As I called home from my travels, someone (who shall remain nameless) asked if I missed any animal in particular. Quelle Horreur! (French for what a horror). How could I? That would mean that I had favorites! I can’t have favorites! (To see all the animals click here.)
When asked, as people often do, which animal is my favorite, my standard and true answer is, “Whichever one I am with.” Firstly what would coyotes Faerytale and Shaman say if I said Pimpernel was my favorite? Or Huckleberry Bear Bear and Bramble and Ramble and and Humble Bumble Bear if I said Teton Totem? Or Foxie Moxie if I said Sage or Lightfoot or Sprite the foxes? Or any of them if I chose another species from theirs? How could I face them?
Jealousy is as rampant in animals as in humans. But really, the answer is whichever one I am with because, as I am with any of them I become drawn into the depths of who they are. Their beauty, character, individuality. Their unique bearness or wolfness or buffaloness. The deeper one goes the more wonder opens up and there is no room for comparison. Do some animals let me get closer, resonate with my own needs more than others, yes. But that doesn’t mean I love them more or that they are worth more in general of my time and attention. It simply means they fill my personal needs more, which is not a good place to come from if you are talking love.
So here I am in Tucson missing them all and the land.
— by Susan Eirich, PhD —
