History

Animals in the Bible

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As we approach Passover and Easter, it is a good time to reflect on the impact and role that animals have in God’s plan. From the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, God used an innocent animal to represent His saving Grace.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they tried to fix their sin themselves by making aprons of fig leaves to cover their nakedness or sin. But God showed them that only God can forgive or fix sin. To do this He killed an animal and made them clothes of the animal’s skin. From that point on the Jewish people had to sacrifice an animal on the Day of Atonement to cover their sins for a year. This animal sacrifice represented the coming of the Messiah.

When the Angel of Death visited Egypt, those people who had the blood of the lamb on their door posts were passed over. Did you realize that their animals were also spared?

Scientists have long pondered the mental abilities of animals. Recently they have designed tests to determine just how smart and how aware animals are. If they had carefully read the book of Numbers, they would have had their questions answered.

The Bible teaches us kindness to animals, how they think, which animals were created to be domesticated and which ones were not. It also talks about miracles that involve animals.

Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God. When he died and was raised from the dead, there was no longer a need to sacrifice animals, the debt had been paid. Have you ever thought of the fact that only an animal is innocent and pure enough to represent the Messiah?

If you want to read more about the role of Animals in the Bible, you can do so in my book, God’s Creatures: A Biblical View of Animals. There is so much the Bible teaches us about them. You will be amazed. You can order a signed copy at http://www.sbulanda.com

Ancient Dog DNA, The Mystery

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It is not surprising that researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have discovered that as far back as the Ice Age, there were different types of dogs with distinct types of DNA. They were able to extract DNA from ancient bones.

Their research has posed new questions about the history of dogs. For example, often the type of dog that lived with people reflect the changes in the human lifestyle. But in some cases, the dog history does not reflect or mirror the lifestyle of humans. This mystery has yet to be solved.

The study also points out that scientists have not been able to determine where and in which cultural context, dogs were first domesticated.

Is it possible that God created dogs as dogs, domestic from the beginning? Some people believe in Creationism rather than evolution. The Institute for Creation Research has some very interesting material. Whatever you believe, the mystery continues.

Susan Bulanda’s Books

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Hi loyal followers. Earlier this month I posted about the books I have written. However, I did not realize that my website (www.sbulanda.com) was not working. It is fixed, so if you tried to order any of my books and could not, you should be able to do so now. Sorry for any inconvenience. Please note that you cannot order my WWI book, Soldiers in Fur and Feathers from my website. This is because I only have a few copies left. If you would like a copy of that book email me at sbulanda@gmail.com to see if I still have some. It is a collectible since it is a signed first edition. Also note that Scenting on the Wind and Ready to Serve, Ready to Save are on sale for $6.00 each. These area also signed first editions that are now out of print. Go to my previous blog to see my books.

Thanks, Sue

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Sue Bulanda’s books

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With the holidays fast approaching I thought I would post a list of the books that I have written. All but two of my books can be ordered from my website (www.sbuland.com) by clicking on the “books” tab. If you want a book shipped outside of the USA please email me for the correct postage. If you order my listed books you will get an autographed copy. I only have a few copies of Soldiers in Fur and Feathers so if you want that please email me first to see if I have any more. This book is out-of-print, so do not order it from my website.

K9 Obedience Training: Teaching Pets and Working Dogs to be Reliable and Free-Thinking.  This book shows you how to teach a dog the basic obedience that is the foundation for all other training. The methods used in this book allow the dog the freedom to think for themselves rather than perform in a robotic method where creativity is discouraged. Free-Thinking is necessary for all working dogs who cannot be trained for every situation that they encourage. Obedient disobedience is also covered. The book also explains what not to do and why. It includes basic handling and grooming techniques that are necessary for a well socialized dog. Some fun tricks are included.

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K9 Search and Rescue Troubleshooting: Practical Solutions to Common Search-Dog Training Problems – explains the typical training problems and offers solutions that SAR dog handlers encounter when training their dogs. The solutions apply to all disciplines in canine search and rescue. It explains how the puppy stages of development can have lasting effects on the behavior and training of a dog. Often people adopt an older dog to train and do not understand why the dog behaves the way it does, this book gives insight to those issues. Although K9 Search and Rescue Troubleshooting: Practical Solutions to Common Search-Dog Training Problems is written for the SAR dog handler, the information contained in it applies to many training issues that are not related to SAR.

