by Ben Holt
At Recyclo recycling plant in Flintshire, North Wales, staff were surprised to find a hamster coming through the system along with other waste items. In a four-minute journey that must have resembled a scene from Toy Story 3, it passed through a giant shredder used to break down items as large as washing machines, a rotating drum and vibrating grids, before being discovered in a sorting area. Amazingly, the tenacious little creature survived practically unscathed, with only a sore foot to show for his ordeal.
It is thought he had fallen into a skip of rubbish that was brought into the plant, and from there was transferred into the recycling system. The plant deals with around 300 to 400 tonnes of dry waste daily from all over Cheshire, Flintshire and Wrexham. Some of the material is shredded, before passing along a series of conveyor belts and grids that enable smaller pieces of waste to fall through. Plant manager Tony Williams guessed the hamster was small enough to pass through the blades of the shredder unharmed, but too big to fall through the holes in the trammel. This terrifying journey would have been enough to finish off many animals from sheer shock, but the little hamster tenaciously clung onto life.
Plant worker Craig Bull took the hamster with an inspiring story to tell home to his son Liam, who named him Mike, and gave him a happy new home where he would be kept away from recycling bins. Liam said: ‘I can’t believe he’s still alive after what happened, but he’s doing fine now.’
ANIMAL INSPIRATION
Since early men began daubing primitive images of animals onto the walls of their caves and told stories of the animal spirits around the fire, animals have been the source of inspiration for and the subject of the arts throughout the centuries. In ancient times, Egyptians depicted many of their gods with animal heads and had sculptures of cats, which they worshipped; while in the Middle Ages animals and mythical beasts adorned the pages of manuscripts and tapestries. In the seventeenth century poet La Fontaine’s animal stories became widely popular and by the eighteenth century the Brothers Grimm’s fairytales famously included many creatures. From then on to the present day animals have featured in books such as The Wind in the Willows and Alice in Wonderland, in music such as ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and films, including The Lion King. Here are three animal heroes that have been made immortal through the arts of writing, painting and music...
• EACH of the animal stories in the well-known Aesop‘s Fables illustrates a moral lesson. They are credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller said to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 bc, and are still a popular choice for children today. In one of the fables, ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’, the tortoise triumphs over the hare in a race by progressing slowly and steadily towards the finish line, while the hare, so sure of his own success because of his superior speed, takes a nap and is overtaken by the determined tortoise.
• ENGLISH PAINTER George Stubbs (1724–1806) was best known for his paintings of horses. He had studied anatomy and his knowledge of equine physiology was unsurpassed. One of his most famous paintings was Whistlejacket, in which a chestnut stallion is depicted rearing up in almost photographic detail against a plain background. The subject was a real racehorse, known for his fiery spirit, that was beaten only four times in his racing career.
• IN 1981, T. S. Eliot’s poetry book Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats was transformed into the musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber and taken to London’s West End – where it ran for 21 years – and New York City’s Broadway, in 1982, where it ran for 18 years. It featured the mysterious Mr Mistoffelees, ‘the original conjuring cat’, who performed extraordinary feats of magic and the most demanding dance routine in the show, including 24 fouettés en tournant (pirouettes performed with a whipping movement of one leg to the side).
Did you know…
… that the earliest known cave paintings are in the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave in the Ardèche department of southern France? They date to roughly 30,000–35,000 years ago and hundreds of painted animals from at least 13 species have been catalogued at the site, including predatory animals not usually found in cave art, such as lions, bears and owls.
RAISING THE ALARM
Many animals have superior senses of smell and hearing to humans, and tend to be much more alert – which is why a rabbit could sense that a sleeping woman was falling into a diabetic coma, for example, or a mule out in a stable could realise its owner’s house was alight. In such situations, the pet animals in this chapter have proved invaluable at providing their owners with warning, allowing them to escape a dangerous situation, or getting help for someone who has fallen ill, in time to save their lives. Other animals have gone one step further and gone themselves to fetch help – somehow communicating to other humans the need to follow them back to the person in trouble.
