Table of contents for July/August 2020 in All Creatures

Lola In 2002 Lola’s right front flipper became entangled in fishing line in the Gulf of Mexico. Circulation was cut off, which led to amputation. Since she couldn’t be returned to the wild, Key West Aquar ium took her in. Years later, Worcester Polytechnic Institute engineering students teamed up with the aquarium to design and fabricate the first-ever hydrodynamic biomimetic flipper. The prosthetic, which mimics how a healthy flipper moves, was fitted on the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle in 2016. Dymka A passing driver spotted Dymka on a cold Siberian day in December 2018 and brought her to a local veterinary clinic. The four-year-old suffered such severe frostbite that her ears, tail and all four paws had to be amputated. With the help of researchers at Tomsk Polytechnic University, veterinarian…

WHEN WE BOUGHT OUR OLD HOUSE in the country, we discovered that someone else was already in possession: a raccoon. We named him Napoleon, shortened to Nappy, for he was a tyrant. The property had been empty for more than a year, and Nappy considered it his and us the trespassers. We tried to chase him away, and he retaliated by overturning our garbage cans, ripping tiles from the roof and even biting through the telephone wires. Being city folk, we’d had very little to do with wild animals. But we fought back as well as we could, even having him trapped several times and taken away to wilder country. But he always returned, and with renewed vigor continued his attempts to rid his “home” of us usurpers. It became…

Whoever said “three’s a crowd” never visited Plumlee Farms in Green Forest, Arkansas. It’s home to a remarkably resilient trio of animals. Molly the black Angus was born blind, and owners Robbin and Cory Plumlee could tell she was lonely. A friend offered them Violet, a miniature donkey, as a companion for the cow. Then Cory attached a bell to her collar and “Violet became Molly’s guide, leading her to food and water,” Robbin says. When Cory’s 18-year-old horse, Raz, went blind from equine glaucoma, he learned to follow Violet too. Now the donkey leads both friends around a 20-acre pasture, and all three are happy and healthy. “It shows that everybody has a place in life,” Robbin says. “All it took was them finding each other.”…

I’VE ALWAYS been fascinated by fire—not its ability to destroy, but to create. I think that’s what drew me to the art of glassblowing, where a torch is used to shape molten glass. I started in 2003 and was mostly self-taught. When my close friend Johnny passed away, I was given a small portion of his ashes. Wanting to create something special, I swirled them into molten glass and crafted several beautiful marbles. I gave one to Johnny’s mother and kept one for myself. To this day, it’s one of my favorite pieces. Word spread and I started getting requests from people for similar pieces using their loved ones’ ashes. Things snowballed from there. I left my day job as a hospice nursing aide and opened Davenport Memorial Glass Co.…

Who she is Heidi Saunders founded Joshua Tree Tortoise Rescue in Joshua Tree, California, and the work is all-consuming. “It’s 100 percent tortoises, seven days a week,” Heidi says. The organization rescues, rehabilitates and adopts out desert tortoises. Currently it has 150 turtles and tortoises (tortoises are land-dwelling turtles). What she does Wild tortoises suffer from human interference and loss of habitat. Some become ill with an upper-respiratory disease called URDS. Joshua Tree Tortoise Rescue provides a safe environment and proper care and medical treatment. “Sometimes we take in tortoises that people have had for decades and can no longer keep,” Heidi says, noting that these reptile species can live up to 150 years. The state of California allows residents to adopt these turtles after rehabilitation. Those interested can apply…

Little Butterfly Little butterfly,Yellow and blackWith half of one wing missing,I sigh for you,And yet you fly,Struggling on,From one gold sun drop to another,Visiting flowers toFulfill your destiny. You do not whine or quit,Bemoan your fate,Ask, “Why me?”Or pray for healing miracles.I do not know your historyThough I can guess your end,But I will see you yetSome day in heaven’s golden fields.You will flutter down to meAnd say,“Hello! We’ve met.” Share a moment of connection you’ve had with one of God’s creatures (poems and prayers welcome). Send it to allcreatures @guideposts.org or All Creatures, 110 William Street, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038.…

HIGH ABOVE the bustling streets and sidewalks of New York City, a natural wonderland sprawls across almost seven acres. Where is this urban oasis? On the roof of the Jacob K. Javits Center, a convention center that spans six city blocks. The eco-conscious meadow is an unexpected haven for the 29 species of birds that regularly flock there, and also for bats, bees and other insects. Thousands of honeybees shelter in the five hives maintained by volunteers. Visitors take home beeswax-based lip balms, and the on-site catering crew uses the honey in various menu items. The Javits Center wasn’t always so bird-friendly. Seagulls, falcons and other species flew into the windows. And because the facility is right along the Hudson River, a major migratory route, many birds were dying. A…

On a cold November night in 2002, an unlikely group huddled in the FedEx hangar at Detroit Metro Airport. The animal activists, local media and zoo specialists were waiting for a plane carrying a unique passenger: an 18-year-old former circus performer—a polar bear named Bärle. Like many circus animals, Bärle’s past was heartbreaking. She was born along the west bank of Canada’s Hudson Bay in 1984. Her mother was poached, and Bärle, just a cub, was shipped to Germany. She wound up with an animal trainer who took his bear show to the Suarez Brothers Circus in 1990. A circus that toured Mexico and the Caribbean was no place for polar bears, who thrive in extreme cold. For 13 years, Bärle (pronounced “bearlah”) and six others suffered the searing tropical…

The tiny black creatures could not be more than a few days old. Just over an inch long, they resembled the itty-bitty frogs that climbed the patio doors of our Savannah, Georgia, home at night, chasing the insects drawn by the indoor lights. But these weren’t amphibians. They were baby big brown bats. The woman who called the Savannah Wildlife Rescue Center, where I volunteered, had found them on the sidewalk of her apartment complex. Mother bats fly with their infants clinging to them. Their mother might have been attacked and dropped them. Jeanne, our director, contacted me immediately. I’d been working almost exclusively with bats since I’d moved to Savannah a year earlier, but mostly adults or juveniles. I was stunned when I weighed the twin babies. One male,…

FUN FACTS: Like elephants and chimps, black bears recognize themselves in a mirror. Their sense of smell can be stronger than a bloodhound’s. When black bear cubs are nursing, they make a humming sound. As they grow older, they emit a buzzing noise to show they pose no threat to other bears. Grizzly bears rub their backs against trees to leave their scent for potential mates. Grizzlies and polar bears sometimes reproduce with one another; their hybrid cubs are known as grolar bears or pizzlies. Send Us Your Bear: Remove the back cover and mail your finished coloring to All Creatures, 110 William Street, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038.…