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Soldiers in Fur and Feathers: The Animals That Served in WWI – Allied Forces: A unique, collection of accounts about many different animals that served in WWI. There are many rare photos. What is especially interesting about this book is that it includes many of the mascots that the soldiers kept. Some went into the trenches with the men. For example, there is an account about how a cat saved the life of a soldier, how a pair of geese slated to be Christmas dinner wound up being kept as mascots, and one soldier had a huge Golden Eagle as a pet. WWI was a transitional war from animal power to mechanization, therefore many species of animals served, such as oxen, horses, mules, camels, pigeons, and dogs in many capacities.

2012: Second Place Winner Non-Fiction, National League of American Pen Women; Finalist for the Alliance of Purebred Dog Writers Arthur Award, Certificate of Excellence for the Cat Writers Association of America.

Soldiers in Fur and Feathers

Faithful Friends: Holocaust Survivors Stories of the Pets Who Gave Them Comfort, Suffered Alongside Them and Waited for Their Return: This is the only book written about the animals of the Holocaust victims, recording a part of history that has been overlooked. Some of the stories are sad and some joyous, but all are a part of history. Learn about Nicholas the French Bulldog owned by a woman who was part of the French resistance, and how he came to tour with the German army. Also, the dogs who somehow survived the war and were reunited with their owners and many other stories about dogs and cats.

2012: Dog Writers Association of America, Maxwell Award.

Certificate of Excellence Cat Writers Association, 2012; National League of American Pen Woman 2nd place non-fiction, 2012.

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God’s Creatures: A Biblical View of Animals: explains the role that animals play in the Bible and how God uses them. It explores the nature of animals and miracles that involve them. The book explores many of the miracles that involve animals. It answers questions such as, do animals go to heaven, do they know and obey God, can they be evil?

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Boston Terriers, a book all about this wonderful breed of dog. Learn about their care, training and personality. The book has fun sidebars that give personal accounts of Boston terriers.

First Place Maxwell Award for the Dog Writers Association of America, 2002. (only available on-line)

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Ready: The Training of the Search and Rescue Dog: Adopted worldwide as the training book for SAR dogs. This book has been in print since 1994 and is in its second edition. It gives the SAR dog handler a training plan for all disciplines of canine search and rescue.

First place for the National League of American Pen Woman’s biannual contest, 1996. Also nominated best book of the year, 1994 Dog Writers Association.

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Ready to Serve, Ready to Save: Strategies of Real-Life Search and Rescue Missions: is about actual search and rescue missions giving the reader inside information about how searches work. It is useful as a tabletop training exercise for SAR units.

2000 Award winner for the National League of American Pen Women contest.

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Scenting on the Wind: Scent Work for Hunting Dogs: helps the hunting enthusiast understand how weather, wind and terrain features affect scent. It is a great aid for people who compete in field trials or who do any kind of scent work with dogs.

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Real Estate Today, Seller Beware! – is how to save money when selling your house. Available on Amazon

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Faithful Friends: Holocaust Survivors Stories of the Pets Who Gave Them Comfort, Suffered Alongside Them and Waited for Their Return

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Faithful Friends is a unique book of rare, first-hand accounts from Holocaust survivors about their pets. This is a piece of history that has been largely overlooked. Faithful Friends is perhaps the only book written about these beloved pets. The book is broken down by country and with a brief account of what was happening at that time in each country. The introduction also includes a time-line for the Holocaust from 1879 – 1948.

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Most of the survivors that were interviewed where children at that time. They loved their pets dearly and did not fully understand what was happening but they did know that something was dreadfully wrong.

Faithful Friends not only shares stories about pets, but it gives the reader an idea of what life was like during WWII.

For example, it is difficult for many people to realize that news traveled mostly by word of mouth since there was no reliable form of communication. Although people did have radio’s and newspapers, many of these were controlled, reported propaganda and false news, which is why some people were unaware of what was going on until it was too late to flee.

Faithful Friends is a heartwarming book that has some amazing survival accounts, but does have some sad stories. It gives the reader a glimpse of life before, during and after the Holocaust. For some people, it is not an easy book to read. However, it is a necessary book for the history lover and for people in general to understand an untold part of the Holocaust.

Faithful Friends has won the following awards:

2012: Dog Writers Association of America, Maxwell Award.

2012: Certificate of Excellence Cat Writers Association

2012: National League of American Pen Woman 2nd place non-fiction.

