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If you were an animal...

r ranson

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posted 1 year ago

If you were an animal...

...what kind would you be?

...what kind would you want to be?

...what kind would you never want to be?

and why?

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John Weiland

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posted 1 year ago

Perhaps you meant "If you were a non-hominid animal"?

...what kind would you be? --- Sloth

...what kind would you want to be? -- Goose >> pragmatic, self-contained yet devoted to family, majestic.

...what kind would you never want to be? -- Anything domesticated or caged. >> Because imprisoned either genetically or physically (respectively) and in both cases spiritually pruned.

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.”― Albert Einstein

Karen Donnachaidh

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posted 1 year ago

I've always said that if I could be reincarnated I'd like to come back as one of my dogs. They have The Life! (Takes care of bullet 1&2.)

I'd not want to be a rat, snake, bat, lizard... anything that has a purpose which has to be explained to the masses to keep them from shreaking. Although important, too many people don't respect. (Bullet 3-4.)

With forty shades of green, it's hard to be blue.
Garg 'nuair dhùisgear! Virtutis Gloria Merces

Deb Rebel

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posted 1 year ago

I'd like to come back as one of my cats. Loved, spoiled, and all I have to do is purr, shed, sleep, stay off the counter, and look at a mouse like 'now what?'

Kaye Harris

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Location: The Ozarks

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posted 1 year ago

r ranson wrote:If you were an animal...

...what kind would you be?

...what kind would you want to be?

...what kind would you never want to be?

and why?

I'll work backwards here.

I would never want to be any kind of insect or very small animal. I do not want to ever be able to count a spider's eyes.

I would LIKE to be a dragon, probably in the middle east. (Hey, it's just an overgrown lizard. It counts.) Why? Because the weather would be fab for my lizard self, the superstitious locals would probably give me lamb on a platter to pacify my god-like fury, and whenever some creature annoys me with it's WHUAAAAHHHH mating calls, it's totally legal for me to swoop down and rip it into delicious little morsels. It would be like being able to snap your fingers and turn the annoying neighbor boy into a delicious pile of bilberry crepes right after he woke you with his obnoxious yelling.

Magic.

In reality though, I would probably end up as some fat house cat with a permanent "mean face." Somehow, it just seems more accurate.

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David Livingston

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posted 1 year ago

I would like to be an elephant but I forget why

More likely to end up as a Dog cause life is a bitch

I would not like to be a may fly as life would be too short

David

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Karen Donnachaidh

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posted 1 year ago

What kind would you be R Ranson?

With forty shades of green, it's hard to be blue.
Garg 'nuair dhùisgear! Virtutis Gloria Merces

Annie Lochte

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posted 1 year ago

What animal would i be? I would be a domestic horse. I've spent my life working with them and realize just now that i am like them... Willingly allow my abilitys to be exploited in exchange for routine and stability.
What would I want to be? A dolphin. One of my favorite things to do is go kayak the intercoastal and watch these beauties play, feed, interact with each other and even me...
What would I never want to be? A bat. I like having them around, but they are still a little creepy...

Casie Becker

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posted 1 year ago

I don't know if I would be one, but in my heart I've always felt like a turtle. I always feel a little silly saying it, but even from a young age I've felt like they are my soul creature. I don't know if that means I have a guardian spirit of one or if it's just a matter of having a compatible personality, but I've always felt a strong connection to them.

Steady and mostly slow (with rare and surprising bursts of speed), rarely sticking their necks out into danger. Always ready to retreat into their fortress of a home and carrying it on their back means they're never far away. On the other hand, they've found a model that works. They're virtually unchanged from the age of dinosaurs and live from the ocean to the deep desert. They aren't turning cartwheels or singing odes of joy, but these creatures keep on keeping on.

Dale Hodgins

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posted 1 year ago

It would really be fun to be a tapir, the largest animal in South America and the only one that can move its penis around like the tail of a spider monkey.

Might also be fun to be a jaguar.

But ultimately, I think I would be happiest as a vampire, dragon or Terminator.

As Paul Simon said, I'd rather be a hammer than a nail.

Craig Dobbson

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posted 1 year ago

It has been suggested by my family that I'm very fox-like. I'm not sure I agree but I also don't have a better answer than that.

If given another go-round, I think I'd like to be a pelagic fish of some sort. Maybe a basking shark or ocean sunfish. Something that's free out in the open ocean but not too dependent on eating sailors and pirates. LOL

The animal I would NOT want to be, is any kind of parasite. ticks, leeches, worms, chiggers, etc. . . NOPE!

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Karen Donnachaidh

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posted 1 year ago

Look out there, Craig. I catch shark and sunfish. Yum!

