Unlikely Friendships - Jennifer S. Holland [8]
“She slipped right up underneath me—I actually had to hold her off to keep her from pushing against me from beneath,” says Sean. “Her skin felt like velvet cloth stretched over ribs and muscle, an incredible texture.” The ray literally danced with the diver, leading him in a bizarre circular tango that forced her body into his hands. As he ran his hands over her skin, her wing tips vibrated like a dog’s leg during a particularly good belly scratch. “I was so into the encounter by then, I couldn’t tear myself away,” Sean says. “The thing about rays is usually you have to chase them just to get a close look. Here was one that approached me on its own; she zeroed in on me and wanted to be touched. It was as if I were petting and meeting eyes with my German shepherd—I felt a real connection between us. Truly awesome.”
After a few minutes of man–fish bonding, Sean got the signal to get back to work, and reluctantly he moved away. The young ray—standoffish toward the other divers—stayed nearby. And when Sean headed toward the surface (unlike his ray friend, he needs air from above), she hovered right below him as if making sure he ascended safely.
“I was supposed to be holding underwater lights on the goliath groupers as they spawned, for the photographers, and I missed the whole thing because of the ray,” Sean says. “But it was so worth it to have that experience.” He named the young animal Marina after his daughter, “my other little girl.”
Sean’s loving attitude toward the ray might have surprised a seagoer from long ago. In ancient times, manta rays, with their pointy fins, were sometimes associated with the devil, and sailors told tales of the animals leaping from the water and capsizing boats. Although in truth they are peaceful creatures, it’s not hard to fathom how these legends were born. With power and grace, mantas will occasionally breach the surface and take to the air, if only for a moment or two, before crashing gloriously back into the sea. Nowadays we see that as beautiful—maybe even playful. But 500 years ago, standing on the deck of a creaky wooden galleon, friendship with one of these winged, “horned” creatures would have been the last thing on your mind.
{WYOMING, U.S.A., 1993}
The Donkey and the Mutt
DONKEY
KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Perissodactyla
FAMILY: Equidae
GENUS: Equus
SPECIES: Equus asinus
MUTTS
According to many veterinarians, mixed-breed dogs (or mutts) usually live longer and are healthier than purebreds.
Some friendships start out a little lopsided but soon wobble into balance. So it was with Safi the mutt and her buddy Wister, a young male donkey (or jack) with a reputation for sending canines into hiding, not tempting them into play.
The first time the two met, on remote ranchland in Wyoming, Wister was grazing in a meadow and Safi was on a walk with her owner, Barbara Smuts. Safi approached the unfamiliar creature to investigate. When Wister noticed the dog, he ran at him aggressively, then turned and kicked. Safi danced out of harm’s way, then dropped to her haunches to signal her desire to play. But Wister’s temper flared again and his sharp feet shot out. It took three air kicks before Safi got the message and backed off.
But Barbara, a biologist who specializes in the study of animal behavior, was intrigued by her pup’s fascination with this very different species. So on a day when Wister was safely inside his corral, she gave Safi another try at making friends.
This time, Safi raced up and down the fence, and Wister joined in. Up and back they ran, on parallel paths, the dog sometimes barking or growling as part of her rowdy play, the donkey occasionally offering a startling bray in response. Soon Safi began crossing boundaries and testing limits, diving under the fence and tearing through the corral, darting out