They call it birdseed for a reason, but squirrels don’t know that. For those of us who enjoy feeding birds, squirrels can be crafty, and sometimes costly, adversaries. A hungry fox squirrel can chow down a dollar’s worth of sunflower seeds faster than a small flock of finches, which can be annoying. Or it can be entertaining.
Posts filed under Animals
Random Acts of Kindness-- Saved By the Squirrels
From the moment I woke up, I knew it was going to be a bad day. Not because it was a Monday, though that didn’t help. And the cold rain pelting against my windows didn’t help, either. No, I knew that it was guaranteed to be a Very Bad Day because I had slept through my alarm clock and woke up two hours late. I’m in business for myself so normally my boss would have cut me some slack, but on this particular Monday, I was on deadline to write an article and hand it in by 5 p.m.—just seven hours away. I didn’t have a first draft and hadn’t even decided on a topic yet. Sometimes, with the help of adrenaline, I can wing it, but I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to this time.
Shamanic Healing for Pets
Buddy, a large dog, had a chronic seizure disorder from the age of two that got progressively worse with age. During some of the more serious grand mal seizures, Buddy became fearful and anxious, creating an internal environment conducive to additional seizures. Shamanic journeying revealed strategies that his person could use to support him in his process when seizures did occur, and helped to identify the parts of his brain that were affected. His journey involved a rebirth with his mother, a type of dismemberment, which also restored parts of his soul spirit. Overall, his endurance of his seizures was much calmer.
Crazy Wisdom Kids in the Community: Kid-Friendly Animal Rescues of Ann Arbor
I know I’m not the only one who has had to learn how to care for animals and who deeply enjoys their company. A natural affinity with animals since childhood is what led me to become a trained animal whisperer and animal Reiki specialist in addition to being a journalist. It’s often hard to tell where a love of animals will take a child, but these days there are some amazing programs out there to test the waters, whether a kid is interested in learning the basics of animal encounters, adopting a new family member, or becoming a veterinarian, animal trainer, or therapist.
Horses Have Changed My LIfe
Horses have a sentient nature. They have a wisdom that transcends what we humans can understand. One thing that they have taught me, over and over again, is to be aware of and listen to their plan. When the plan they suggest to me differs than what I had in mind, I default to their wisdom and knowledge.
Naomi’s Wilderness Adventure
ver since we adopted our cat Naomi from the Humane Society four years ago, she has been content to live her life as an indoor cat. That is until one Sunday in late April, when the sights and smells of spring got to be too much for her, and she escaped unnoticed—probably while my husband was taking out the trash.
Embroidered Lavender-Filled Warming Pillow
With summer just around the corner and lots of gardening to be done, what could be better than a pretty warming pillow to soothe those sore muscles? Stuff the pillow with some dried lavender for soothing aromatherapy. To heat the pillow, place in the microwave for thirty seconds, pull it out and shake it, and heat it for another thirty seconds. You can also warm it in the oven by placing it in a cold oven on a cookie sheet. Turn oven on to 200 degrees. Shake pillow after five minutes, and put it back in the oven for another two to five minutes, checking it often to make sure that it is not too hot. Be cautious, it could burn you if you get it too hot. You can also try putting it in the freezer if you need a cool pack instead of a warming pack. Enjoy!
Soul on a Short Leash: Butterflies, Bees, and Technologies
My parents both traveled in Mexico when they were young. They hadn’t yet met and would not for a few years. A flock of butterflies accompanied the bus in which my mother crossed the border from Arizona. She said they were pale in color, not monarchs, like a scatter of flowers, a flock of mariposas on the wind’s breath, and for the Aztecs, a symbol of fire and soul.
Treat Your Pet! Clean Eats For Our Four-Pawed Friends from the Brown Basset Bakery for Dogs
With more and more people identifying their dogs as not just a pet, but a very important part of their family, it’s no surprise that the demand for increased quality in dog food and dog treat options has risen. This thought process led me and my team at The Brown Basset, a local bakery for dogs based out of Chelsea, to start digging into our recipe books to create the best dog treats possible using simple,
clean, organic, and all-natural ingredients with no preservatives. Your pups will flip
for these scrumptious treats, and our menu of approximately 20 different cookies,
muffins, and cakes fall into this “clean” category.
Christmas for Duffy
Many people are unaware that there are natural healing options for pets that are similar to methods used for humans. I am often asked how pets respond to these natural healing methods. “Do dogs really sit still for acupuncture?” “How do you get them to do their exercises for rehabilitation?” “Do you actually see any response to herbal therapy in pets?” “How do you do massage on a painful pet?”