With forty shades of green, it's hard to be blue.
Garg 'nuair dhùisgear! Virtutis Gloria Merces

Karen Donnachaidh

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posted 1 year ago

Dale...you animal 🐒

With forty shades of green, it's hard to be blue.
Garg 'nuair dhùisgear! Virtutis Gloria Merces

r ranson

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posted 1 year ago

Karen Donnachaidh wrote:What kind would you be R Ranson?

Probably, right now, I'm a sheep. Sheep only get about 2 hours sleep per 24 hour cycle, which would be a luxury for me right now.

What animal would I like to be? I think a hermit. A person is a kind of animal and I like the idea to spending lots of time alone, working away at my things, not needing to meet any external schedule.

What would I not like to be? Probably a honey bee or anything that lives in a complex and large social structure.

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Dale Hodgins

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posted 1 year ago

Yet, here you are, working hard to improve the hive in a complex organization, where cooperation and acceptance of different points of view are essential. Hermits are unique human animals.

Burra does the same, yet claims to be a bit of a hermit sometimes.

David Livingston

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posted 1 year ago

Must be queens or workers both of them Dale

Unlike drones who don't do anywork that we know of , drink lots and eat lots and seem only to live for sex , which ends up for them as a life ending experiance .

David

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Burra Maluca

Mother Tree

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posted 1 year ago

I'm not sure how many people would count it as an animal, but I think I'd be a slime mold

(source)

They happily exist as single cells, in a very hermity kind of way, until there's a problem, like food gets scarce, then they come together and change tactics. Then they separate again until next time they need to get their heads together over a problem.

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Charli Wilson

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posted 1 year ago

Cat! One of my cats.. massively spoilt, get to sleep and eat all day- then chase small animals and bring them indoors for the entertainment of watching the humans then chase them to try and repatriate them back outdoors.

Nicole Alderman

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posted 1 year ago

...what kind would you be? I think the consensus from those I know, is that I would be a squirrel: Hyper, likes to be prepared, tends to run around in frenzy, likes to play, talks a lot, generally likes to be alone.

...what kind would you want to be? Something long-lived and strong so as not to die too soon. Maybe a whale.

...what kind would you never want to be? Mosquito or other annoying small insect that lives a short time.

I'm glad you didn't ask what my favorite animal is, because I've never been able to answer that!

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Inge Leonora-den Ouden

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posted 1 year ago

What kind of animal I am? You mean my animal-like behaviour or appearance ... Maybe a domestic cat? They are at home often, doing their own thing, being nice to their people.

What kind of animal I would love to be? I think of an Orang Utan, or a Sloth, living up high in the trees

Or a bird, living in the trees and flying, and having beautiful colored feathers.

What kind of animal I don't want to be? A predator (any of them).

(edited to answer the questions)

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

Cd Greier

Posts: 35

posted 1 year ago

I was born in the year of the rabbit (Chinese Zodiac) and I think there is some similarity. "Run and hide" could be my motto: I would much rather avoid problems than face them. Because I like to feel secure, I am/have been easily domesticated but I could survive wild if I had to though I'd be vulnerable to attack. Most folks think of me as warm and fuzzy but I'm not much of a communicator.
If I had to choose something else, I agree that slime or a mayfly would be okay just because I don't think they can be hurt in that sentient way (please don't be offended all those who respect slime and mayflies) and they don't carry responsibility for anyone either.
I would not want to be a predator, disease-carrier or hated creature, like a female mosquito, vampire bat or hyena : (

amelia Feierabend

Posts: 9

posted 1 year ago

-i think i would like to be a wolf- because i like rare venison- esp out of season

- and protected-
-what i prob would end up being is a cow or goat -just cause.
- what i would never want to be is a chicken- ouch!

Tom Worley

Posts: 34

Location: Ozark Border

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posted 1 year ago

Any animal? Wild pig. They can eat practically anything (so they're not concerned about where the next meal's coming from), they're pretty tough disease-wise, they're gregarious, and if you survive past the juvenile stage you have a pretty cherry existence ahead of you. I guess bears are pretty similar.

There's something charmingly wicked about dragonflies, the carnivorous, projectile-jawed juveniles metamorphosing into predatory adults like some sort of inverse butterfly. Plus they mate through the head, which may be interesting.

A snail may be interesting.

Or an oyster, stationary but "seeing" changes in one environment over a couple hundred years.

Todd Parr

pollinator

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Location: Wisconsin, zone 4

posted 1 year ago

r ranson wrote:If you were an animal...

...what kind would you be?

...what kind would you want to be?

...what kind would you never want to be?

and why?

Probably roadkill

Some deep sea creature, so that I could swim about in the utter silence and never see a human, living surrounded by beauty and as nature intended for creatures to live.

