About animals

[YesNo]

He gave four of them to me. I think if he had someone to give them to, he would. I never actually saw him burn them and I didn't ask him for details. I assume he killed them first but I don't even know that. He was not cruel. I don't think he enjoyed killing them, but I can see why he had to sanitize the barn and surrounding area.

Here the one called "Aurora": http://www.online-literature.com/for...t=#post1331800
Here is "The Path to my Home": http://www.online-literature.com/for...=1#post1330548

[Danik 2016]

Thanks, Yes/No. I didn´t remember about this second thread, I was looking for them in the other one. I was going to suggest that you linked them to this thread, because here they may have more visibility.

This chicken burning story is terrible, but I don´t see what I or you could do about it. I fear it is a common practice under farmers. The question is why produce so much chicken that they have to be exterminated afterwards? And that while there are a lot of people everywhere that suffer from hunger.
But my contact with chickens always was very reduced. When I was a teen my family lived in a smaller town which was rural in many aspects. In some of the houses, they had chicken and roosters and they lived in the garden or in the yard together with the dogs, the cats and whatever other animals were there. They were sort of part of the family. I think sometimes the family ate one of them. but they probably had them mostly because of the eggs.

[Danik 2016]

In Yes/No´s post above one can read the two first haibuns of his new story about a dog and four chickens.

Posting a poem by Richard Wilbur that came up in another thread.

The Death Of A Toad

[I]A toad the power mower caught,
Chewed and clipped of a leg, with a hobbling hop has got
To the garden verge, and sanctuaried him
Under the cineraria leaves, in the shade
Of the ashen and heartshaped leaves, in a dim,
Low, and a final glade.

The rare original heartsblood goes,
Spends in the earthen hide, in the folds and wizenings, flows
In the gutters of the banked and staring eyes. He lies
As still as if he would return to stone,
And soundlessly attending, dies
Toward some deep monotone,

Toward misted and ebullient seas
And cooling shores, toward lost Amphibia's emperies.
Day dwindles, drowning and at length is gone
In the wide and antique eyes, which still appear
To watch, across the castrate lawn,
The haggard daylight steer.

[I]Richard Wilbur

https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-death-of-a-toad/

http://www.online-literature.com/for...=1#post1336175

[YesNo]

Wilbur's poem brings out the inhospitable nature of lawns for wildlife. Mowers "castrate" the lawn so it looks nice to us and in the process other creatures suffer as collateral damage. I am all in favor of minimal lawns leaving them to public places and parks. I also think sport hunting should be eliminated. Of course, that means farms will produce meat. So I might as well promote vegetarianism, which I prefer also.

There were thousands of chickens in that barn. That only a dozen might have missed getting into the truck seems like it could be viewed as a small transportation loss. I think you are right that chickens are often used mainly for eggs. At least that is what I've heard. I had no intention of eating mine. Eventually they would die. Mine eventually did, but sooner than I thought they would.

Here is a video about hatcheries. The farmer received chicks from these peoples, grew them, and then sent them to their final destination as either egg producers or meat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN5H9audCRQ

[Danik 2016]

I wish I was vegetarian, Yes/No. After this video it will be difficult to look at chicken meat again. Behind the world created for humans there is so much destruction, most of it unnecessary.
Here probably things are done in the same way. Sometimes the chicks are sold and donated to some people that dye them in several colours and then they are sold on the market or in the streets to people for thematic birthday partys for children, for example. The children loved them, as long they are cute, but the problem is when they grew up, because nobody wants hens and roosters running around in the drawing room.Then they probably abandon them somewhere or kill them. There may be videos about it, but I don´t have the courage to look for them.

[YesNo]

I almost didn't post the video, but it is part of that business in the US. I figure I gave those hens a better life than they would have had if they made it on that truck although their end may have been less traumatic if they stayed on the truck.

[Danik 2016]

It is good that you posted the video, one has to know this things. This thread is not only about the positive aspects of animal life.
When I had a twitter account there were lots of ativist videos about the bad treatment of animals, things you don´t imagine before you see them.
As for your chicken, they had a bad end but it is also true that they also harassed the dog until he hit back. Otherwise he probably would have left them alone or even become friendly with them. Anyway they had a life of their own.They certainly were better of as if they had been sent to a furnace or a grinder.

[tailor STATELY]

Cats... http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...News+-+Main%29


Dogs... http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...News+-+Main%29

[Danik 2016]

Gorgeous animals, Tailor, halfway between the wild and the domestic cats.

Interesting dog experiment, it would help proving the thesis that animals plan their actions in advance and are able to deceive humans. But it is not so easy to know the animals motives for acting as they do.
I remember my cat guiding me to his empty bowl. He pushed me gently with his head if I was engrossed with something else and made sure I followed him to the bowl. I interpreted it as:"See, it is empty. Please do something about it"

[YesNo]

Dogs... http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...News+-+Main%29

This one about dogs fits the behavior of the dog I had. It also corrects a misconception I had. I assumed the breed of the dog might have had something to do with Fred's abilities, but apparently the breed is not relevant. All dogs are pretty smart.

[Danik 2016]

Well, it seems the idea was to produce a cute video. I got the feeling the dogs got a bit nervous at the sound. They possibly noticed that the distress was shamed. I have the feeling that cats and dogs respond as much or more to the intonation of the human voice than to the actual words.

[YesNo]

Here's an account of an experiment done on a dog who knew when his master was returning home suggesting psi abilities between humans and dogs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA5wAm2c01w

[Danik 2016]

It´s an interesting experiment, however I miss a very important information here. What is the usual time for Pam coming home? Some animals have a very good feeling for what we humans call time. Cats, for intance seem to have an inbuild allar clock which tells them when it is breakfast time.
What about this film? I´m sure you have seen it already. Iwanted to post the whole film, but You Tube is making all the former free versions of films unavailable. I suppose you have to pay now to watch them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP-ZtvjhOJc

The interesting fact here is that the dog seems not to realise that his owner has died.

[YesNo]

I have heard of Hachiko. I don't think the dog realized that the owner died, but just kept going to meet him. It shows that memory can last a long time in dogs.

In the experiment, Pam didn't know when she was coming home nor from where. It was not a routine schedule. The experimenter knew those things. The dog however sensed she was going to return remotely after the decision was made to return home. This is not saying that all dogs can do this or even want to do it. Not all humans have or develop unusual psychic abilities. It just shows the possibility for this to happen which makes it anecdotal in a sense but repeatable for that pair enough that the experiment could be conducted.

[Danik 2016]

The film about Hachiko is very moving. I watched it years ago. You are right about the memory in dogs. It accounts partly about the Lassie story too.

The experiment in the video shows that the dog is expecting Pam. My doubt is about knowing "remotely". As the real routine of Pam isn´t known, is it difficult to know if the dog really sensed something remotely or if she just came home after her usual time, when the dog would surely expect her.