A Little Winter Twitter--Crafting an embroidered Chickadee pin
I love seeing the flash of dark color against white snow when the chickadees come to eat at my birdfeeder. Chickadees are one of a handful of birds that stay in Michigan when the snow comes calling and their songs are sure to lift your spirits when the day is gray. This little chickadee pin looks deceitfully hard to make, but is really rather simple. It will make a great gift for a friend who needs a bit of a mid-winter cheer.
Reiki with Dali Llama
by Laura Cowan
I’m guessing you’ve never had a ram approach you like a puppy, because even if you are lucky enough to know one, that isn’t the sort of thing rams do — unless they have a reiki therapist like Dona Duke as a friend. Dona is an Usui Reiki Ryoho Reiki master, and the resident animal reiki therapist at the Humane Society animal shelter. She accepted my invitation as a locally based holistic living editor to interview her and see animals receiving reiki in a farm environment. Dona wanted me to bring you the experience of something beyond cat shelter or hospital reiki that is so often written about these days. I’m so glad reiki is written about enough to require the variety, and she was so right. Reiki on a farm is a world unto itself. Let me tell you about this ram at Fluffy Bottom Farms. Call him Ishmael.
“No, really. Everyone on this farm has a fabulous name. The ram was just the beginning.”
Ishmael and his herd of sheep and cows at the Fluffy Bottom Farms farm and creamery in Chelsea, receive reiki from Dona on a weekly basis. I wish I had the data to prove to you that reiki improves the cheese they make, but suffice it to say it’s phenomenally delicious stuff, now sold at grocery stores and retailers all over Michigan. I tried the aged raw manchego, which went perfectly in a cherry spinach salad. Owners Kelli Conlin and Angie Martell were out of the house the day I visited. Dona brought treats for the turkeys and hens on the day she introduced me to the animals. The three tom turkeys were not so welcoming, but it was mating season and they were strutting their stuff, so I won’t hold it against them that they followed me around with fanned feathers and a serious attitude.
I was nervous. Why was I nervous? I have turkeys in my rural wooded yard daily so it wasn’t about being stalked by birds half my size. I used to belong to a dairy farm share myself, so I’m comfortable around herds of cows and sheep, and free-range birds. I am also trained as an animal reiki master. Was I nervous because I know I shouldn’t walk up to farm animals and assume they’re friendly when I enter their pen? Maybe, but this growing awareness of my own nerves led to a profound reiki-led epiphany in short order. Ishmael was climbing the gate of his pen to nuzzle Ms. Duke, and the other ram, Gabriel, accepted me into his pen to rub up against me for reiki and a pet. I was experiencing the effects of animal reiki before I even realized it. I’m used to giving reiki, you see, but I’m not used to receiving it from animals.
We entered the sheep pen in the barn, where a tall brown llama named Dali watched me attentively. He was gentle and protective, that much was obvious, but I didn’t expect what came next. Dali noticed I was nervous, Dona said, and as the protector of the herd against local coyotes, he was investigating why. Ah, that was the reason for the nerves. I had been considering a number of ways of applying reiki in my own life and career with animals, and I had expected to be more at ease. It hardly does to have an animal reiki master acting jittery around a flock of sheep. But by now, I should have known something else was afoot. This was animal reiki in action. It wasn’t magic. It was reciprocity.
Suddenly, it was just me and Dali, experiencing that connection of minds that comes from the unity consciousness of universal life energy flow. The llama was teaching me, not only to experience sacred space on the receiving end from an animal, but he was giving me a nudge. Suddenly I knew. I wasn’t meant to focus on animal reiki. With one glance, I understood. I should have figured, given what I know about reiki, that it would be the animals to give me that course correct on how to apply healing energies in my life and career. I wish I could tell you how this felt, but maybe if you have experienced reiki, you already know. Even getting a nudge of “no, not quite this path” is a profoundly healing experience. It was just that in this case, it was the llama receiving reiki that helped me as much as I helped him, if not more.
“You must approach them as equals,” Dona said. So true. Because they are. That’s where the reciprocity comes from, however you experience it. “It’s easy for me to work with animals, because I approach them as friends,” Dona tells me. Indeed. These animals dearly loved this woman, crowding her for treats — the largest behaving the most gently of all. The new lambs watched her with cocked faces from behind their mothers. The llama was at complete peace around her. The sheep readily decided to try to eat the buttons off my coat rather than ask too many questions about whether I belonged, since I came with recommendations from Dona. She was at home. This was her herd.
