It was only a matter of time.
Inevitably a feline would cry out for help. A first kitten rescue led us to host kitty #1 out of our hotel room in Hoi An. After just a bit of food and attention, we found him a Vietnamese home.
On the second week of our stay in Hoi An, a pair of kittens crossed the highway, escaping miraculously the tires of fast moving trucks. Witnessing the kamikaze reality of kittens #2 and 3, we stopped the bike, picked up the babies, and brought them home for a new start in life, away from fast moving vehicles.
But then, within hours, there was another cry. This time from the back of our house, with rain coming and an insistent cry for help… Kitten #4 (black) joined the crew.
But the feline drama unfolded full force with kitty #5. A sad, sad looking, scrawny, sick, eye-infected kitten lay, waiting for death on the steps of a market. His fate was certain and, well, what’s the difference between 3 or 4 kittens? so… home he came. There are no pictures of this sad looking feline in the first days, as we need no visual reminder, but let’s say his recovery to kitten hood was miraculous.
This bundle of love is going to be hard to separate from when he is ready to enter a full time home after his “convalescence” with us…
OK, so is there space in Peta’s heart for other animals?
Of course. Enter… the water buffalo…
The water buffalo is a big hefty beast with fearsome curved horns that they can use to disturb muddy waters in search of their food source. It is the largest member of the bovine tribe that includes Yak, Bison, African Buffalo and some species of wild cattle. Most of the water buffalo’s day is spent submerged in muddy waters of Asia’s tropical and sub-tropical climates.
It has the proportions of a small hippopotamus and the inquisitive face of one of our dogs, Mango.
Each animal has its own distinct personality and no two faces are alike. Their ability to stare straight at a human’s eyes and their docility makes for an unusual type of interaction. Here are some of our encounters of the bovine type.
White ducks are also part of the fauna around us. Here a mob attacks the small insects and amphibians that live in the rice paddies and are abundant after the rice harvesting. It’s a feeding frenzy!
