A WILLET stands beside its dead mate for many hours.
PHOTO ST BIU FAVK
Some Kinds Of Feelings
BV nil I ITAVPD ~
BY BILL FAVER
Rcccntly I observed two different events which led
to thoughts about animal feelings and how much we
don't know. First was along a
roadside when a big black dog
was standing guard over another
dog, the victim of a road kill. The
dead animal was still on the road
way and the black dog was trying
desperately to help it up, so they
~ could continue whatever it was
t^cy had been doing.
The second was a group of
gracklcs gathered around a dead
grackle on the roadside. The
group was chattering and dancing and, I felt, trying to
revive the bird and understand what was happening.
Both of these episodes reminded me of something
that happened at Holdcn Beach many years ago when 1
was town administrator. One morning I received a call
from a friend up on Ocean Boulevard who told me a
willet had been hit by a truck and was dead in his yard.
This was not unusual, of course. But he went on to say
the bird's mate had been standing by the body all day.
When I went to investigate, the live willet was stand
ing nearby in a mournful state, with wings drooped,
and seemed almost lifeless itself. We watched for al
most an hour and it would only move around the dead
bird, even when we approached. It made no effort to
fly or to move on, but stayed right with its fallen mate.
We know a lot about animals and their behavior.
We know they can learn and adapt and can respond to
various stimuli. We can explain many of their behav
iors as natural response and curiosity. We have often
said what is different about them is they don't show
emotion or have feelings. Anyone who has a dog or a
cat or a bird or a seahorse as a pet will question that!
These three experiences make me think there are
some kinds of feelings there. Loss of a friend or a
companion is a time of grieving and that seemed to be
present here. Perhaps they don't understand such
things any more than we do, but they share with us the
feelings that must be there.
COMMITTEE TO SELECT
If You Could Be Queen..
The Lillie River Chamber of Commerce and Ihc
lown's Blue Crab Festival arc taking a novel approach to
naming the 1992 Blue Crab Festival Queen.
This year's queen will be selected by a committee,
not in a pageant.
Women between the ages of 24 and 28 who live in
the Little River area (including Brunswick County) are
eligible for consideration.
"The Blue Crab Festival is looking for a well-round
ed individual who is willing to devote time and energy
into making the Blue Crab Festival a better event," said
Elizabeth J. Teal, chamber executive. "The Blue Crab
Festival Queen may not hold any other titles during her
I
reign and must be willing to participate in a variety of
Little River and Myrtle Beach area events."
A search committee will review portfolios that are to
include two 8- by 10-inch photographs and two "snap
shot" type candid photographs, along with a brief letter
explaining why the applicant would like to be the Blue
Crab Festival Queen and what she could offer the festi
val.
Applications must be received by April 20, with the
winner to be announced no later than May 5.
For more information on the requirements, contact
the Little River Chamber of Commerce between 10 a.m.
and 6 p.m. at 803-249-6604.
Letters
(Continued From Preceding Page)
er golf course or another road.
The national Arbor Day people
want us to plant more trees to help
save our God-given earth. These
people can cut down and run over
more stuff in one day than we could
plant in ten years.
Joan O'Bannion
Ocean Isle Beach
Museum Visit
Was Delightful
To the editor.
I would like to share with your
readers a most delightful experience
I recently enjoyed. As one who has
for a long time studied, taught about
and appreciated the marvels of our
natural world, I was very impressed
with what I saw at the Ocean Isle
Museum of Coastal Carolina.
Within that newly-created struc
ture I was able to see as well as to
experience a marine environment of
outstanding beauty and technical ex
pertise. There was a working model
of beach tidal movement, which to
gether with a king size diorama of
an ocean reef, made one fool a part
of the marine environment.
The hundreds of identified shells,
both local and exotic, together with
mounts of local animal life, would
be the envy of larger museums I
have visited.
I was a little uneasy standing next
to a frightening array of authentic
shark jaws, but one of the volunteer
curators assured me they were harm
less.
This museum is something spe
cial which, 1 am sure, if you try it
you will like it.
Bob Kochersberger
Sunset Beach
Cartoon Shocks
To the editor:
As a new resident to the Bruns
wick County area, and a recent sub
scriber to The Brunswick Beacon, 1
was shocked at the editorial cartoon
in the March 19 issue.
! think cartoonist Barbour could
have given a little more thought as
to what words were used, and been
more forceful with the message
rather than to use our Lord's name
so sacrilegiously.
Hopefully, I do not come across
this type of cartoon again and can
read your paper with ease.
Frances Hurley
Calabash
Finally, the airlines have recognized that to get
America flying again, they had to do something
about high air fares and restrictive non
refundable rules.
If you have been hoping to do some air travel this
summer but have been discouraged by high air
fares...
...Look Again and Call
BRUNSWICK TRAVEL
For The Good News!!!
SAMPLE AIR FARES*
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Detroit $250
Boston $260
Chicago $270
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Los Angeles, San Diego,
San Fransisco $420
-Based on round trip, 21 day advance booking & purchase
BRUNSWICK |
TRAVEL INC. |l
\ 7 CRUISE HEADQUARTERS
y 1-800-852-2736 I
754-7484 ? 1 50 Holden Beach Rd? Shallotte, NC 26459 ||
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