Dona used to have horses and rode dressage. “What you learn training horses is that if anything goes wrong, it’s not the horse’s fault,” she tells me, adding:
What is key in training horses is being present, being consistent, and in an emotionally good place, because you are literally sitting on a large animal’s nervous system. It’s the same thing with reiki. You need to communicate with their whole system. You have to learn to be quiet and be still, and work together.
This is true of human reiki, as well, and is particularly true of animals who live outdoors, as they are highly tuned in to their environment.
Dali the llama blinked with his long soft lashes. I felt the healing space around us. We were connected with everyone and everything, but we were also just the two of us. How odd. Sometimes a feeling of discomfort and nerves as you receive reiki is the message. There was nothing wrong with me. Healing in general often comes to us like this — wrapped up in the messages of anxiety and health problems and feelings that warn us of the importance of a change. There is nothing wrong with the message, and there is nothing wrong with our ability to receive the message. When we learn to listen and flow with the energy, the healing and growth naturally comes. Because that’s what reiki is. It’s just life, and life is growth, and healing, and creativity. Reiki is delightful, but sometimes upending. It is the never-ceasing river of powerful change that will help you align with your highest good if you simply allow it and flow with the process. Reiki had not too long ago swept me out of one life and into another set of new possibilities, and here I was. Llama-facilitated therapy. So much for humans being on top of the chain of consciousness! It simply isn’t so. The animals can teach you this, particularly through animal reiki.
We walked outside to the field, where Dona told me the herd often comes running to meet her. Sure enough, the remainder of the herd came at a full trot all the way from the next pasture. I have never seen more animals happy to see one person. Granted, she brings carrots, but even so. She allowed the animals to approach her for reiki. They stood next to her, quietly alert, until they were finished — usually about five to ten minutes per animal that approached her. They often seemed to wait their turn.
Ishmael ran to the back of his pen at the barn and climbed it like a goat.
“Get down,” Dona told him. “That isn’t safe for you.”
He pushed his hip up against the fence. “They show you where they want reiki,” Dona told me.
Sure enough, this was exactly what the other ram Gabriel had done with me. He had allowed me into his pen, sniffed my hand, and then pressed his side up to me and turned around. Like I said, not rammish at all. Reiki-ish. Not that there is anything wrong with a ram acting like a ram on an ordinary Tuesday, but these animals were co-creators in their healing. Phenomenal stuff. The air was thick with healing, like walking on air. I noticed this with my cat as well when I started practicing reiki on family members. She started sitting on my hands while I was working. Animals love reiki, because animals are very aligned with their natural selves and the balanced energies around them.
Inside the farmhouse, the dogs were waiting for treats and to be let out in the yard. A feral cat scrambled under the porch, while a black domestic pawed to be let in for food. A tiny lamb named Athena, who was born with a leg injury and rejected by her mother, was waiting for us in a pen wearing a diaper. She was only an armful of animal. Dona picked her up and bottle-fed her. Of all things I expected that day, it wasn’t to change a lamb’s diaper and have her cry after one of her surrogate moms. She rooted and arched her neck for Dona just like a human newborn
for its mother. She didn’t want me, and you have to understand animals often do. But there was nothing wrong. This was the message. This was the healing.
Dona told me more of the story of how she got into reiki, and just like my story, it was full of synchronicities and healing experiences, and meetings with amazing animals. I was deeply grateful she had opened up her life to me at all, as she is clearly at home with animals even more so than with humans. She was gracious and empathic while I trailed her around the farm, and like many reiki masters I know, she was also highly intuitive and could see straight through to people’s energy and feelings, just like she does with animals. She quickly spotted my connection with Dali, and how the other animals pushed me away almost in unison. This is more than impressive: it is an important skill for both animal and human reiki masters to be able to spot areas of tension and potential problems and possibilities when dealing with clients or rooms full of animals or people, even though the reiki will always go wherever it is needed anyway. Maybe that is what I love about reiki above all other healing properties. It isn’t just a healing energy flow. It is sacred space and witnessing the miracle of life. People who practice reiki, at least in my experience, are profoundly tuned in to universal healing energy flow and the feelings of those around them.
We went to say goodbye to the herd before we left. Dali approached me. I reached for his face.
“No,” Dona said. “He doesn’t need you to pet him. He is telling you you’re okay. He’s checked you out. You’re part of the herd.”