Anything in a cage. What a terrible waste to be an animal in a cage.

creature.png

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Anne Dalgity

Posts: 5

posted 1 year ago

I am probably a cat, very, very curious about many things, love to play and romp about, and I love tasty little meaty morsels.

I would like to be a wild horse so I can run really fast and feel the wind in my hair, they are gregarious and have social order. They see only in shades of grey but seem to enjoy life for the most part.

I would not want to be an ant, too structured of a life for me.

Mick Fisch

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posted 1 year ago

I am an animal.

I've always heard you should always be yourself, unless you can be a unicorn. Then be a unicorn.

One of my daughters told me as she moved into her teens "I know how to be a kid. I'm a great kid. I don't know how to be a teenager.

I've spent years figuring out how to be a good man. Not sure I would want to start over. If I did, make me an otter. Everyone otter be an otter!

Bryant RedHawk

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posted 1 year ago

...what kind would you be? I would be a Red Tailed Hawk or perhaps a Golden Eagle simply because these are my spirit animals, shape shifting to one of them would set my soul free from the earth boundaries.

...what kind would you want to be? I would want to be either of the above, or a wolf, which is my wife's spirit animal. Being a wolf she and I could roam together.

...what kind would you never want to be? Any of the prey animals of any of the above predators, it would be bad to be eaten by your spirit animal.

We love visitors, that's why we live in a secluded cabin deep in the woods. "Buzzard's Roost (Asnikiye Heca) Farm." Promoting permaculture to save our planet. you can call me Dr. Redhawk

Donna Lockey

Posts: 25

Location: Ontario Canada

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posted 11 months ago

We are what we are.
I like to philosophize a lot. And dream a bit. Okay...a lot. While I look at my garden and drink a beer. Critters can't do that, can they?

What am I like now? An ant. Busy, busy, busy!

If I had a choice, a Macaw. I could converse with you! I look amazing! I live a long life, so many things to encounter. Wild tyvm.

Wouldn't want to be lower on the food chain. So below the birds is a no-go.

If it survives in my garden, it was meant to live!

Casie Becker

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posted 11 months ago

There's never any question about this for me. I am now and will probably always be a turtle. Slow and steadily making my way through life without ever going far from my home and occasionally sticking my neck out. The world changes around me with surprisingly little changing me. That is sometimes a good thing, sometimes bad. I'm probably not a snapping turtle. My strongest defense is a strong backbone, not a dangerous bite.

I think I'd never want to be a field mouse. If I had to be at the bottom of the food chain, I wouldn't want to be developed enough to know it.

Deb Stephens

pollinator

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Location: SW Missouri, Zone 7a

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posted 11 months ago

It's funny but all the animals that I think I would want to be are manipulative. (I wonder what that says about the me I am now?) I can't quite decide between an octopus -- with 8 arms you have a lot of manipulative power, but they don't live long (If they did, I just know we would have undersea cities by now and be trading with them); a raccoon -- finicky little boogers wash everything before they eat it, just like me; or a bird like a crow or bluejay (have you ever watched them accumulate stuff that you know they can't possibly need but they can't stop collecting it anyway?) I can't throw anything away! On the other hand I also like to talk, which is not a strong point in favor of octopuses or raccoons. Maybe a bird that can talk would be the best thing for me.

As for what I am now ... I'm not sure but my husband says I am a raptor with rabies! He then modified it to say maybe a grizzly bear or a wolverine but insists that rabies is still part of the equation.

I would never want to be an animal on a protected list because for some reason, they always end up dead. It might be better to be a common animal like a raccoon or crow that gets shot at a lot but still manages to survive as a species. Oh, and please "Powers that Be" NEVER make me into a caterpiller--YUK!

Ben Zumeta

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posted 11 months ago

My Kuruk friend told me my spirit animal is a badger, because I fight back when cornered even when it’s hopeless and I am a compulsive teacher (apparently they teach their young a lot). She didn’t even know how much I love to dig (see my posts with pics and videos of what I’ve dug by hand).

I would like to be an Orca. When I played the personality game where you name your favorite animal, and give three descriptors of it, I said “beautiful, intelligent, and perfectly evolved”. I then learned the descriptors are supposed to reflect how you see yourself. I had to laugh, as I cannot claim to have any of those attributes more than any other animal.

I would not like to be an overbred dog. Poor little guys, if karmatic reincarnation exists, I hope dog breeders come back as the breed they brought into existence. How bout they try being a chihuahua and not being neurotic, angry and scared.

This is all just my opinion based on a flawed memory

Deb Stephens

pollinator

Posts: 587

Location: SW Missouri, Zone 7a

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posted 11 months ago

Ben Zumeta wrote:
I would not like to be an overbred dog. Poor little guys, if karmatic reincarnation exists, I hope dog breeders come back as the breed they brought into existence. How bout they try being a chihuahua and not being neurotic, angry and scared.

