In some ways, it might seem that the furry little creatures and even the slimy ones serve no purpose here on this earth other than being here for our entertainment. They are entertaining for sure, and they can also be great companions. I think that they are all here to teach us something. We have learned the art of camouflage from many creatures like the grasshopper, the polar bear, frogs and the cheetah…not to mention the king of camo, the chameleon. We have learned about suction cups from the octopus, the mechanics of a spring from the snake, and the art of catching our prey in a carefully woven net from the spider. We learned that carrying our baby in a pouch close to our body is not such a bad thing from the kangaroo. The art of warfare has taken its tips from the animal/insect world as we have learned not only the art of camouflage but also the importance of body armor from the alligator, and that we need sharp objects for battle such as those of the creatures with fangs, claws and talons. From things that we can step on and that are often very small we have learned that poison works great on larger enemies; the spider, snake and jellyfish have taught us this very well. We have discovered that sometimes it is best to hunt in a pack like the wolves and sometimes it is best to be stealth like the leopard.
We watched and copied the gift of flight by learning from our feathered friends. We also have learned that flying south for the winter is actually not such a bad idea for us old birds. Some might argue that dogs and cats are here to teach us the difference between men and women. The dog tends to be bigger and stronger and wants to be the protector of its house. Really all it takes to make a dog happy is to feed it, play catch, and to give it a good scratch every now and then. Cats tend to be smaller and more temperamental. They are curious creatures that study the little details. To make them happy they don’t always want a big bowl of food or to play catch, and they don’t always want to be petted. They are more agile and quiet. Put a dog and a cat in the same house and even though the dog may be much bigger and louder, we all know who rules the roost. I am not going to say that I agree or disagree with this assessment; I know better.
We have learned valuable lessons for life from the world around us. We have learned that an unassuming creature such as the bee, would just as soon sting us as to look at us but can create the sweetest thing we have ever tasted. We have also learned not to judge a book by its cover; we get this from the oyster. You never know when that rough looking creature with the hardened exterior might just turn out to be a real gem on the inside. That brings me to another creature, the duck billed platypus. This odd little animal teaches us that when we start over manipulating nature by having things sucked out of one end of our body and shoved into the other end and we keep carving and narrowing and enlarging our body parts, that at some point we are no longer going to look natural and if we are not careful, we are going to end up looking like a duck billed platypus.