Already? And I was still trying to make friends. I put my hand down. Dali brought his soft wooly face right up next to mine and stood, touching cheek to cheek, for a good minute.
I closed my eyes. So did Dali. We stayed cheek to cheek, touching our chins.
“Isn’t that amazing?” Dona said. “They help us as much as we help them.”
Yes, they do, very much. Thank you, Dona and Ishmael. Thank you, Dali. Namaste. Thank you, reiki. And the path flows on.
Laura K. Cowan is the Kids in the Community Columnist and an editor for The Crazy Wisdom Journal. She is a green tech editor and magical realist author from Ann Arbor (Winding Road Magazine, Inhabitat). Ms. Cowan once ran her own green parenting blog 29Diapers, which gave her the dubious distinction of being the only mommy blogger in existence who could explain variable valve timing. You can reach her at cwkidscolumn@crazywisdom.net.
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Raising Backyard Chickens: What to Consider Before Collecting Those Wonderful Eggs
A chicken ordinance was passed in Ann Arbor in 2008, allowing residents to keep up to four hens in their backyards for the first time. Happily, residents of Ann Arbor began building coops and transforming their backyards into a haven for their chickens. The popularity of backyard chickens has continued to grow. As of December 2016, 22 permits for backyard chickens had been issued, already rising above the 14 that were issued in 2015. Early in 2015, the number of chickens allowed went from four to six, delighting those who already had them and instilling curiosity in many who have never had chickens.
The State of Bees
Imagine a living thing that has an effect on almost every food you eat. It also plays a role in the trees you see, the weeds you pull, and the coffee you drink each morning. Our entire ecosystem would be radically changed if these beings were to disappear. Bees are the tiny, hard working, often pesky pollinators that so graciously play a part in maintaining the delicate ecosystem we share. We need them, desperately, to be able to do their job: pollinate.
Zooooooooooooooooooom. Zoooooooooooooooooooo-ooooooom ~ Chase Me Now! Taming the Crazy that is Puppyhood
In the World of Dog, evening crazies are actually a thing, particularly in puppies. “International Puppy Zoomie Time” often occurs between 7:00-9:00 p.m., on a nightly basis, immediately before your new youngster crashes for the evening. You hope. Or, it may not be until the early hours of the morning.
In the Company of Cats — Ann Arbor’s First Cat Café Lets Visitors Enjoy Feline Companionship and Cat-centered Activities
The sun is just peeking over the horizon, burning off the last tendrils of early morning fog, as instructor Lisa Norgren begins teaching her yoga class. The studio is dim; a soothing fountain trickles gently in the back of the room. Students stand in front of their mats, talking softly. The room eventually becomes quiet. The cats awaken, stretch and start to roam.
Fluffy Bottom Farms — A Buddhist-inspired Dairy Farm Begins its Life in Chelsea
“It’s definitely a time game,” Kelli Conlin says, sitting across from me. She is a woman with a kind face, working hands, and an indescribable amount of caring energy emitting from her heart. From our conversation, I gathered that Kelli was referring to the amount of time and care it takes to run a farm like Fluffy Bottom, one where treating animals with kindness and compassion and providing products that are fresh and delicious are top priorities.
Falconry — Words from a Master
Rupert let out a low hoot as he shifted his position on Master Falconer Craig Perdue’s wrist. “That hoot means he’s getting agitated. He doesn’t like everyone making a fuss about his prize.” Craig was referring to the lure in the bird’s talons. As if on cue, Rupert the Great-Horned Owl clutched it more tightly, letting out a high-pitched screech.
PTSD and Animals
Your animal friend does not have to be in a disaster or war zone to develop PTSD symptoms. Common causes include accident, surgery, attacks by other animals, human-inflicted abuse, life-threatening illness, separation or death of a loved one, getting lost, or even moving to a new home.
All Creatures Great and Small — Does Your Pet Need an Animal Chiropractor?
By Karen Foulke Larson
Sarah Wilkinson, Doctor of Chiropractic, always knew she wanted a career working with animals. She started working at an animal hospital in high school, and through the years as she moved her way up to head animal technician, learned the importance of preventive care. She saw how raw food diets, chiropractic care, and acupuncture helped the animals she cared for as well as her own pets. This influenced her decision to become certified as an animal chiropractor. She now treats cats and dogs and even horses.
What is Animal Chiropractic?
Chiropractic deals with the entire nervous system. Misaligned vertebrae (known as subluxations) can put pressure on spinal nerves. By adjusting the misaligned vertebrae, chiropractic care addresses the cause of the problem instead of just the symptoms.
