Back in August I wrote about a certain type of email we all get: the forwards. You know what I’m talking about –the jokes and anecdotes that assure you they’re the funniest thing and you just have to read them.
I probably delete 95% (if not more) of these without passing them on and making them even more “viral.” But some I just can’t resist sharing. Like now. Here’s some that tugged at my heart so much I not only forwarded them but felt the need to write about them.
The Hippo and the Tortoise
Remember the tsunami of 2004 that killed over 300,000 people? Well, one of the victims I had never heard about (until recently) was a baby hippo.
Apparently he was sucked down the Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then swept back ashore again. The under one-year-old hippo that rangers named “Owen” lost his mother, and being a social creature needed a surrogate.
Enter the tortoise, approximately 100 years old. I guess Owen landed on the tortoise and ended up forming a strong bond with it. Now he eats, swims, sleeps, and follows the tortoise around as if it’s his momma.
There’s one photo in particular of the hippo sleeping on the tortoise, looking completely content and almost smiling, that is absolutely tender and dear. A true heart tugger!
The Monkey and the Pigeon
In another motherless baby animal story, this time we have a baby monkey abandoned by his mom that was near death until a bird, a white pigeon, literally “took him under her wing” and saved his life.
The baby monkey was a 12-week-old macaque and all this took place in Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province, China, where the animals met at an animal hospital. They’d been admitted for separate ailments but Fate knew exactly the right medicine that would heal them both –Love!
To see a picture of this pair, click here. But I warn you, you will feel a strong tug on your heart when you see it.
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