Friday, July 13, 2007

See how lazy I am?

I am so lazy that I cut and pasted this from an email (and I can't seem to make the font all the same and I'm too tired to play with it anymore), but I think the message is absolutely beautiful.

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying life.

NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami
waves on the Kenyan coast has formed
a strongbond
with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal

facility in the port city of Mombassa , officials said.
The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about
300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki
River into the Indian Ocean , then forced back to shore
when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on
December 26, be fore wildlife rangers rescued him.




"It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a
male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to
be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu,
who is in charge of Lafarge Park , told AFP.



"After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized.
It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother.
Fortunately
, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond.
They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added.
"The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother.
If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive,
as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.



"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and
by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their
mothers for four year s," he explained.



"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away."



This is a real story that shows that our differences don't matter
much when we need the comfort of another.
We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures of God,


"Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together."

21 comments:

NatureWoman said...

There's a book about this, too! It's such a touching story. And I agree with the last sentence in your post.

LittlePea said...

I like hippos. I always want to smack one on the butt. Or pinch- whatever seems best. I like turtles too. There are a bunch of them in the lake near my house and you can see their little heads sticking out of the water. I heard about this-it's a sweet story.

Ah laziness-my close friend. Don't feel bad, everyone needs a break once in a while.

Jimbo said...

Read more about Owen & Mzee at their blog:

http://www.lafargeecosystems.com

Join the Owen & Mzee Yahoo Group at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Owen-and-Mzee_Group

See Owen & Mzee Movie trailer:

http://tinyurl.com/oxomy

Author's fabulous website with movie:

http://www.owenandmzee.com

Download Parent-Teacher Guide at:

http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0429/4432216.pdf , or

http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/tradebooks/owen_mzee_dg.pdf

http://www.grandcanyonreaderaward.org/4432216.pdf

Not all the parent-teacher guide links work all the time, hence 3 are posted.

TigerYogi said...

Very sweet!

Menchie said...

Awww, I loved reading this. They look so cute together!

Ur-spo said...

that made me smile; thankyou

dmmgmfm said...

Naturewoman, I'll have to order the book. It is such sweet story.

Mspea, I do need a break, work is taking all of my energy right now. Thanks.

Jimbo, thanks.

Yogi, glad you liked it. :-)

Menchie, reading it made me cry, in a good way.

Ur-spo, I'm glad.

Pink said...

I can't decide if I relate more to the Hippo after all the good food I ate this week, or the 100 year old turtle (need I explain that?).

But I feel lazy too. I'm just laying here reading blogs.

Thanks for the smile
xx
pinks

Cathy said...

That is about the sweetest story I've ever encountered. My sis was leaning over me as I scrolled down and we're going Ohhhhhh . . . . (trying not to cry)

Thank you, Laurie.

Gina said...

Cute!

And I can't believe there is a website!

Girlplustwo said...

that is absolutely lovely.

Squirl said...

That is such a sweet story.

dmmgmfm said...

Pink, they fed you well at your training, I take it. Glad you enjoyed the story.

Cathy, I'm glad you and your sister liked it. It made me cry too.

Gina, yes, it was nice of him to link to it.

Jen, :-)

Squirl, it is an amazing story of adaptation and bonding, isn't it?

Mary said...

Laurie, I need to spread this news. It's so touching, especially the photo of the hippo napping up close to its surrogate mother. I need to send your link to a few people I know - including my daughter who will love this.

It's a great message.

KGMom said...

Yeah--I read this story soon after the tsunami, and saw the book. Our church used this story for a children's sermon one Sunday.
It is amazing how bonding can occur in the animal kingdom.

Pam said...

Love and companionship...without prejudice. Thank you for sharing this, it's heart warming.

dmmgmfm said...

Mary, I'm so glad you liked it. It's just so sweet.

KG, perfect lesson for everyone, but especially for children. :-)

Pam, you always cut right to the heart of things, "love and companionship...without prejudice."

Anonymous said...

Oh my, Laurie. I was having a Very Sad Weekend, and then I read this post. I am sitting in a cafe having coffee, listening to reggae, and enjoying the broadest grin on my face. Thank you so much for these beautiful photos.

I hope your work schedule lightens up a bit. Thanks for commenting on my cubicle post. I worried that it was too cynical.

Q said...

Such a wonderful story.
We can learn so much from nature!
Thanks for posting this.
Sherry

Unknown said...

What a beautiful story and lesson for all of mankind to witness. We all have something to learn by this. It is no accident that we are experincing this happening.

Thank you

dmmgmfm said...

Caroline, I'm so glad it cheered you up. :-)

Q, we sure can. If only everyone would listen to what it tells us.

Dave, you are so welcome.