So we had an earth quake here in Afghanistan last night around 1:02am local time that registered a 5.4 magnitude. I was up late blogging (shocker) and the bed started shaking for several seconds. With my headphones on and blanket down covering the bottom bunk, it took me a second to figure out what was going on. My initial instinct was my roommates were screwing around with me shaking the bed frame, but I quickly realized that both of them were asleep snoring. I concluded it must have been a quake, but when I looked at live geo-tracking tectonic sites I didn't see anything, so I went to bed. The next morning, people were asking if anyone else felt the quake, and while most people had slept through it, I had. I guess I'm no longer an earth quake virgin. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0005kcf.php
Some of my friends recently experienced an earth quake on the East Coast of the U.S. earlier this week that did a little more damage to structures, including the Washington Monument. The quake was a surprise to most East Coast residents since tremors of this size are not common in this region. One population that it didn't catch off guard was a portion of the animal kingdom, that appeared to sense the coming seismic activity and take cover or sound the alarm moments before humans were aware of it. For example, at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, multiple primate species sounded a vocal alarm minutes before the tremors began. Some animals took to the air, while others sought shelter in the water where they felt the most secure. Some climbed trees, while others huddled together for group protection. Scientists are still not exactly sure what the trigger mechanism is for this phenomenon, but one thing is for certain, humans have lost this instinct through their evolution.
Tonight while eating dinner, a co-worker and I were approached by a stray momma cat and her two kittens that live somewhere on our compound. As cute as they were, I wasn't about to touch them because I could just see the ring worm all over them. Aside from that, CENTCOM (US Central Command) has a general order of no pets or mascots, so feeding the animals is a no-no. As far as feral cats go, they were surprisingly tame and unafraid of humans, coming up to our pic-nic table looking for handouts and even jumping up on the benches. I'm not particularly a cat person, and neither is my NCO (Non Commissioned Officer, AKA Sergeant) co-worker, so we moved tables to a slightly more crowded part of the courtyard. Of course the felines followed us out of all the other people as if they could sense that both she and I were big softies and would probably give in and feed them some scraps. (How does this cat know me? She doesn't know me! I can be strong and resist temptations...) Even though they used their powers of super cuteness and "paws on the leg" trick to ask please, I resisted. I won, damn it.
In as much as adopting animals by Service Members is discouraged and prohibited in this part of the world, it does happen occasionally. And for good reason: animals have certain talents that humans can find very useful. Animals in general perform a service to mankind, and can be useful even in war zones. The cats, for instance, help keep the rodent vector population down, of course when not begging for handouts. Had people understood this in the middle ages instead of exterminating all he cats they found, the black plague may have not been so severe. That's a great example of religion gone awry, accusing cats of being demons spreading the illness, when in fact it was flea ridden rats. (But that is a topic of discussion for later) Dogs not only help us search for explosives, but they're also great at security. I've visited COPs (combat outposts) in Iraq where they adopted stray dogs as part of their security team. In exchange for food and kindness, their dog wouldn't let other stray dogs near the compound and always alerted them when strangers, usually Arabs, were approaching. Arabs in traditional custom consider dogs dirty animals to be reviled, so it was no wonder that the canines took to the American units.
Pets sometimes develop a kind of empathetic bond with their owners. Service animals are often able to alert others when their master is ill or incapacitated. How often have we come home to a pet who shares our excitement and wants nothing in the world more than to go out and play with their best friend in the world. Or maybe still, lays down with us to share our pain or depression when we are unhappy and stays by our side as a best friend would. Animals sense these things in people and their environment, often better than other humans do. We keep them around for companionship and to perform essential tasks that normal humans either cannot or will not do. They have emotions just like we do even if they cannot vocalize them. Anyone who doubts this, I recommend you read up on the pet of one of the Navy Seals killed in Afghanistan several weeks ago in the tragic helicopter crash.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44271018/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/
As top of the animal kingdom, we must remember our place to be good masters to our subjects. They may not be self aware or as evolved as us, but they feel and in some cases dream. There is much they can teach us, from how to take care of offspring, and empathy for other beings, to warning of impending dangers in our lives. I may not be much of a cat person, but coming back as a dog in a second life, if such a thing exists, might not be all that bad of a thing.