For an autographed first edition copy (while they last) go to: http://www.sbulanda.com/books.htm

ISBN:978-0-9818929-4-8  Published by Cladach Publishing, 144 pgs.

Man-eating Lions and Tigers

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Many people remember the movie The Ghost and The Darkness about the man-eating lions of Tsavo which was based on the real events that took place in Kenya, Africa. This occurred in 1898 when Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, a British engineer, was assigned to build a bridge over the Tsavo River and encountered the two lions. Since there was a two-year drought and a rinderpest epidemic which killed a large number of the local wildlife, the theory was that the lions killed humans out of desperation.

However, the latest research conducted by Larisa DeSantic, assistant professor of earth and environmental studies at Vanderbilt University and Bruce Patterson MacArthur, Curator of Mammals at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Ill, tells a different story.

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The photo of the Tsavo lions was taken from the book The Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo printed in 1925 and reprinted in 1996 by the Field Museum.

DeSantic has studied the teeth of the Tsavo lions, other man-eating lions and tigers and believes that dental issues caused them to turn to humans as prey. DeSantic’s study showed that one of the Tsavo lions, the one who killed and ate the largest number of humans, suffered from a severe dental disease that made normal hunting impossible. The other lion in the pair ate a larger quantity of normal prey such as zebra’s, than the one with the dental disease.

These findings substantiate the conclusions of a famous hunter, Major Jim Corbett who hunted man-eating tigers in Kumaon, India in the 1930’s – 1940’s. In his book, Man-Eaters of Kumaon, Major Corbett says, “A man-eating tiger is a tiger that has been compelled, through stress of circumstances beyond its control, to adopt a diet alien to it.”

Major Corbett used his famous dog Robin to help track the man-eaters he hunted. Below is a picture of Robin and one of the man-eating tigers known as the Bachelor. The photo below was taken from his book, Man-Eaters of Kumaon, printed in 1946.

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Again, modern science has helped unravel mysteries from the past and help scientists understand the unusual behavior of wild animals. This information hopefully will benefit animals and humans today.

Both Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson and Major Jim Corbett have written books about their experiences with man-eating cats. Both are interesting to read.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170419091626.htm

That Day by the Creek: A Novel About the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864

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Although this book is not about animals, I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share it with all of you.

That Day by the Creek: A Novel About the Sand Creed Massacre of 1864, by John Buzzard, ISBN: 978-0-9891014-7-9; $14.49; 221 pgs, Cladach Publishing, www.cladach.com

History lovers will enjoy this book. While the main characters are fictional, other characters in this historical novel are real. The author does an excellent job of telling the true story of the events that led up to the massacre as well as the massacre itself. He shows us how the Indians, the settlers and the army felt. Buzzard has thoroughly researched the incident and includes the actual letters written by Robert Bent, Captain Silas Soule; Lieutenant Joseph Cramer; and Major Edward Wynkoop’s report in the appendix.

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Although this is a sad event in history, it is true and must not be forgotten. That Day by the Creek will help the reader understand how people felt, why they did what they did and the consequences of their actions. The book is an easy read, entertaining and educational making it an ideal book for teens, young adults and adults to read.

 

 

Soldiers in Fur and Feathers: The Animals That Served in WWI Allied Forces

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Soldiers in Fur and Feathers

“There goes Little Jim!” the soldiers would call outfrom the trenches as an unusual messenger dog flew across the fields. Little Jim was a small black Pomeranian mix who was so fast that soldiers described him as a black streak.

In December of 1915 the soldiers of A Battery, 52nd Brigade, RFA, purchased a goose and gander to be fattened for Christmas dinner. However, some of the soldiers decided that they were too cute to eat. So a trial was held to determine their fate. It was decided that they should be mascots for the duration of the war. They traveled in the mess cart with their heads hanging out for the rest of the war. What a comical sight they made.

Pitoutchi the cat is credited for saving his masters life inthe trenches. How could a cat save a man’s life from the Germans?

One of England’s largest seaplanes went down in bad weather. The only hope for survival depended on a pigeon, one pigeon out of three that survived the crash. Did he make it?

The variety of animals and birds were involved in WWI is amazing. Any type of animal or bird could be a mascot. Some mascots went to battle and some stayed behind to cheer the wounded or relieve stress for the newly arrived soldiers.

Read these accounts and many others in the book Soldiers in Fur and Feathers: The Animals that Served in WWI- Allied Forces. An autographed copy of the book is available at www.sbulanda.com you can also purchase it on Amazon or at www.alpinepub.com