Some of the conditions that might cause a pet owner to seek chiropractic care for their cat or dog include: gait problems; behavioral changes; performance problems; musculoskeletal problems; disc problems; joint problems; limping; age-related degeneration; neck, back, leg and/or tail pain; decreased range of motion; maintenance of joint and spinal health; and wellness and preventive care. One of the causes of subluxations can be some form of trauma, like getting hit by a car or a slip and fall. The birthing process can also cause subluxations.
An animal chiropractor works to restore function and mobility to the compromised vertebrae in an effort to re-establish neurologic transmissions and allow the body to perform at its potential. Animal chiropractors use their hands to identify the areas of restriction and then apply a precise thrust on the immobile anatomical structures to restore the normal motion of the vertebrae.
Animal chiropractic care is often sought to correct a problem, but it is also beneficial for wellness and preventive care. It does not replace traditional veterinary care and, as Wilkinson explained, is an integrative method that is used in conjunction with traditional veterinary care.
Finding a Chiropractor for Your Pet
Wilkinson’s field has grown over the last fifteen years, but there are many pet owners who are just finding out about this option. When she introduces herself to someone for the first time away from her clinic, she often hears the question, “Can I see your business card?” She has had many interesting conversations sitting next to strangers on airplanes who didn’t even realize animal chiropractors existed.
When looking for an animal chiropractor, start with the American Veterinarian Chiropractic Association (AVCA), the certifying agency for chiropractors and veterinarians who have undergone post-graduate animal chiropractic training. Some chiropractors might offer to take care of their patients’ pets, or may have graduated from a basic animal chiropractic program, but Wilkinson cautioned that finding a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) or a Doctor of Veterinarian Medicine (D.V.M.) who is certified by the AVCA guarantees that they are thoroughly trained and have passed a written and clinical exam.
The Michigan Veterinary Medical Association requires a veterinarian’s referral and observation for chiropractic care. Wilkinson works at the Synergy Animal Hospital and Chiropractic in Saline (the same clinic where she started working during high school) with Linda Fung, D.V.M. It costs $85 to see both the veterinarian and the animal chiropractor. The cost for adjustments is $50. Some pet owners schedule regular visits, but the frequency of visits varies based on the individual pet’s needs.
Wilkinson said that once the primary issue improves, there are often other changes to the animal’s overall well-being, such as allergy relief or the pet tolerating medications better.
Popular with Pets (and Owners)
Kim Dermyre has known Wilkinson for at least fifteen years. Wilkinson first cared for Dermyre’s pets when she was a vet technician at Synergy. Dermyre’s Rhodesian Ridgeback, Geunther, was the first Dermyre pet to receive chiropractic care. Dermyre’s current pet, Greta, is a 68-pound Rhodesian Ridgeback. Dermyre thinks chiropractic care has helped extend Greta’s life. She is now 14.
Dermyre said, “The results were phenomenal. It gives them the ability to move more freely as they age with the onset of arthritis.”
When asked about Wilkinson, Dermyre added, “Her knowledge and compassion, along with a beautiful personality, are tops, and most of all, her love of animals makes her a special doctor as well as a person.”
If pet owners are questioning whether their pet will tolerate chiropractic care, Wilkinson can put their concerns at ease. One example is an 85-pound pit bull mix who originally saw Wilkinson for an injured back. The dog was nervous at the first visit when she was in pain, but as soon as Wilkinson corrected the problem, she quickly welcomed the visits to Wilkinson. Now she runs in the door of the clinic, finds Wilkinson, and sits in her lap.
Want to know more about animal chiropractic? Visit the American Veterinarian Chiropractic Association’s website: www.animalchiropractic.org.
Sarah Wilkinson, D.C., practices at Synergy Animal Hospital and Chiropractic located at 250 E. Michigan Avenue in Saline. For more information, visit www.synergyanimalhospital.net or call (734) 944-1640. She is also co-owner of Life's Journey Family Chiropractic, located in Ann Arbor, and is one of the few AVCA certified animal chiropractors in the state.
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Dogs have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Their unconditional love has provided a lifeline of emotional support during some very dark times. In the aftermath of a failed relationship and a thoroughly broken heart, being accountable to my dogs, and needing to care for them, literally gave me a reason to get up and carry on living. I was struggling with a very bad episode of depression—the kind that comes with such crushing, completely debilitating fatigue that it’s nearly impossible to get out of bed.