Table of contents for Sept/Oct 2021 in All Creatures

“MOM, LOOK!” my six-year-old daughter, Lena, shouted. I glanced up from the garden, where I was clearing dried flowers. “A worm!” She carefully walked my way and showed me the tiny green inchworm wiggling in her palm. “Pretty cool,” I said. “I have to put him in a safe place,” she said. “Back in the dirt seems best,” I said, charmed by her enthusiasm about one of God’s smallest creatures. Lena has been drawn to animals practically since birth. I introduced her to our dog, Charlie, when we brought her home from the hospital. She would rock back and forth in her baby swing, eyes fixed on her beagle friend roaming around in front of her. As she grew older, Lena would pull me to the window to show me…

Pink for Pigs When Alaina Holdread’s family adopted her potbellied pig, Daisy, they were told she would top out at 50 pounds. Two years later, she weighed 150 pounds. The Holdreads had space to keep an animal that large, but most owners of potbellied pigs do not. Rescues are overrun with pet pigs that have outgrown their homes. So nine-year-old Alaina started Pink for Pigs. She handmakes items and sells pig-themed keychains, purses, T-shirts and mugs. All the proceeds go to pig rescues. Catman It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Shon! Kia Griffin and Kris Papiernik, founders of Kolony Kats, a rescue in Philadelphia, have a special volunteer—their nephew Shon Griffin, aka “Catman.” While out helping feed and care for the neighborhood strays, Shon sports a superhero costume. The…

Eight o’clock on a May morning, and Micah, my 17-year-old daughter, had already retreated to our bonus room upstairs. It had been her makeshift eleventh-grade classroom ever since schools had moved to remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic. From the kitchen, I listened for the sound of her tapping on her laptop or her and her classmates talking in their Google Meet sessions with their teachers. Nothing. I resisted the urge to check on her. Way too often for my liking, Micah was texting friends and commenting on their Snapchat and Instagram posts about the fun they were having together. My husband and I felt safer erring on the side of caution. We’d barely left the house for 10 weeks straight. “Mom, everyone is hanging out today!” Micah’s voice…

Alison Teal never rode in a stroller or squealed in a bucket swing on the playground. Born to an adventure-loving yogi mom and a National Geographic photographer dad, she was already exploring the world as an infant. She saw the view from atop a peak in Peru at just two months old, nestled in a carrier on her mom’s back. The trio traveled the globe staying not at five-star resorts but in a six-foot-wide tent. From frigid mountaintops to steaming jungles, they immersed themselves in local nature and culture. Between journeys they would return home to a secluded part of the Big Island of Hawaii, where they built a sustainable, solar-powered Robinson Crusoe-style oceanfront retreat center that Alison calls her “home sweet treehouse.” Her front yard was the ocean, and…

FUN FACTS: Donkeys communicate with each other by braying—a sound they can hear up to 60 miles away. Their memories are impressive too; these equines can recall positive and negative experiences from their past and can remember another donkey, person or place from 25 years ago. If you want to know how donkeys feel, look at their ears. They’re curious if their ears move forward; warning you to stay away if their ears move up and down; and sleeping if their ears are flat and move to one side of their head.…

NATIONAL PET MEMORIAL DAY SEPTEMBER 12 We love seeing how you commemorate your pets. Turn to page 12 to find out how to send us your memorial. NATIONAL ANIMAL SAFETY AND PROTECTION MONTH OCTOBER Alison Teal grew up with a pod of dolphins in familiar Hawaiian waters. Now she’s trying to protect them every day (page 42). NATIONAL PET OBESITY AWARENESS DAY OCTOBER 13 Is your dog or cat overweight? Peggy Frezon discusses the dangers to your pet’s health and what you can do about it (page 44).…

MY KIDS BEGGED ME for a dog for years. On an August day in 2007, I finally gave in and visited the animal shelter. Brandi, a four-month-old Labrador-shepherd mix, caught my attention. She was the only dog not barking. I took her home and she immediately won our hearts. Brandi adored her family. She was just as excited to go camping or swimming as she was to follow me into the bathroom or to settle all of her 81 pounds on my lap. She made sure she was always close. Her antics made me laugh. Brandi thought everyone was her friend; she had no guard dog instincts nor any manners when it came to food. She once grabbed an entire rotisserie chicken off the table when no one was looking.…

FIVE MONTHS HAD PASSED since my husband, Eamon, died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. It was an especially cold winter here in Connecticut, and I found solace in talking with others who had lost loved ones on 9/11. We’d meet frequently to share the feelings we couldn’t explain to anyone else. Eamon’s death still seemed unbelievable. To me, he had just gone to work and not come home. Then one day our meeting was interrupted by a knock on the door. I opened up to see my pastor and a police officer standing there. Eamon’s remains had been found. “Let’s go for a drive,” my pastor suggested. In a daze, I got in the car. We drove in silence. Where were we going? Did it matter? Eamon…

Who she is There was something missing from Leanne Lauricella’s career as a corporate event planner in New York City—a sense of purpose. That, and goats! “I was just going in and working a job. It was not fulfilling,” she says. Now Leanne is the founder and president of Goats of Anarchy, a nonprofit charity on 30 acres in Hampton, New Jersey. The animal sanctuary cares for farm animals with disabilities, especially goats. What she does Goats of Anarchy, named after Leanne’s then favorite TV show, Sons of Anarchy, is a haven for sick, injured and abused farm animals. Residents include goats, horses, pigs, cows, sheep, alpacas, dogs, cats and birds. The animals live with challenges such as blindness, deformities, injuries and neurological disorders. Many use wheelchairs and prosthetic devices.…

A dozen years ago, our veterinarian informed me that our spaniel, Kelly, was at risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, all of which could shorten her life. Why? She was overweight. Since I wanted to shed a few pounds myself, the two of us got in shape together. According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, 60 percent of cats and 56 percent of dogs in the U.S. are overweight or obese. Is your pet among them? Here are some ways to help your furry family member slim down and get fit. 1 Recognize the problem. Is your pet fat or just big-boned? Get your dog or cat on the scale (most veterinarians will let you weigh your pet for free). Evaluate your pet’s shape. Can you…

mr. smith’s dream IF YOU WALK too quickly by the Manchester Craft & Design Centre in England, you might miss a tiny window into a dream world. The art installation, commissioned by the Manchester City Council, was built into the side of the building to honor all the pet stores that used to be in the area. Ceramicist Liz Scrine designed the piece with one particular store owner in mind—Mr. Smith, who is said to have had vivid dreams about his animals. Mr. Smith’s Dream depicts a dog sitting on stairs that lead up to a warm and welcoming light. For passersby, especially animal lovers, it’s a treasure hidden in plain sight. —Kaylin Kaupish, Editor taking flight art contest LOCATED AT Mass Audubon, the largest nature conservation nonprofit in Massachusetts,…