Tuesday, May 3, 2011

DEAR TABBY

DEAR TABBY:  My friend told me a crazy story about a deer that was protecting a mother goose and her eggs in a cemetery!  She also said there are a lot of stories about animals that adopt each other as friends, or animals that adopt orphaned babies.  I think she's pulling my leg, and I was hoping you could tell me if this is fact or fiction! GOOSED IN GRANBURY, TEXAS.

DEAR GOOSED:  Your friend deserves a feather in her cap!  What could have been a "grave" situation turned into an "endeering" story about a buck that had been watching over a mother goose and her eggs in a New York Cemetery since April.  The deer would fend off anyone that got near the urn where the goose was nesting.  It was reported today that 5-6 goslings have hatched and everyone is doing just fine.  Just look at that deer watching over that mama goose! 

Since it's almost Mother's Day, we'll show you some pictures of other animals that have taken over the "mothering" role:


  
 
  
<p>Koko the gorilla has loved cuddling and nurturing kittens since 1984. Gorilla Foundation volunteer Janis Turner arranged to have a litter of orphaned kittens visit Koko in September 2009, and Koko became especially enamored with a tiny orange kitten named Tigger, pictured here. Something fascinated her about Tigger, Turner told PeoplePets.com. Koko purrs. I get chills just thinking about it. She does this deep purr and she's so gentle and has this loving looking in her eye. ... Kittens are so calm around Koko because she has that motherly instinct. Photo Credit: Ron Cohn / The Gorilla Foundation / koko.org</p>
<p>The first mom up is Isabella, a golden retriever in Kansas who adopted three white Bengal tiger cubs and nursed them as her own. The tiger cubs -- Nasira, Anjika and Sidani -- needed somewhere to turn because their mother stopped nursing them 15 hours after their birth. Zookeepers Tom and Allie Harvey brought the cubs home, and their dog Isabella stepped right up. Photo Credit: Tom Harvey and Keith Philpott</p> <p>Chia, a Pomeranian in Emporia, Kan., let four abandoned kittens nurse from her in August 2000. Chia, who had a 2-week-old puppy of her own at the time, adopted the motherless kittens after they were found by her owner's boyfriend. 'Her mother instincts took over,' owner Kelsey Wilson said. 'She herded them and got them to nurse.' Photo Credit: David Doemland / AP</p>
<p>The young elk pictured here was rescued from a flooding river by a farmer in South Korea in July 2009. This female dog eagerly adopted the elk and began breastfeeding and guarding him. Photo Credit: Inje Municipal Government / Hand / EPA</p> <p>Laska the Alsatian immediately viewed it as her mission to nurture two tiny, abandoned wild boars who were close to death when they were found in Hamburg, Germany in March 2010. The baby boars -- dubbed Alice and Emma -- were brought to the home of the Heckers, Laska's owners. Because of their small size, baby boars can't stay warm enough alone at night to keep alive. Laska focused on snuggling up against them to keep them warm, cleaning them with her tongue and picking them up whenever they toppled over. Photo Credit: Barcroft / Fame Pictures</p>
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, EVERYONE!

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