LULU
A pot-bellied pig named Lulu outdid a dog in the heroic stakes in their owner’s hour of need…
On 4 August 1998, Jo Ann and Jack Altsman of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, were holidaying at their trailer at Presque Isle with their pets, an American Eskimo dog named Bear and a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig called Lulu. The pig had originally belonged to their daughter Jackie, but when the couple had agreed to babysit the animal they fell in love with her and ended up keeping her. Then, she weighed 4 pounds, but just one year later she had grown to 150 pounds.
That day Jack was out fishing on Lake Erie when his wife collapsed in the bedroom of the trailer. The 61 year old had suffered a heart attack within the past 18 months and recognised what was happening. In an effort to get attention she threw an alarm clock out of the trailer window, and Bear began to bark, but there was no one nearby to hear the alarmed animal and come to her aid. However, Lulu seemed much more determined to get help. First she struggled out through a ‘doggy door’, cutting her fat belly, then pushed open the gate and carried on down to the road where she lay down, placing herself firmly in the flow of oncoming traffic.
When one driver finally pulled up and got out of the car to inspect the prone pig Lulu got to her feet and led the man towards the trailer. The man called out, saying he had found a pig in distress and was the owner inside? Hearing the man, Jo Ann called out that she was the one in distress and asked him to call an ambulance. Thanks to Lulu’s remarkable actions, paramedics arrived in time to save Jo Ann’s life. She was flown to Beaver where she had open-heart surgery – doctors later said that if another 15 minutes had passed it was likely they wouldn’t have been able to do anything for her.
After news spread of her heroic deed, Lulu was set on an unstoppable rise to world fame. The story was covered in The New York Times, USA Today and People magazine, and was soon appearing on news channels around the world, from Australia to Italy. Numerous appearances on American chat shows followed, including the Late Show with David Letterman, where Lulu met George Clooney. The Hollywood star was himself the owner of a much-loved pot-bellied pig – much to the jealousy of numerous past girlfriends! Clooney was so impressed with Lulu that he got in touch with Oprah Winfrey about the famous pig – and Lulu found herself on a jet being flown in to make a star appearance on the Oprah show. Lulu was awarded a gold medal by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but more importantly, her owners rewarded her with her favourite treat – a jam doughnut.
LONG-LONG
Although reptiles are cold blooded, that doesn’t mean to say they are cold hearted, as one pet snake in China showed…
When Yu Feng discovered an injured snake outside his home in Fushun, in Liaoning, China, he decided to nurse the poor animal back to health. He treated it with herbal remedies for several weeks until he was satisfied it had made a full recovery, then went to release the animal back into the wild at a spot a mile from his home.
To Yu Feng’s surprise, the reptile soon turned up again at his house. Puzzled, he released it back into the wild, only for it to return another two times. By this stage, friends and neighbours began telling Yu Feng that perhaps the snake had come back to repay his kindness
. And so he kept it as a pet and named it Long-long.
One night Yu Feng and his family were all asleep when he felt something cold on his face, and woke to find that it was Long-long. Bemused but drowsy, Yu Feng turned over and went back to sleep. He woke again to find the snake sinking its teeth into his clothing and whipping the bed with its tail. It then moved to his mother’s bed and began to do the same.
Now fully roused, Yu Feng got up and realised he could smell burning. On investigation he discovered his mother’s electric blanket had caught fire, and turned it off just before the fire could really take hold. He had no doubt that Long-long had been trying to warn him – and that his debt of a life had finally been repaid.
LOU
When Jolene Solomon’s new year started out in a blaze of glory, she was glad to have her loyal mule Lou at her side…
On New Year’s Day 2009, Jolene Solomon, aged 63, was eating a relaxed dinner at her home in McMinnville, Tennessee, where she lived alone. Just as she was tucking in, she heard her mule, Lou, braying and kicking up an awful fuss. When the ruckus carried on for some time she got up to investigate.
