Love Your Fellow Beast

In recent Canadian news, two young brothers (ages 5 and 7) were strangled to death by a python that found it’s way into their home through ventilation shafts of a reptile pet store next door. The store owned many animals illegally, and the breed of python (African Rock) that killed the children was not on the radar of the specialists who moderate the sales of exotic pets. It was unknown that Reptile Ocean (the store) had this type of animal in their company.

It’s sad when animals make a bad name for themselves by simply living their lives. I know that people will look at snakes in a negative light after this tragedy. If they didn’t already. I mean, they’ve pretty much had a rough time ever since Satan appeared as one. Imagine Satan appearing a panda bear or something. Life would be so different. And hell would be such a cuddly place. I digress…

Take Steve Irwin’s death. He was a lover of life–all forms of life. He died doing something that he loved. However, there was a lot of hate being put on sting rays. The sting ray was just chillin’ and got scared by Steve’s crazy nature and accidentally stung him in the heart. HIS BAD. You shouldn’t hate sting rays because of it. I have spent many a vacation petting the rubbery, floppy skin of rays, and let me tell you, they are the happiest creatures ever. So loving. I know it sounds crazy, but I love me some sting rays. Also, I know for a fact that Steve Irwin would never want people to hate on rays.

The point I’m trying to make is that it’s not fair to hate on creatures who kill humans. Animals aren’t malicious. They’re innocent and trying to survive. So many animals get caught off guard or scared and end up attacking people when they’re only trying to protect themselves. Some animals just want to eat you. Some want to protect they’re young. That doesn’t mean that you should hate an entire species because they’re wild and undomesticated.

No, I don’t hate the snake that killed those two boys. I’m sad that the boys died, yes. Totally. I’m sad that exotic animals are being pulled from their normal habitats and sitting in pet shops in New Brunswick, Canada too. Next time you’re ready to judge an animal that maims a human, make sure you take into account of why that animal acted that way. Was it trained to attack? Was it scared? Was it outside of it’s natural habitat? There are plenty of reasons why animals hurt people–none of which they should be blamed for.

I’d rather see an animal hurt a human than a human hurt an animal.

Animals That Don’t Get Enough Street Cred

I’m always keeping animal’s best interests at hand. Well, not always. One time my dog bit me and then I bit him back, but like, he started it so, I don’t really know what he expected. DO NOT CROSS ME.

Today I want to take a deeper look at the animals that are under appreciated and overlooked. These animals deserve more credit. More street cred, if you will. Even though most of these animals don’t know what streets are. Okay, none of them know what streets are.

Let’s start with peacocks. Peacocks are frickin sweet. They’ve been around forever, so maybe we aren’t as impressed by their beauty for that reason. There’s a petting zoo nearby my house here in Victoria. Like all good zoos, there are peacocks strutting around aimlessly. Often times, they escape and chill in the park outside of the petting zoo’s gates. So badass. I’m always amazed at the small reaction that peacocks get. Like, people should be freaking out that these beautiful birds are walking among us. Their feathers are iridescent for crying out loud! I’m lucky enough to have seen the rare albino peacock that resides in my little corner of Canada. Maybe because I appreciate them so much?

The pistol shrimp. Have you ever heard of this guy? Probably not because I have to teach you guys everything. The pistol shrimp has been perfectly named. Watch this video and be amazed.

Snakes in general need more street cred. They literally have no arms or legs and society lives in fear of them. If I saw a human with no appendages, I would stare, sure. But I definitely wouldn’t be scared. Like, what are they gonna do? Wink at me? Frightening. Yet snakes are in this same situation and are huge predators! Serious snaps for snakes.

Narwhals are the closest thing we have to unicorns…I mean, besides horses. Narwhals deserve some credit because they live in frigid temperatures and rarely complain about it. And they also have like, a built in sword for fighting other narwhals and for charging in battle.

Tally ho, gents.

Consider the lemming–they look like chipmunks/hamsters. There’s a misconception that lemmings commit a mass suicide during their migratory season. Even though that would be rad, it’s not true. Lemmings just have crazy urges to jump in water. They’re actually perfectly good swimmers, but they usually jump in too much water, making it unable for them to swim out successfully. I think lemmings could conquer the world. They have good self esteem and they believe they can accomplish whatever they set their minds to. They just need to stop jumping into water and accidentally killing themselves.

Koala bears are animals after my own heart. They sleep between 16 and 20 hours a day. Just living the dream.

Catchin some zzz’s for a quick 20 hours.