After spending time with my mother who is back in the hospital the most amazing thing happened.

[SheilaT]

37. Many years ago I was visiting some friends, an

older couple, the age of my parents. The second day into a four day visit the man, I'll call him Jim, had a heart attack. Annette, his wife, took him to the hospital and spent almost every minute of the next few days with him. Understandably. I was sort of stuck at their place, with no way to leave.

They had a dog. I no longer recall what kind, but it was big, easily the size of a Lab, and maybe that's what it was. I, of course, took care of the dog. He kept on looking at me, clearly unhappy that his real humans weren't there, but also clearly willing to accept me as his new human, if that's what was going on.

In the end Jim recovered, the dog got his own humans back, and all was well.

I am often very moved by the behavior of the other creatures we share this planet with.

While your story, and several others here are about "wild" animals, it is clear that we somehow share a consciousness of some kind with so many mammals.

Anyone who has had a stray cat or dog move in really gets this. That happened to me about six years ago. I already had two cats, and one that had probably been abandoned, maybe just gone astray, decided we were her last best hope. She left me after only three years, but I am so glad I took her in.

We share this planet with every other living creature.