Quiet
Thoughts by Beverly Armstrong
How would you like to live in a cage
That was just about ten feet square.
With no toys to play with and nothing to do --
Just you and a bed and a chair?
Oh, sure you'd be fed (the same
thing each day)
You'd have water (unless they forgot)
And since you would never be going outside
You wouldn't get cold, or too hot.
But oh, you'd be lonely just
sitting alone
With no one to talk to all day.
You'd remember the trees, and the grass and the breeze,
The places where you used to play.
You'd remember your friends,
you'd remember the sky,
And games and strawberries and sun,
And you know you could never go skating again
Or go swimming, or ride bikes, or run.
You'd get mad and scream and
throw things around
You'd kick and you'd pound on the wall,
And your owners would scold you,
And say to themselves, "He isn't a nice pet at all!"
The more you got mad, the less
they would like you,
The less they'd remember to care
About if you had water or if you got fed
Or if you were lonely in there.
And then you would know what
it's like to be kept
As a pet when you're meant to be free,
And you'd listen when wild things are trying to say:
"Please Don't Make A Pet Out Of
Me!"
|
| If
you have a opossum (or any other wild animal for that
matter) that you are keeping as a "pet" and have
questions about food or medical treatment be advised
that it is against the law in every state for a
person to hold an indigenous creature captive without the
proper wildlife permits. If you get caught - the fees will
be substantial. Take your animal to a licensed rehabber so
it can go back to where it belongs. Wild Animals are NOT
pets. |
"Oh Great Spirit, we come to you with love and gratitude for all living things. We now pray
especially for our relatives of the wilderness - the four-legged, the winged, those that
live in the waters, and those that crawl upon the land. Bless them, that they might continue
to live in freedom and enjoy their right to be wild. Fill our hearts with tolerance,
appreciation, and respect for all living things so that we all might live together in
harmony and peace." - Marcellus
Bear Heart Williams
"Blessed are all birds and
animals, the wildest beasts, and, yes, all serpents, too, for
they live beyond the rules of
evil and good. Their instincts are obedient
only to the laws of survival, growth, and health. And as their lives unfurl in
obedience to these laws, they suffer no shame, regret, or sin. Nor do they curse their
failures, or themselves. We can learn much from them.
They harbor no evil toward
one another, and they trust their own inner sense of how to
live, and that their Higher Power makes sure everything which
befalls them is for the best. Yes, they are blessed, and so
are we, the highest animal." - Wendell Berry |
