There is a drop of blood in the snow before me…. The coyote… is in estrus…. spurred to let out a bit of herself, sending a message, telling everyone she was now ready, that the clock of her winter was ticking toward spring. – Craig Childs, The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild

I subscribe to the theory that Mankind never domesticated any animal. They came in from the cold and looked cute until they were fed. – David Beard, @Raqhun

The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude. – Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com

It often happens that a man is more humanely related to a cat or dog than to any human being. – Henry David Thoreau