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Mom Loved Animals
Momma loved animals. She raised dogs, cats, fish, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, guinea hens, goats, birds, and ducks. She made every one of them her friend, not just her pets. She talked to them more lovingly than she did her children. Children were to be seen, not heard. But her animals? They had the run of the house and yard. Each kind of pet knew and responded to her. She was Dr. Dolittle (Rex Harrison, 1967). Momma named all her pets, and everyone seemed to know their names. When she called, they came, unlike her children.
Momma especially loved baby animals. If there was one that needed a home, mom’s home was available. It didn’t matter how young they were. She would nurse them, feeding from a tiny bottle. Momma grieved when they died, buried them in special places, visited their little graves, and cried over them. She had a dedication to animals that she did not share with humans.
I have often asked myself why my mom’s connections with animals were more intimate than with humans. The answer probably lies in her past somewhere. A past now locked away in her grave. I can’t even find living relatives that know my mother’s early history. My sister has visited the place of her birth and early childhood in West Virginia, but not much is known about her time there. People of mom’s era didn’t talk about the ugliness they may have endured. Like the soldiers returning from war, mom buried the trauma of her past. It must have been too painful to recall.
Back in those days, trauma was considered a statement about your character, regardless of the circumstances. This logic seems to imply that if you weren’t “the way you are”, people would treat you better. The ugliness, anger, and hate projected toward you were your fault. Eventually, one comes to believe they deserve the vitriol spewed at them. Mom had little use for people because of this. It led to a life of rejection and fear of human relationships.
Animals were different. Mom’s animal friends did not judge her or hold her accountable for things lost to the past. They just returned the love and affection they received from her. Loving and taking care of animals healed and calmed mom’s soul. Her past experiences would not come between her and her friends. They were barred by the love given and received. Her soul must have needed a special measure of this healing balm one summer morning because a little chuckling was headed her way with a whole jar of it!
Dad To The Rescue!
Dad was the maintenance foreman at an iron foundry. One morning, his crew discovered a groundhog under a maintenance shed. She was hiding with her six tiny kits from the men who were determined to exterminate them. When dad got to the scene, mom and five of the babies were dead. He stopped the men from killing the last one, saying his wife might like to have it as a pet. Dad gathered the chuckling and placed it in a little cardboard box. It was the critter’s lucky day!
Mom was about to replace the mom it lost.
About Groundhogs
Groundhogs, sometimes called woodchucks, have litters of three to six babies. The babies are called kits, pups, or chucklings. Mom never had a groundhog baby before, but as with all baby animals, she fell in love. She figured out what the little thing liked to eat by trial and error. The chuckling was still nursing, so she took a tiny doll baby bottle, filled it with a mixture of milk and water, and the chuckling lapped up the mixture. Eventually, a more substantial fare was required and, again, mom tried different things to find what worked. It was now time to name her new baby.
Mom decided to name her Babe. She knew it was a little girl, so “Babe” was perfect. Mom’s animal naming convention was usually practical. We had a black dog named Blacky, and a brown dog named Brownie. The birds were named Sweety or Tweedy. Goats were named Billy or Charger, and chickens were named Betsy or Betty. Sometimes numbers were used to distinguish between Betsy 1 and Betsy 2, like Dr. Zeus’ Thing 1 and Thing 2. Colors were also used as differentiating monikers. Mom always knew who each one was, though I could never figure it out.
Babe Grew Up!
Babe grew. Mom and Dad didn’t know how big she would get. They hoped she had finished growing when she hit ten pounds and two feet long. And they were right. Babe was a big girl! Mom taught her to use a cat litter box. Babe had a voracious appetite. She loved mom’s garden, though she was not allowed much outside the house. Babe and mom became best friends. Dad finally gave in, and Babe won him over too. Dad got her a little leash and walked her around the neighborhood. He got some strange looks.
