Who, or what, might you be under estimating the ability or value of?

A little over years ago my daughter received two Guinea Pigs as part of her 18th Birthday celebrations. They were subsequently named Ginger and Nutmeg - they grew and developed and Ginger appeared to be the 'queen pig' and Nutmeg to have a more subordinate capacity - although both had a clear personality.

Now I suspect I was like many people in that I was of the belief that Guinea Pigs, or GP's as we came to know them by, were basically 'dumb' and of 'low intelligence, I have to say the last years of sharing a home with these two has certainly changed my perception and shaped a total change in my belief.

Nutmeg had a tendency to hit the water bottle hard when drinking - a right old 'boozer' and as a result she would knock this right out of its holder and often onto the floor. Also at times she would drain it dry. 

After a period of our just filling it up, or putting it back there came a change in behaviour - much squeaking could be heard from their cage, we were always unsure exactly which GP was squeaking, when either event occurred and they were in effect alerting us to their plight and summoning us for assistance - apparently filly aware that if we found the situation it would be remedied - far from 'dumb animal' behaviourI hope you would agree.

This then moved on and further 'squeaking alerts developed. From their cage they the fridge door was clearly visible and 'two plus two' was worked out - our opening this door could result in a tasty morsel for them, a bit of cucumber, some nice greens or even a tomato. They started to squeak each time the door was opened to remind us that they were there and to encourage us to supply the much wanted treat! This become so frequent that they could be often referred to as ' the audi alert' on the fridge door.

Sadly Ginger passed away some months ago, and we were concerned that as she had appeared to be the 'leader' that the alerts would stop and Nutmeg could suffer as a result - the reality was that Nutmeg continued the learned behaviours and our worries turned out to be unfounded.

Sadly at 12:30am this morning Nutmeg had a seizure, a rushed visit to her vet and then joined Ginger - they are and will be missed for sometime to come and this all got me to thinking about what they had taught us about GP's and then about who else, or what else, am I underestimating - in this case underestimating to the point I actually have no photo's of the GP's to share with this post.

We all need to see the real and present value of the people, animals, relationships and things in our lives and around us - even more so to maintain a balance in todays highly commercial and fast paced world. I would like to encourage all to take a moment and consider who, or what, they are perhaps under valuing and what might be learned from an increased closeness and better understanding. 

I hope that this blog causes you to pause and think for a moment or two and would love to receive your feedback.