by Carole Lewisveryone who has worked with animals has lamented that they can’t speak to us. We say, “if only they could tell me how they feel…” We all have the ability to communicate with the animals but it takes a little effort on our part. If you have ever experienced a flash of intuition, or de’ja vu or had the feeling that something you felt was someone else’s pain or sorrow, then you have the ability to hear what the animals have to say.
Non-verbal communication is more of an art than a science and only practice will yield the results you seek. Instead of chattering at the animals in your life, try listening quietly. Mentally explain to them that you are a willing learner and that you want to understand them better.
Unless they think you are totally untrainable, you may be surprised at their ability to speak to you in images you can understand. Invite them to share your body and your mind for a few moments. Ask them to allow you to feel physically and emotionally what they feel. Try to put yourself in their place. How would the world look to you if you were less than two feet tall and, as in the case of so many zoo animals, you were kept in a cage for your entire life? Or tied on to a leash in all weathers?
Consider what their every day experience would be. If you were them and were limited to the sights they see, the foods they are presented with, the options available to them for play, for discovery, for learning, for companionship…how would these limitations form your perspective?
If your imagination isn’t capable of really understanding what it is like to be a caged or abused animal, then perhaps for the sake of better understanding the animals you care for, you could take a day or two and live their life. Lock your self in a cage with only a ball or a box to play with and see how quickly boredom sets in. How long can you exist like this before you start to pace, before you start to call out for companionship, before you start to go mad with the injustice of being locked away for no crime of your own?
Listen to your animals. Walk a mile in their paws and then you will hear them say, “I am no different from you.”
We can all talk with the animals. The question then becomes, once we have heard them, what are we going to do about it.
Carole Lewis is the founder of Big Cat Rescue
Right: Cleocatra, a tiny Cougar
at Big Cat Rescue, who hasn't been so lucky, has a
sad story.