A lot of animals pair for life. Wolves, beavers,swans, eagles, some fish and even termites. A lot of other animals take the same partner for life, but do they fall in love? I think they do.
My horse Chad used to live in a field of 25 acres with up to 14 other horses, at least five of them were mares. Chad fell for Lulu, a beautiful little coloured mare, similar in markings to his own. When she was put into a separate field adjoining his, he jumped a five bar gate to be with her. They were inseparable
Chickens do not pair for life, quite the opposite as Jupiter my beautiful cockerel had many wives in his coop, and enjoyed every minute of it. But on the day I introduced him to Saturn, Mercury and Venus, he did what resembled the Michael Jackson 'Moon Walk' when he met his little brood. As you can see by the picture below, he looks all loved up snuggling into little Venus, who was just one of his wives, he loved them all of course.
It was touching to see how he spent time with them. In fact he would not leave Saturn as she spent her last hours in the spring sunshine a few years ago. Why? He had four other hens to keep him busy,corn to eat and worms to dig for, but he chose to sit with this little old hen as she died. I think that was love.
All loved up - Jupiter and Venus
Love is not just for us crazy humans who spend a fortune on St Valentine's day to say 'I love you.' Animals do it in the most simple and beautiful way. Their love is unconditional and uncomplicated, but it is true love.
Hi Diane,
ReplyDeleteYet again a lovely and sweet posting you have submitted. I heartily agree with what you have noted.
The non-judgemental and pure love that our friends in the animal world display; could teach humanity about the pure essence of true love.
Thanks for this posting, Diane.
Kind wishes to you and all your animal friends, Gary :-)
Happy Valentine's Day!
ReplyDeleteOur hens haven't had any chicken love since the last rooster we had gave up his life to save his hens from a coyote. All our rooster seem to come to a bad end because of the wildlife around here. I must say that the hens are in much better shape and are less stressed without a rooster around to harass them. Morgan tries hard to keep the chickens safe, but once a year or so a coyote or fox will rush in and grab a hen. Such is life in the woods if you have hens that roam freely.
Recently our oldest rooster, Billy, has developed a tender crush on one of the older hens, Imelda. The two spend hours together, and this afternoon he watched over her as she laid her egg. I’ve never seen him so smitten with a specific hen. Mind you, he’s still cavorting others, but Imelda is his favorite. http://wp.me/p44c6k-FF
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