I have mentioned in a previous article about my love for animals and listed some of the animals that I love. I thought this month I would expand on that and tell you a little more about them and why I love them. I will start with my absolute favorite animal.
My favorite animal on the planet is the bettong. Have you ever heard of this animal? I had not heard of it until I saw it on an episode of the Rachael Ray show.
A bettong is the smallest of all kangaroos. Since it is a kangaroo, it is a native to Australia. They are so small you can hold one in your hands. Though they are wild animals, they are mild-mannered and affectionate. Their diet consists of grubs and roots that they use their front paws to dig for.
Their back legs are longer, much like kangaroos. However, their heads and bodies look more like a rat than they do a kangaroo. They once were thought to be extinct but fortunately they were not, but they are still rare to find in the wild.
I also really love donkeys. Unlike bettongs, I am sure you all know what a donkey is and what they look like. My friends, Ms. Rachel and Mr. Marty, have several donkeys that I have been able to interact with and get to know. Their names are Sugar, Coco, Jelly, Gus and Otis.
I have known them since Gus and Otis were donkey foals. Coco is Gus’ mother and Jelly is Otis’ mother. I really like to watch the videos my friends post of them. It was funny to watch Gus and Otis fight over a ball that they had instead of sharing it. Like Ms. Rachel said, kids will be kids no matter if they are humans or donkeys.
They also like to eat, especially apple butter cookies which are a favorite snack. One time Coco got so excited about those cookies that she started braying so loudly that you could not hear anything else in the barn at the time.
They also like a good bath. One of my favorite videos is Mr. Marty giving Gus a shower with a hose and a brush. Gus stood still and enjoyed every minute of his bath just like me when I am taking my bath.
I am also a huge fan of elephants. When I was five my daddy and I were able to do an encounter with the two female elephants at Zoo Knoxville. We went into their habitat and were able to interact with Jana and Edie. They let us pet their trunks.
Did you know you have to pet their trunks a certain way? Their trunks have hair on them and if you pet them the wrong way you would get stuck by them like the quills on a hedgehog.
Also, they threw a football to us using their trunks, and, in an act of dexterity that astounded Daddy, they used their trunks to pick up flattened pennies off a piece of wood and put the penny in your outstretched hand.
It turns out elephants are very intelligent and even graceful creatures and though I’m glad that they are going to a sanctuary and will be happy, I will miss them very much when I go to the zoo in the future.
Though I love many different animals, these are my favorites. I hope you enjoyed reading about them as much as I enjoyed telling you about them.