| Memories of Eyes so Bright |
| Although "Bright Eyes" from the movie "Watership Down" will always be "Shoo's Song" to me, I have since come to see the words as representing all the animal companions who have graced our home over the years. Josh, our big male housecat who had no idea he was supposed to chase rabbits instead of lying next to them! The mice! So many! My first response to my daughter upon seeing her standing in the hallway holding a little ball of black mouse fur was "No Way!". She would seek a home for him immediately, first thing in the morning! But after a week I fell in love with the little ball of mouse fur who was now lovingly named Buster and I was not unhappy at all to learn that in order to be happy Buster needed a cage friend. So, in came Squeaky to our expanding mouse family. Squeaky, we were assured by the pet shop owner, would be the perfect cage companion for Buster as Squeaky was also a male. A few weeks later our concerns for Squeaky's ever growing belly were laid to rest as we became Grandparents to 14 mice! And now I come to our hamster, Hammy, who defied every known law of nature for hamsters as he approached the very old age of 5 years. I remember the day he left for the Bridge. It was a warm evening on that 11th. day of July. I sat in the lawnchair holding Hammy to my shoulder, realizing that this would be the last time I held him. And I remembered... I remembered how he chased through the house in his exercise ball. So fast! Scaring the heck out of cat Josh! I remembered how he would take what seemed hours arranging and rearranging his hair before coming out to play...and Heaven help the person who tried to take him out before he had finished! As I turned to look at him as he lay so still on my shoulder, I saw that his eyes had begun to fade. I asked him not to leave me but I knew, looking into his eyes that were once so bright, that he had already left. My years of rat fancy! Jasmine, Destiny, Raven, Zoey, Cassidy, Holly, Cinnamon and presently, Beltane and Ariel. What can I say about these very gentle and so often misunderstood creatures? They are almost the perfect pet! Gentle, friendly and so much fun to watch! Good companions for both the young and elderly alike. And most all would admit, their are none with eyes so bright! All the animals I have known and loved! How fortunate am I to have known them! Each a teacher and friend in their own right....teaching you things that humanity just can't teach! The value of animal wisdom cannot be measured. The beauty of their capacity for unconditional love cannot be counted. Those still with me now, my precious bunny Daisy and of course, my domestic rats Beltane and Ariel. There eyes are so bright! You think they will never fade. |
| Super sizing our mice |
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| To visit our Watership Down Lapine Glossary & Links page click on the cottontail above! |