Though we live in a big city (San Jose, dubbed “the capital of Silicon Valley,” the largest city in Northern California), the relatively few “wild” animals in our midst have enriched our lives to an extent that is difficult to describe. Three examples, with corresponding photos posted above, are described below (if you don’t have the time or inclination to read about these examples now, you’re invited to scroll to the conclusion and mission statement at the bottom):

1. JULIUS, THE CAT

While living at our first residence in San Jose, we were befriended by an outdoor Marmalade (orange tabby) cat with a mackerel pattern named Julius—as in Orange Julius, get it? Well, don’t blame us, as we’re not the ones who named him. Julius was originally cared for by neighbors who heartlessly abandoned him when they moved, leaving him to become a stray, fending for himself in a rather hostile urban environment.

Why didn’t we just adopt him? you might wonder. At the time of his abandonment, the rental community in which we lived prohibited owning outdoor cats, imposing fines against the owners until the offending feline was no longer to be seen outside. Julius was by then a thoroughly outdoor cat, who could not be confined to a small apartment (flat) like ours. If we fed him, in the eyes of management, that would have marked us as the owners of an outdoor cat, with ongoing sanctions and possibly expulsion. For this reason, we refrained from feeding him. Remarkably, though, Julius would visit with us on our outdoor balcony almost every day. He came for the social interaction and the affection that we lavished upon him. Returning home, we would often find him waiting for us on the steps to our second-story unit. Sometimes, he was so eager to see us that he would run up to our car, as it was still in motion.

Cats often get a bad rap, relative to dogs, for being aloof and seemingly uncaring. If they didn’t need you for food or shelter, many would say, they would have no interest in you. But Julius taught us otherwise. He was for years a faithful companion who sought us out day after day, entirely for the company and affection. He would certainly have loved to have been more formally adopted by us, provided with the run of our residence and food. But he forgave us for not doing so, somehow understanding and fending for himself (keeping himself immaculately clean, by the way) in the great outdoors. Sadly, at one point, he suddenly vanished from our midst. The memories of those warm summer days, however, hanging out with Julius on our steps and balcony as he purred and drooled in expressions of joy will remain with us forever. Above all, he taught us magnanimity and considerateness—during any given interaction, he was always meticulous in terms of devoting equal time and attention to each of us, individually.

2. RACQUI, THE SQUIRREL

In spite of the fact that we were good tenants who followed all the rules, we were eventually evicted from our first residence, so that the owners could remodel, to justify even larger increases in rent than they had been regularly assessing. That actually turned out to be a good thing for us, as we were spurred into making the effort to become homeowners.

At our new home, a second-level condominium unit just a few blocks away from where we had originally been renting, we developed a relationship with a very special four-legged creature, a wild squirrel we named Racqui—pronounced like Rocky—in honor of the plucky flying squirrel who co-starred (with Bullwinkle the moose) in the animated circa-1960s US television series of the same name.

Though she lived outside in the wild, she became a member of our household, visiting us inside our apartment on a daily basis. She played games with us, requested back rubs and even eventually learned to vocalize, so that she could “talk” with us, just as we spoke to her.

Racqui was no ordinary squirrel, consistently demonstrating an extraordinarily high level of both IQ and EQ. As the only squirrel in the world with her own book of wisdom, we’ll let that volume (25 LIFE LESSONS FROM RACQUI THE FLYING SQUIRREL, available from Amazon-Kindle), tell the complete story, for anyone with an interest in reading it. Suffice it to say here that the single greatest lesson she taught us is this: Though it can be difficult to understand and appreciate that with which we are unfamiliar, when we make the effort to do so, the rewards can be as immense as they are unexpected.

The video uploaded here shows Racqui “inspecting”—and reinspecting—her male human’s hand, to make sure he wasn’t holding out, in terms of any undisclosed nuts hidden from view. We think you’ll agree that she is rather sophisticated in the way she communicated her instructions. (Please note that we specifically discourage anyone from taking risks by interacting with wild animals of any kind, as such conduct might possibly result in harm or even serious injury to both wildlife and humans—and we will not be responsible for any adverse effects that result from not following this advice.)

3. CANADIAN GEESE COUPLE

Like Julius before him, Racqui one day suddenly disappeared from our physical environment, to visit us thenceforth only in our dreams. The next magical relationship we had with an animal was actually not with one but two: a pair of majestic Canadian geese.

One day as we were walking along a path that leads to the parking area where we keep our car, we noticed from across the wide stretch of front lawn an unusual site. It was unusual to see Canadian geese where we live because we had never seen any before, for good reason: the grassy area is not that big and, more critically, there is no source of water nearby, not even a small pond.

As if they recognized us, the two geese began excitedly waddling toward us, honking as they went. We had no food for them at first but later procured some special feed at a nearby supply store. Thence began a daily ritual, during which the geese would show up at the crack of dawn each day and we would feed them, providing them at the same time with a bowl of water that they clearly appreciated. They migrated back to Canada (we presume) but returned the next year—this year—ahead of schedule, remaining for a prolonged period of time.

Our interaction with the geese has also been quite remarkable but the highlight of that interaction so far came after they had hatched several goslings on a nearby carport roof. They apparently didn’t realize that although the goslings could make their way from the roof to the ground below simply by jumping, there was no way that—unlike their parents, who could fly—they could make it back to the “safety” of the roof on their own. This precipitated a crisis one night, when the parents were desperate to get their goslings back onto the roof as nightfall was fast approaching. To make a long story short, both the male and the female walked right up to us, nodding their heads and honking, as if to say, “We need you to help us get the goslings back up to the roof because we’ve discovered that there’s no way that we can do this on our own. We’ll fly up there and wait patiently while you get the job done.” And that’s exactly what they did. This followed a frantic interlude during which the parents were nervously chasing away curious neighbors who seemed to be getting too close to the goslings. After they flew up to the carport roof, they allowed us to pick up the goslings one by one, putting them first into a box (so they wouldn't run into the nearby street), while we worked out a solution involving a ladder, to deposit them gently beside their parents. This was truly a spiritual experience for both of us.

CONCLUSION

In each case—that of the cat, the squirrel and the geese—our lives as humans have been significantly enriched, not to speak of all the fun and enjoyment we derived in the process. It is experiences and interactions such as these that laid the groundwork for BestWildArt, reflecting our passion for nature and wildlife, prompting our desire to share that passion with others.

OUR MISSION

Beyond the simple passion we feel for sharing with others our love for nature and wildlife, we also feel a sense of mission: to help educate others about environmentalism and related issues, for the benefit of the planet and the people who live there. Behind every design in every one of our categories is the desire to achieve this goal. That includes the messages in our Prosocial and Political categories, because we firmly believe that the messages we are disseminating there will be beneficial to the causes we seek to promote.

THANK YOU for your attention and please don’t hesitate to contact us if any questions about any of our products arise.

Warmly & with very best regards,
“DNA”* (Dan & Ann)

* You might say that BestWildArt is in our DNA!