Stepping outside into the cold air, she saw Lou running from the barn, throwing her head up and whinnying. That’s when she looked round at the side of her house to see smoke billowing out and a fire blazing – no wonder Lou had been trying to get her attention! She called 911, but by the time the fire fighters arrived she had watched her home burn to the ground. It looked like she’d be starting off the new year with Lou and not much else.
Jolene’s father had bought Lou for her years before to help her and her sister, Blue, around the farm. When her sister had died Jolene had been left alone with Lou, and the mule had become an important companion for her in the months when she struggled to come to terms with her loss.
Jolene would have to stay with family and friends until she could rebuild her home, which her grandfather had built and where she had lived all her life. But, although she had lost so much, she was lucky to have a true friend in Lou, and credited the trusty mule with saving her life.
LULU
Lulu the roo put Skippy to shame with her real-life action heroics in Victoria, Australia…
Lulu, an eastern grey kangaroo, was rescued by the Richards family from her dead mother’s pouch, after her mother had been hit by a car and killed. Usually, if a joey has passed the embryonic stage and is already covered in fur when it loses its mother it stands a good chance of survival. They need to be fed lactose-free milk initially, until they can progress to solids, and because of their natural instinct to cuddle up – which comes from living in their mother’s pouch – they are very endearing. A kangaroo that has been reared in this way cannot provide for itself immediately if released into the wild, and many end up in wildlife sanctuaries once they grow too large to manage – fully grown kangaroos need at least 2.5 square miles of space to roam around in, and boundary fences at least 6 feet high to contain them. Luckily for Lulu, space wasn’t in short supply on the Richards’ farm in the Gippsland region of Victoria. Lulu had lived with them for four years when she proved herself to be an invaluable member of the family.
In September 2003, a storm hit the area, and farmer Len Richards, aged 52, was knocked unconscious by a falling tree branch while out checking for storm damage. He could have been there for hours, exposed to the harsh elements, if it wasn’t for Lulu dashing back to the house and raising the alarm by making a barking noise to attract the attention of his wife, Lynn. Perturbed by the animal’s agitated state and out-of-character behaviour, she went out with her nephew and found her husband lying unconscious in a field.
A year later, Lulu became the first kangaroo to receive a bravery award when she was honoured with the Australian RSPCA’s Animal Valor Award, set up in 1998. Speaking of the incident, Len suggested Lulu might also have performed some ‘first aid’ to help him. He explained how his nephew had found him tipped over to one side, which had saved him from choking on his own vomit, although they would never know for sure whether this had been down to Lulu.
ROBIN
A pet rabbit kicked up a fuss one night when one of its owners fell dangerously ill…
Ed and Darcy Murphy from Port Byron, Illinois, bought Robin the rabbit at a garage sale and gave the animal as a gift to their children Callie, 10, and Dylan, 8. The children loved her and she seemed to settle in well, but one night ten days later she began to behave very strangely.
It was 3 a.m., and Ed was woken by the sound of Robin bouncing around and thumping in her hutch. ‘She was going wild,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t like her at all.’ Disturbed from his rest, he noticed his pregnant wife Darcy was making some strange snoring sounds, although he didn’t pay too much heed to this and tried to settle back down to rest.
But the agitated bunny wouldn’t keep still and the noise woke Ed again. This time, when he looked over at his wife, he saw that she had gone an alarming red colour and was hardly breathing. Although Ed didn’t know it at the time, Darcy, who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, had gone into insulin shock. Ed quickly dialled 911 and the paramedics were able to reach Darcy in time and get her the urgent treatment she needed.
A month later, a fully recovered Darcy gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, whom they named Brenna. Darcy was adamant that if Robin hadn’t made all that noise to wake her husband that night, she and the baby would have died.