AMEN to that!!! I like the way you think!

Pearl Sutton

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posted 11 months ago

I have never been able to answer that question, as whatever animal I am doesn't seem to exist on this planet. When I played D&D when I was young I was generally an Algorian, a sort of cat like thing with all four limbs and very useable tail having hands with 4 fingers and 2 thumbs and retractable claws (so 5 hands.) (If you ever played, you know how you get one attack per round like "sword strike" I got 6: claw, claw, claw, claw, tail, bite... Kinda like the Tasmanian devil in the cartoons, you never knew what hit you so fast) The Algorians were also WAY smart (tended to be wizards) and cute :D

I did a thing on Deep Dream a while back with a pic of myself, ran the results through photoshop till I liked what I got, came up with this. Not sure what I am, but not this tedious, problematic, in constant pain human body I inhabit.

Link to Deep dream if you want to play with it: Deep Dream Generator

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Ben Zumeta

pollinator

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Location: Redwood Country, Zone 9-10, 60" rain/yr,

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posted 11 months ago

One animal I would not want to be right now is a Wyoming grizzly bear, who have been put in the crosshairs. This includes mothers with cubs.

This is all just my opinion based on a flawed memory

Travis Johnson

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posted 11 months ago

I always said I wanted to be a bull...on a dairy farm. :-)

A sincere thank you to all of Permies Forums for making Christmas special to Katie and I, and our four daughters. Thank you!

Mike Barkley

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posted 7 months ago

It would be great to be every animal at one time or another just to get a better perspective of how we're all intertwined.

Realistically I'm probably closest to a Sarcastic Fringehead fish. Lives along the west coast mostly inside mollusk shells, a home it didn't build itself. Good surfing there & I LOVE windsurfing. I use sarcasm for humor, a defense mechanism, & a teaching tool. I tend to be on the fringe of everything too.

I would like to be a honey badger because nobody messes with honey badgers.

I would not like to be a pigbutt worm. Self explanatory.

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Mick Fisch

Posts: 429

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posted 7 months ago

Look up Temple Grandin. They made a movie about her. Fascinating! She's autistic and she claims that it allows her to see things like cow or other prey animals see things, like what things set them off, etc. She designs slaugherhouses. She says we eat animals, otherwise those animals would be rare or in a zoo, but there's no need to stress them or scare them unnecessarilly.

Pearl Sutton

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posted 7 months ago

Mick Fisch wrote:Look up Temple Grandin. They made a movie about her. Fascinating! She's autistic and she claims that it allows her to see things like cow or other prey animals see things, like what things set them off, etc. She designs slaugherhouses. She says we eat animals, otherwise those animals would be rare or in a zoo, but there's no need to stress them or scare them unnecessarily.

I'd think anyone who was willing to actually LOOK would be able to see that. Or maybe my brain weirdness is similar to hers. I think most folks don't care enough to look.

I'm doing deer buffers on my property by looking at it like a deer might, standing where they stand, what do they see, where will they go from here, and why? Putting things I'm planting for them where it's easiest for them to go that way, and making where I don't want them a bit less appealing. If it's easy to go get a drink, nap in the shade, and have a snack where I want them to be, they are more likely to stay there.

Any animal I'm around likes me, I make their world how they want it to be. Our property/house design patterning write up begins with the the most important categories and definitions:
+ Whole property is “our home”
. Interior space is “our house”
. + Comfortable and engaging for ALL inhabitants: human, animal, plant

Mick Fisch

Posts: 429

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posted 7 months ago

I'd think anyone who was willing to actually LOOK would be able to see that. Or maybe my brain weirdness is similar to hers. I think most folks don't care enough to look.

I think that is probably right. When I was young I had a hard time figuring women out. Once I was married, my wife explained some things that opened the world to me. It wasn't that women's thinking was that different, but there were a slightly different set of needs, concerns and wants that tweeked things just a little out of square from my male point of view. Once I understood where the slight differences were, everything made sense and I have been able to (mostly) see where things were coming from with my wife and daughters.

Animals eyes are physically lower than adult humans viewpoint, usually. They are very sound and smell oriented and concerned very much with safety, eating, drinking and comfort in about that order. They still live in a world where you can get attacked and eaten. I've had a few times when I needed to shift my thinking to try to think like an animal, and once I did, the animals behavior made sense. Goat and cats are less understandable for me because they are so damned independant. For example, a cat pissing on your pillow just to let you know they are upset with you. I guess I understand that, although if the cat knew how close it came to dying, maybe it wouldn't have. Or maybe it would have done it anyway. Like I said, I don't think like that.

I don't think we have ever domesticated cats or goats. I think they have decided to allow us to feed them. Maybe they domesticated us!

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If you were an animal...

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