Smart AnimalsLast summer, I saw what appeared
to be a dead crow hanging next
door, entangled in the strings of an
abandoned kite in the branches
of a coconut tree. I felt pity for the
poor bird dying in such an awful
way, without help. The next day I
was busy at home and skipped my
walk. However, to my amazement,
on the third day, I discovered that
the crow was alive and struggling to
disengage itself from the strings.
My heart skipped a beat, and
I immediately rushed to get help
from a local man, who painstakingly
took great care to set it free. We
were surprised that the crow, which
hadn’t eaten for at least three days,
remained calm and allowed us to
disentangle it. It also heartily pecked
away at the grains and pieces of
water-soaked bread that we offered.
When the crow was satisfied and
feeling better, it simply flew away,
putting its nightmare behind it. Life
is about resilience and that’s why it
survived.
Running Free
LEO THORNTON
Zack, our four-year-old Maltese-
cross, loves running off the leash on
any grassy areas, particularly ovals
and dog-friendly parklands. We
don’t have a grassy area at home so
when taken by car to our local oval,
he begins whining in a distinctively
excited way, in recognition of his
upcoming outing.
We often travel from our home
on the Central Coast of New South
Wales to Manilla, a four-hour drive
north. On the way, we pass a large,
open grassy area called Burning
Mountain Nature Reserve. On one
trip, about a year ago, we stopped
to let Zack out for a run. He had the
time of his life and it took us some
time to get him back into the car.
Three months later, on our next
trip to Manilla, my wife and I were
trying to remember where exactly
that lovely grassy area was. Then
Zack started making his distinctive
excited whining sound. To our
astonishment, two bends later,
we were greeted with the signpost
‘Burning Mountain’. Of course,
we had to pull up and reward him
with a run.
The strange thing is that he never
makes this excited sound when
passing our local vet.19