of thought about Bonnie. One camp wanted to save and protect her and the other wanted to shoot her for her meat. 

However, Bonnie was befriended by a kind human who captured these wonderful photos. Bonnie was adopted by a family of deer. Despite the fact that Bonnie was a cow, the deer realized this four month old needed support. 

Though Bonnie had bonded with the deer, Bonnie is not a wild animal and unlike deer, she can't survive a winter in the wilderness. Pictured with Bonnie is Becky. Becky became Bonnie's human helper and advocate and Bonnie trusted only Becky. Becky called the Farm Sanctuary to come rescue Bonnie. But here's the thing, Bonnie wasn't trusting of humans and did not want to leave her deer family. It took a lot of coaxing, not to mention a sedative to make this happen. 


To me this is a charming story that captures the spirit of the Christmas season. It touches your heart to read about the connection of animals with one another, even when they are not the same species. That did not matter here, what mattered was this little cow needed a family. May we always remember that family can be found in unexpected places and the story of Bonnie, the deer, and Becky remind us of this important fact. They also illustrate the value in trust. With trust, anything is possible. 


Cow Who Lost Her Mom Gets Adopted By Family Of Wild Deer

They raised her for almost a YEAR:
https://www.thedodo.com/on-the-farm/baby-cow-adopted-by-wild-deer-family