posted May 14, 2012 05:28 PM            

Dont know if this is the appropriate forum, but read through them all and this seems the most likely.

Been pondering a post on another forum and this question has flopped in and out of my brain for ever.

The eyes of animals.

I look into the eyes of my cats, my dog....even encountered a monkey or two, definately coyotes, ALL coyotes, all "wild" cats and dogs, but never a "domesticated" farm animal, and seen a soul connection, a depth of spirit.

I grew up on a dairy farm, and looking into the eyes of cows, horses, (which I owned and showed) and chickens, there is just no depth....no re-cognition of animal to human. Pigs were the exception, but they are so darn smart anyway.

Why is this?

Why do some animals, domesticated or otherwise, seem to share a soul bond with humans while others are just blank?

I was once driving down the street, and this actually has happened to me twice. A coyote has trotted infront of my vehicle, stopped and stared me direct in the eyes....a re-cognition like my cats and dog do. Just like humans do.

The Indians said that the departed souls of them ofetn inhabited coyotes, I can see...

Recently a cow got loose on the highway. Not wanting it to get killed I called the police and stopped to chase it back into the field. Same thing as when I was growning up...nothing in the eyes...a blank stare with their rectangle pupils.

Same as fish. Dolphins are the exception, o my, look them in the eye and you are looking at yourself, but the common fish? Nope...blank.

So, exactly what does "sentient being" mean.

Course they feel...My plants feel, for goodness sake, but they cant scream.

A worm wiggles when it is cut in half or put on a hook...but so not the same as the pain in the eyes of an animal who has "depth of soul" and connects to us.

Sorry if I am rambling, but this is a question I have pondered for ever....

Is there a line?

posted May 14, 2012 09:31 PM            

Half the year I live in a rural area surrounded by woods and dairy farms. My field borders a pasture where cows graze in the fall. Once, I went up to them and started talking, and they all gathered near like I was the guest speaker. One cow was particularly interested in my speech.

I went back to the house and a half hour later there was mooooing under the balcony. That same interested cow had followed me home! But I have NO IDEA how the cow got there...she must have found her way through the woods or climbed over a rock wall. She was mooing like crazy.

So. That cow was sentient, to me. She was smart enough to like me and beg for an encore speech.

My family has also been encircled by coyotes at night, while we sat by a campfire in the woods. That was its own category of terrifying; I think the Native Americans knew coyotes in a special way and that's reflected in the belief of at least one tribe, that the coyote will be the last animal standing, at the end of time.

I don't draw the line, I'm not familiar with enough animals to have an informed opinion. Sheep are supposedly dumb but I don't know for sure. I've heard it persuasively argued that horses can read minds.

I think elephants are extremely intelligent. Some Hindus believe that if the elephant goes extinct, all life on earth will shortly follow, since the elephant is the memory-keeper for the earth.

Sometimes I think that insects are too smart to kill. Like it's just murder to kill a bug while it is right there doing something tricky and complicated in front of me-- for example, a spider bundling its prey.

No lines for me, I can't see any clearly.

posted May 14, 2012 09:53 PM            

My dog has a knack for looking deep into my eyes and knowing what I`m up to. If I`m thinking of one thing or the other, he knows and acts appropriatly. Like going to the side door if I am thinking of going to the mail box. Or, front door if I am going to garden. He reads my eyes/mind and it is amazing. Going to the kitchen, no movement. amazing and others are amazed by it too.

In essence, I am saying they feel the bond just as we do.

Why some are blank, I don`t know but it is very true. If a line is drawn, perhaps they draw it ; we don`t.

posted May 15, 2012 09:31 AM            

Faith, you reminded me of a time that, while on the Ohio farm, a cow died during childbirth, Pearl was her name. The calf died too. It was Memorial day weekend and the rendering plant couldnt come get her till Tuesday.

But for as clueless the eyes of cows are, to me, I guess they do feel, cause the entire heard of cows gathered at the dead Pearl and her calf, who were on the other side of the fence and bellered mournfully.

Until she was removed.

I always called it the cow funeral.

I like your singing story.

Juni dogs do feel, so deeply. Never being a dog person, but a crazy cat lady, I do love my daughters dog, Alice. In a dog's eyes you can see such intelligence especilly when they tweet their heads.

My daughter is very good with dogs. When she talks to Alice, she gets that inquisitive thing going on with her eyes, raised eyebrows and head tweeking, and my kid calls it "the learning tail" where her tail wags deliberately and slowly.

Maybe some animals have reached a higher soul evolution and that is why they can connect with humans merely with the eyes, but others must rely on the feeling nature, like cows, sheep, etc.

Still pondering!!