More to follow.
Some of my friends recently experienced an earth quake on the East Coast of the U.S. earlier this week that did a little more damage to structures, including the Washington Monument. The quake was a surprise to most East Coast residents since tremors of this size are not common in this region. One population that it didn't catch off guard was a portion of the animal kingdom, that appeared to sense the coming seismic activity and take cover or sound the alarm moments before humans were aware of it. For example, at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, multiple primate species sounded a vocal alarm minutes before the tremors began. Some animals took to the air, while others sought shelter in the water where they felt the most secure. Some climbed trees, while others huddled together for group protection. Scientists are still not exactly sure what the trigger mechanism is for this phenomenon, but one thing is for certain, humans have lost this instinct through their evolution.
Tonight while eating dinner, a co-worker and I were approached by a stray momma cat and her two kittens that live somewhere on our compound. As cute as they were, I wasn't about to touch them because I could just see the ring worm all over them. Aside from that, CENTCOM (US Central Command) has a general order of no pets or mascots, so feeding the animals is a no-no. As far as feral cats go, they were surprisingly tame and unafraid of humans, coming up to our pic-nic table looking for handouts and even jumping up on the benches. I'm not particularly a cat person, and neither is my NCO (Non Commissioned Officer, AKA Sergeant) co-worker, so we moved tables to a slightly more crowded part of the courtyard. Of course the felines followed us out of all the other people as if they could sense that both she and I were big softies and would probably give in and feed them some scraps. (How does this cat know me? She doesn't know me! I can be strong and resist temptations...) Even though they used their powers of super cuteness and "paws on the leg" trick to ask please, I resisted. I won, damn it.
In as much as adopting animals by Service Members is discouraged and prohibited in this part of the world, it does happen occasionally. And for good reason: animals have certain talents that humans can find very useful. Animals in general perform a service to mankind, and can be useful even in war zones. The cats, for instance, help keep the rodent vector population down, of course when not begging for handouts. Had people understood this in the middle ages instead of exterminating all he cats they found, the black plague may have not been so severe. That's a great example of religion gone awry, accusing cats of being demons spreading the illness, when in fact it was flea ridden rats. (But that is a topic of discussion for later) Dogs not only help us search for explosives, but they're also great at security. I've visited COPs (combat outposts) in Iraq where they adopted stray dogs as part of their security team. In exchange for food and kindness, their dog wouldn't let other stray dogs near the compound and always alerted them when strangers, usually Arabs, were approaching. Arabs in traditional custom consider dogs dirty animals to be reviled, so it was no wonder that the canines took to the American units.
Pets sometimes develop a kind of empathetic bond with their owners. Service animals are often able to alert others when their master is ill or incapacitated. How often have we come home to a pet who shares our excitement and wants nothing in the world more than to go out and play with their best friend in the world. Or maybe still, lays down with us to share our pain or depression when we are unhappy and stays by our side as a best friend would. Animals sense these things in people and their environment, often better than other humans do. We keep them around for companionship and to perform essential tasks that normal humans either cannot or will not do. They have emotions just like we do even if they cannot vocalize them. Anyone who doubts this, I recommend you read up on the pet of one of the Navy Seals killed in Afghanistan several weeks ago in the tragic helicopter crash.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44271018/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/
As top of the animal kingdom, we must remember our place to be good masters to our subjects. They may not be self aware or as evolved as us, but they feel and in some cases dream. There is much they can teach us, from how to take care of offspring, and empathy for other beings, to warning of impending dangers in our lives. I may not be much of a cat person, but coming back as a dog in a second life, if such a thing exists, might not be all that bad of a thing.
More to follow.
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