The groundhog lived with mom and dad for about three years. One day one of the town council members saw dad driving around town with Babe wrapped around his shoulders and neck like a feather boa. Babe loved to ride in the truck with dad. She sat on his shoulders and paid attention to everything going by as they drove around town. Lots of fun for her, but not so much fun for the town council member. Groundhogs are rodents, the letter said, and rodents must be exterminated. They were given a week to get rid of Babe. Mom’s heart was broken again by the anger and rejection of another human.
They decided that extermination was not an option. Dad suggested taking her into a state forest a few miles from town and letting her loose. At least she would have a chance at survival. Mom hated the idea, but the alternative was worse, so she agreed. However, she was not going to ride with dad to the drop-off area. That was more than she could handle.
Babe's Last Ride With Dad
Dad put Babe’s leash on her and walked her out to the truck. She was excited about going on another ride with dad. She couldn’t wait to get in the truck. Babe assumed her normal position on dad’s shoulders and off they went for an adventure. The last adventure she would have with dad.
He found a secluded spot, pulled over, and stopped the truck. Babe jumped down from his shoulders and got ready to exit. Dad took the leash off her and Babe followed him into the woods. It was a dark, drizzly day. The forest floor was damp and thick with fallen leaves and dead trees. Babe maneuvered over the obstacles with no problem, following dad as they journeyed deeper into the forest. He went far enough beyond the road until he could no longer see the truck. By this time, Babe was exploring a few yards away from dad, totally absorbed in her new surroundings. Sights and smells she had never experienced overwhelmed her senses.
Dad stopped walking and took cover behind a tree as Babe journeyed deeper and deeper into the forest, lost in discovery and wonder. Then, at the right time, he took off and headed back to the truck. As he opened the door, he looked back and Babe was nowhere to be found. He jumped in, started the truck, and headed back for town. Babe was on her own now. She would either survive or succumb to the new environment she had been thrust into.
Mom was a survivor. She somehow overcame her past and thrived when she left the West Virginia coal mining town where she was born and raised. Sometimes survival requires letting go of the past and moving forward. That was her prayer for Babe. Mom imagined Babe finding a mate, having chucklings, and raising them. Babe would die at the ripe old age of six having fulfilled her mission as a mother. That’s how mom soothed her aching soul as she mourned the loss of one of the best friends she had ever had.
Once Lost, Now Found
Mom was no stranger to loss, but Babe left an open wound that would not heal. She had loved a wild thing as she could never love anything else. Like so many times in her past, something was taken away from her by people who didn’t think she fit in their world. One night she and dad were watching television. The Johnny Carson show was a favorite and tonight Jim Fowler was scheduled to introduce Johnny to some strange guests. Mom loved Jim. They had the same heart for animals.
Fowler parades a menagerie of large insects and strange bug-eyed guests to pester Carson. After the dust settled and everyone was back in their box, Carson says, “Well, Jim, what do you have for us next?” Fowler said the next guest is much more docile. He went backstage and came out with a groundhog following him. Jim sat down on the couch and the groundhog jumped up on his lap. Johnny commented on how cute and calm the animal was. He said, “That thing isn’t going to start digging up the stage, is it?” Jim, said, “No” and began to tell the critter’s story.
A ranger in a state park in North Carolina was patrolling one day on foot when he came across this odd creature. He reported that the groundhog walked right to him and tried to climb his leg. The ranger, a little cautious at first, lifted the groundhog and held it out away from his body. She went limp and just hung there looking him in the eye. The ranger thought someone must have had it as a pet because the animal was so tame. He got back to the truck and put her in the cab. He got in and was startled when she leaped onto his shoulders. He sat, stunned at first, and then realized that the groundhog was just assuming a normal position she had been taught. So, he started the truck and they drove off together. Babe had been found. She survived the months in the forest and eventually lived the rest of her life in a zoo in California.
Babe's Final Words
As mom leaned forward in her chair to get a good look at the groundhog, the camera zoomed in for a closeup. Mom was convinced. “That’s Babe!”, she yelled, and with tears of joy streaming down her face, she leaned in closer and said, “Good night, Babe”. She heard Babe reply, “Good night, momma”.
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