Dr Bonnie Beaver, an animal behaviourist at Texas A&M University, gave a possible explanation for Robin’s behaviour: Darcy’s diabetes meant she would have been emitting significant ketone odours, which the rabbit would have been able to smell and to which she may have been reacting. She certainly seemed to know something husband Ed didn’t, and if it hadn’t been for her he would never have got help for his wife and unborn child in time.
The bunny rescues
In Thatcham, Berkshire, Warren Taylor and Kacey Leathers were disturbed one night by their pet rabbit scratching at their bedroom door. They woke to find the house filled with the overwhelming smell of gas. The rabbit was shut into the kitchen at night, and had somehow managed to get out and up the stairs to raise the alarm.
Another pet rabbit saved the lives of an Australian couple in the Macleod area of Melbourne when a fire started in their house while they slept. Michelle Finn and her partner Gerry Keogh were alerted to the danger when the rabbit scratched on their bedroom door to wake them. The fire caused thousands of dollars of damage and the couple had to rebuild their home – and buy a new cage for their hero pet, whose cage had also been destroyed in the blaze.
PEANUT
A father and son were alerted to a fire in their home by a rather unusual smoke alarm…
One Friday night, Shannon Conwell and his nine-year-old son Tyler were having a quiet night in, watching a film together, when they drifted off to sleep on the sofa in their home in Muncie, Indiana. Also in the room with them was their pet parrot, Peanut, whom they had bought six months earlier and who was already an important member of their little family.
At around 3 a.m., the pair were awakened from their slumber by Peanut making a call that sounded very much like a smoke alarm. Smoke was filling the room and fire was taking hold all around them – the real smoke alarm was sounding, but it was Peanut’s imitative cries that had roused the pair.
Shannon knew he had to act fast. He grabbed hold of his son and the bird, and made a run for it out of the blazing house, and it was lucky they did as their home was completely ravaged by the flames. Shannon later said that he’d initially had to fork out quite a large sum to buy the bird, but that it was best money he had ever spent.
Many types of parrots are able to imitate human speech, or other sounds, as Peanut did. Parrots do not have vocal cords – they make sounds by expelling air across the mouth of the trachea, or windpipe, which in parrots is bifurcated (branches in two). By changing the depth and shape of the trachea they are able to make different sounds.
WILLIE
In Denv
er, Colorado, a babysitter was glad that an intelligent parrot named Willie was present at the breakfast table…
One morning in November 2008, Megan Howard was babysitting two-year-old Hannah Kuusk, accompanied by Willie, her green-and-white pet Quaker parrot. As the toddler tucked into her breakfast, Megan popped into the bathroom, leaving the child alone with the parrot.
It was then that Megan heard the parrot screeching and squawking and flapping his wings – he kept saying ‘Mama baby’ over and over again, until she rushed out of the bathroom to see what the matter was. In the kitchen she was shocked to see Hannah choking and turning blue in the face.
Megan quickly performed the Heimlich manoeuvre, saving the little girl’s life – but she gave full credit to her avian friend for the important role he played: ‘If [Willie hadn’t] warned me, I probably wouldn’t have come out of the bathroom in time because she was already turning blue – her lips were blue and everything.’
Peanut later received the local Red Cross’s Animal Lifesaver Award, which he was awarded during a Breakfast of Champions event, attended by the governor of Colorado and the mayor of Denver.
HENRY
In Scotland, a quiet stroll with the dog turned into a nightmare one dark autumn evening…
One evening in October 2010, father-of-three, David Baird, was out walking his black Labrador, Henry, near his home in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire. The pair were strolling along a cycle path when out of nowhere came a man who launched a vicious and prolonged attack on David, leaving the 40 year old badly beaten on the ground.
Henry didn’t waste any time in dashing back home, where he scratched at the front door to get the attention of David’s wife, Annabel. Realising something was wrong she watched the dog closely, then followed him as he began to lead her down the cycle path – where she was horrified to find her dear husband lying in a pool of his own blood.
